Glasgow, Scotland - May 2016

Fun fact travelers: Flights from Dublin to Glasgow are only 12 euros!  When we discovered this we knew that it would be silly to pass up such an opportunity so of course we booked it!  We only had a week in Ireland and a ton we wanted to do but since it is less than an hour flight to Glasgow we thought spending one day there would be totally worth it. 

We booked the earliest flight in the morning and the latest flight that night to get an entire day there so we were of course exhausted but that is part of the fun of adventuring. Sometimes I think I would like a vacation that involves sleeping late and laying on a beach somewhere because we are always pushing ourselves as hard as we can but that is how we are able to see and experience so much!

We have a lovely friend Heather, who I have mentioned a bunch in these blogs, and she being from Scotland insisted that it was the best place to visit.  She was right!  I can honestly say of all the places we have traveled Glasgow was one of my favourite cities.  I wish we had more time there to enjoy not only Glasgow but explore the rest of Scotland. 

My most treasured friend Heather 

The history, the architecture, the dark gothic charm, the people, everything about this city filled my heart with joy. I wandered the streets with enthusiasm and child like wonder.  I didn’t want to miss a single detail!  Sometimes there are places you will visit that will hold onto a piece of your soul forever and you let it because you fell in love.  I feel like Scotland has a little part of me that it is keeping until I return for it one day.

We didn’t have anywhere specific in mind to visit (other than the Necropolis – which I will get to) so we just wandered as we so often do.  It was so interesting talking to people here having just come from Ireland and really noticing the difference in accent.  Heather always got pissed at me for never knowing the difference but now I can say for sure I get it! 

And the people were so friendly.  We popped into the tourist office to grab a map and the guy working there told us everything about the city, mapped out a route for us to take to see everything and told us where all the best free stuff was.  Everyone we met was just as nice, whether it was in a shop or just someone on the street, if you had a question or concern they were happy to help.

One of my favourite things to see and the only place I knew I needed to visit was the Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis.  The Cathedral is one of the only remaining Gothic Cathedrals on the Scottish mainland.  It is gorgeous, dark and full of incredible energy.  You can feel the time that has passed under that roof.  It was an incredible place to explore. The basement is home to a crypt and the scent of the age stayed in my nose long after we left.

http://www.glasgowcathedral.org.uk/

Once we were finished inside we ventured out and behind the cathedral to the necropolis. This was seriously the cemetery of my dreams.  Huge tombstones, crypts and monuments crawl up the hill and cover the grounds.  This Victorian gothic cemetery is so peaceful and full of beauty I could have stayed all day.  It has been around since 1832 and over 50000 people have been buried here.  Of course not all the people have stones or any sort of marking so only around 3500 monuments exist.

If I lived in Glasgow I would spend all my free time wandering the grounds, and taking in all the loveliness that surrounded me. 

After our necropolis wandering we went to the Cathedral House Inn for lunch which was fantastic.  Vegan soup and Sandwich’s and the cutest little gothic waitress.  Also a great view of the tombstones from our table.  Dream day for me!  

http://www.cathedralhousehotel.co.uk/

We took a lovely walk down the River Clyde which runs right through the city.  It is the second longest river in Scotland and is such a beautiful walk and a perfect way to spend a sunny afternoon. We stopped at some great look out spots, parks, fountains and churches.  We really felt like we saw a ton of the city, especially since we only had twelve hours!

I must say I was slightly disappointed not to see more men in kilts but I would say the trip was a success despite that.  There was also a lack of bagpipes but that part was alright with me.

I hope to return to Scotland one day to do more exploring especially Loch Ness. I still believe in Nessy and I plan to see her one day! 

If you ever have the chance to visit Scotland, especially Glasgow, take the opportunity!

Besos

Dublin, Ireland - May 2016

A place I have always dreamed of visiting is Ireland.  Since I was young something about it called out to my heart and I knew I would never be satisfied unless I saw the lush greenery of its countryside in person.  So with our final adventure before returning to Canada we decided that Ireland was the place to travel to. It did not disappoint. 

We found an apartment on Airbnb to rent that was fairly close to the center of town.  Now I have always been a little weary of Airbnb because I don’t trust that the people renting the apartments (or rooms if you go that way) are not murderers.  I have terrible thoughts that they will return to the apartment at night as we are sleeping and then we are in our own horror movie.  Luckily, however, that was not the case this time and our host was amazing. He met us outside at the bus stop, which was very conveniently right around the corner, and told us all about the neighbourhood.  He had maps, snacks and even a gift bag with chocolates and postcards for us!  It was super helpful and made me feel very comfortable. 

www.airbnb.ca/c/mlord57

If you are travelling think about Airbnb it can save you money and sometimes you meet really cool people.

Dublin is a really interesting city and one of the friendliest places I have ever been!  And that is saying a lot I mean I am Canadian.  It was incredible Ross and I would be standing on the sidewalk looking around at everything and people would ask if we needed help finding things or if we were lost.  Everyone was happy and smiling all the time and the atmosphere just made you feel welcome.  I think I smiled the entire week.

We had a week of adventure planned for the city so we of course wasted no time getting up and out on our first morning!  As we all know Ross and I like to explore a city on foot so we took our map and headed straight to the center after a quick stop at Starbucks of course.  Dublin is a big city but certainly small enough to walk around and see all the major sights if you have a few days. 

Lets start with the Temple Bar area.  I had heard about the actual Temple Bar and knew it was a place I wanted to go but I hadn’t realized there was an entire area surrounding it that was even cooler than the bar itself!  Tons of pubs, restaurants and neat shops lined the cobblestone streets.  The area was vibrant and alive and it was so cool to actually go to an Irish pub in Ireland!  Of course it is very touristy and I loved it.  Basically every pub had live music each night, Guinness flowed freely, people were dancing and singing and the vibe was friendly and fun. 

The food was interesting and as always if you are a meat eater there are many traditional Irish dishes for you to try.  For us finding actual Irish food that is vegetarian was not easy however there were tons of options for us so it was not a problem.  We had Indian, Turkish, Chinese, and of course a few stops for burritos and pizza.  Plus, having an actual apartment to stay in means you can cook food yourself so we hit up some grocery shops and made lots at home. We only went out for breakfast on our first and last day there and it was awesome.  Basically every pub or restaurant has a huge traditional breakfast and many serve it all day which is awesome.

Some wonderful points of interest in the city were Saint Stephens Green which is a gorgeous garden park.  It is full of lovely trees, flowers, ponds and has a myriad of paths to follow so you could always find a new route to take.  It was nice to be there in the spring although I imagine summer is even more beautiful.

I also highly recommend you adventure to Trinity college for some beautiful green space and interesting buildings to marvel at.  Founded in 1592 the college was modelled after such Universities as Oxford and Cambridge however only one college was ever established. What makes this college so interesting to me however is the fact that both Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde attended it and that makes my bibliophile heart flutter.

Most importantly we visited the Guinness Storehouse.  It was a very interesting tour so if you are in Dublin be sure to check it out.  It is huge so give yourself a few hours – especially if you plan on sticking around after the tour to enjoy some beer.  It is a self guided tour so we were able to spend as much time as we liked in each area learning about Arthur Guinness, his family and his vision. Apparently he was so certain about his beer he signed a 9000-year lease on the property!  Incredible.

Once we finished with the main tour we had the opportunity to go to Guinness academy where we learned how to pour the perfect pint which we got to drink afterwards of course.  It was fun learning the proper technique to get the best head.  After we drank that and Ross swiped another pint off a table (they clearly poured it and left it there with no intention of drinking it and why let it go to waste?) we went up to the Skybar to get a great view of the city.

I think it is important to mention that Guinness in Ireland is not the same as the Guinness at home in Canada.  The flavour was the same but I didn’t find it was as thick so you could drink more than one pint without feeling totally full.

We wanted to make sure we got to see as much of Ireland as possible while we were there so we took a few day trips to other parts of the island.  Our first trip was to Belfast.  It was a very livable city but not a place I thought was great for tourists.  There is of course the Titanic museum and the Titanic memorial garden which I really enjoyed.  It was interesting to be in a city where the Titanic is more then just a story of a great tragedy.  It was built there and so many people in the city were actually affected by its construction and sinking. 

Otherwise the city was a little sleepy.  It had everything you would need to live there but not much in the way of attractions.  We did however have some yummy coffee and snacks ever in the university area.  I think there are other places that would be more interesting to visit if you are ever in Ireland.

One of those places was The Cliffs of Moher.  We took a bus tour with a company called Paddy Wagon Tours.  It was relatively cheap for the experience.  We paid 40 Euros each and had an entire day of travel with a cool tour guide.  The Irish countryside is exactly what I expected and it was enchanting. We stopped at some great castle ruins and interesting places on the coast.  He told us tales of Ireland and lots of fascinating history.

Of course the cliffs themselves were amazing.  As we got there a storm started to blow in which made it very wet, cold and kind of dangerous on the edges but it was haunting and beautiful at the same time.  The fog rolling in around the cliffs made it feel more exhilarating – in my opinion.  All I wanted to do was sit and stare out at the edge of the world as the wind whipped my face and the ocean air delighted my olfactory senses.

We wandered around the top of the cliffs for about an hour until we were too wet to carry on then headed back to the bus.  Our guide took is for a delicious lunch at an old pub somewhere near the coast and although the vegetarian meal was completely sold out they made us a huge platter of vegetables, mashed potatoes, soup, bread and rice.  It was so good and so comforting. 

I absolutely recommend Paddy Wagon Tours!

http://www.paddywagontours.com/

The last trip we did was just simple.  We caught the intercity train and went to a small town called Dalkey.  It was a quiet and very cute little area right on the coast so it made a great wander for the late afternoon.  We spent a lot of time just walking through a posh little neighbour hood looking at the gorgeous houses.  And of course no day trip would be complete without some yummy snacks so we made sure to grab some carrot cake and tea at a cute café before heading back into the city.

There was a spot there where we could use a telescope to look out at Dalkey Island.  It is only 16km from Ireland and is accessible by boat. There are artifacts that have been found on the island that show there were people living there in the Mesolithic period!  However now the island is now completely uninhabited except for about 20 goats and a whole lot of rabbits!  Nobody claims to know how the goats got there.  With the telescope we could see the remains of an old church, houses and a watchtower.  It was a nice place to visit. 

Ireland is a wonderful country with a very interesting history.  I am thrilled that we got to spend so much time there.  Although I am sad it was our last European adventure (for now) it was definitely one of my favourites. 

Stay tuned for a quick little write up about our day trip to Glasgow!