Today we visited the castle before meeting up with a former colleague for a pint. I was excited to catch up with her, having just recently learned that she, her husband and two sons had moved from Minnesota USA to Dublin six months prior.

This is the town in which we stayed. It was about a 45 minute train ride to Dublin, then a 15-minute bus ride to the castle.

Dublin Castle

Dublin Castle is the heart of historic Dublin. It is one of the most important buildings in Irish history. The city gets its name from the Black Pool – ‘Dubh Linn’ – which was on the site of the present Castle garden where the River Liffey met the River Poddle. The original fortification may have been an early Gaelic Ring Fort. Later a Viking Fortress stood on this site. From 1204 until 1922 it was the seat of English, then British rule in Ireland. In 1922, following Ireland’s independence, Dublin Castle was handed over to the new Irish government. It is now a major government complex and a key tourist attraction.

After a fire in 1684 destroyed much of the Medieval Castle, the magnificent State Apartments were built as the residential quarters of the Viceregal court. They are now the venue for presidential inaugurations, official state visits, state functions, exhibitions and other events.

Paintings are a particular strength of the Dublin Castle collection, but it is also rich in sculpture, furniture, clocks, china, glassware, prints, tapestries, stained glass and textiles from the 17th century to the present day.

Battleaxe Staircase
The first thing you see when you enter the castle is the Battleaxe Staircase. This grand imperial staircase was the first of its type in Dublin. It dates from 1749. It takes its name from the Viceroy’s bodyguards, the Battleaxe Guards, who once stood guard at the top of it. In the dark days of January, candles were lit and red carpet was rolled out on this staircase, as the Viceroy prepared to host some of Ireland’s grandest banquets and balls during the annual social season.

At the top of the stairs above the double doors, visitors see the national emblem of Ireland, the harp. This emblem is unique, as Ireland is the only country in the world to have a musical instrument as its national symbol.

Today, the Battleaxe Staircase is the setting for the first formal photograph of each new President of Ireland.

Continue reading →

We spent the day in Belfast then drove to a hotel near Dublin. We walked around Belfast and visited The Titanic Experience. We highly recommend The Titanic Experience. I loved it! Michael thought it was good, but he hesitates to use the “L-word.”

We all know the story of the Titanic and its climactic ending: it sank.

But there’s so much more!

There is a lot of detail and content in this post (equivalent to three posts) because I found the exhibit to be of utmost interest. Feel free to use the headings to decide which sections to read if you aren’t interested in all of it.

First, the walk to the exhibit.

Here are some factoids explaining why the Titanic was built in Belfast.

Continue reading →

We were scheduled to return the rental car by noon in Glasgow. It didn’t happen.

Minutes before we planned to leave Oban, the guest house’s proprietor knocked on our door and informed us that there had been a hit and run in Oban at 2:00 a.m. This caused the road (as she described it, the only road to Glasgow) to be closed. She said the police in Glasgow had been notified (there are either no local police in Oban or those that are there are not equipped to handle hit and runs), but they weren’t expected to arrive until later that afternoon. In short, she told us that we would probably be in Oban for most of the day.

Despite this warning, we decided to take our luggage to the car. We hoped to flag down someone who might be able to tell us of another way to Glasgow. As luck would have it, a nice woman was on her way to work and pulled over when we waved at her. She did, in fact, know of another route out of town to Glasgow that was longer, but not “too much” longer. She also told us that it was a pretty drive.

So we took it. The drive was, indeed, pretty.

We finally returned the car (well after noon, but without penalty), took a bus to the hotel and stopped for lunch. Two of the things we wanted to see closed soon after we arrived at the hotel so we decided to use the rest of the afternoon to plan the next day’s visit in Glasgow.

Continue reading →

We had originally planned to go to Fort William but we ended up going to Fort Augustus. I am glad we made this choice, as Fort Augustus has five locks that rise through the center of the village and it was fun to watch them operate. We had a pint while we waited.

It was a cloudy day but we still found the scenery to be lovely on the drive to Fort Augustus.

Fort Augustus

Boats entering the locks

The Drive to Kinlochleven

The scenery just kept getting better!

I dropped off Michael at the hotel in Kinlochleven and drove to Glencoe to walk the trails. (Michael was still a tad under the weather.) There was again so much green! These pictures are from two trails: the mountain trail and the woodland trail.

We drove to Oban the next day. We stayed at a nice little guesthouse (Don Muir Guesthouse) with a friendly female proprietor. Here are some pictures of the drive to Oban, Oban, and the town of Tobermory on The Island of Mull (with the colorful buildings). We took the ferry from Oban to the Island of Mull, then took the bus to the town of Tobermory. We had hoped to tour the distillery, but there were no more openings so we just went to a restaurant where I had some whiskey (this is what they make at the distillery) while Michael had beer.

We had planned to take the car on the ferry so we could drive to Tobermory ourselves, but we learned that it was too late to buy a car ferry ticket. So we took the car back to the hotel and walked back to the ferry terminal. Thankfully, we could still catch the ferry (about 2:00 p.m.) to Mull that day as well as a return ferry later that day.

I saw this very cool castle from the bus and took a picture, not knowing what it was. I have since learned that it is Duart Castle. For over 700 years, Duart Castle, the seat of Clan Maclean, has dominated the view to the Sound of Mull and Loch Linnhe with its huge curtain walls and solid keep.

You may also recognize Duart Castle from some Hollywood feature films such as Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones’ “Entrapment” (1999), “When Eight Bells Toll” (1971) with Antony Hopkins and “I know where I’m going” (1945).

We will tell you about our long attempt to leave Oban in the next post.

We left Edinburgh on the 22nd and stopped briefly in Dundee before heading to Inverness. We were planning to visit the Art Gallery and Museum, but the fire alarm went off just as we entered and everyone was sent across the street. We decided to abandon that idea and have lunch instead.

Here are a few pictures of a pretty bridge we took on the way to Dundee as well as a few sites in Dundee.

The bronze Oor Wullie Statue was created in honor of the spiky-haired dungaree-cad lad who graced the comic strip of the Sunday Post since 1936. He is aiming his pea shooter at a nearby statue of Robert Burns. Oor Wullie is a much-loved national treasure in Scotland.

Continue reading →

Our final day in Edinburgh consisted of visits to Edinburgh Castle (and the one o’clock gun), The Royal Mile, St. Giles’ Cathedral, Calton Hill, Grassmarket, Greyfriars Kirkyard, Victoria Street, and The Real Mary King’s Close.

We had a very lazy morning, so our first goal was to be at Edinburgh Castle in time for the one o’clock gun. We made it! (Gosh, I would hope so!!)

This is – once again – a post with a lot of back story. Feel free to skip what doesn’t interest you!

We passed by St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh (I no longer remember where, but it was shortly before we visited the castle) but only from the outside. It is a beautiful building! It opened in 1879. The cathedral is one of only three in the United Kingdom that feature three spires, the other two being Lichfield and Truro cathedrals.

Fun facts: St Mary’s Cathedral was the first cathedral in Great Britain to employ girls in the treble line as well as boys, in 1978. In 2005, St Mary’s Cathedral became the first cathedral in the Anglican tradition to have a female alto singing in daily services. (I am just going to say what you are already thinking: it took long enough!)

The One O’clock Gun at Edinburgh Castle is a tradition that dates back to 1861. Every day (except Sundays) at precisely 1:00 pm, a gun is fired from the Castle grounds. So precisely and so loud that the ships in the Firth of Forth and Leith Harbor two miles away used to set their clocks by it. Locals say that you can always tell visitors from the Edinburgh natives when the gun goes off. Whereas locals tend to check their watches, visitors jump out of their skins!

It was fired at precisely one o’clock and I confirmed that the time on my phone was correct. Here is Edinburgh Castle. As per usual, it is located on a hill.

We were surprised to see massive bleachers right outside of the castle. We learned that they are there about four months in the summer: The bleachers, or grandstand, are set up each year for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August. The grandstand is a modern engineering feat that takes about seven weeks to construct. The grandstand is also used for concerts, and has hosted performances by The Who, Rod Stewart, and The Lumineers. 

Continue reading →

Although we were absolutely smitten with England and Wales, we were also eager to visit Scotland! Here is our Scotland itinerary:

We had tentatively planned to spend two nights in Edinburgh, but extended it to three. We spent our first day in Edinburgh in a pub. Okay, that sounds worse than it is. We didn’t arrive until the afternoon (it is four hours from York), so it wasn’t actually a full day in the pub. Anyway, we found this cute little pub near our hotel and decided to have a beer. One beer led to another, which then led to our eating dinner there. The bartender and clientele were so very friendly, we simply didn’t want to leave. So we didn’t!

We did get out and about on the second day, however. We visited The Royal Yacht Britannia, Princes Street Gardens and the Ross Fountain, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and Tolbooth Tavern (the last for food).

We hadn’t even known about The Royal Yacht Britannia, but the bartender from the pub recommended it, so we decided to go. It was our first stop of the day.

A Royal residence for 44 years, The Royal Yacht Britannia sailed over 1,000,000 nautical miles on 968 state visits with the Royal Family where they entertained prime ministers and presidents. She has been berthed permanently at the Port of Leith in Edinburgh since 1998 and is now a five-star visitor attraction, welcoming over 390,000 visitors a year from all over the world.

Continue reading →

If you like Viking history, York is a good place to visit. This is primarily a (very long!) “history post.” Grab a cup of coffee before you start reading.

Continue reading →

We had another full day in Wales before heading to Liverpool and York, England. Our last day in Wales proved to be a magical day of beauty and whimsy.

Let’s talk about Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) in north Wales. Covering a total of 823 square miles, Eryri is Wales’ largest National Park. Globally renowned geology, species of international importance and a rich history and heritage are just some of the things that make Eryri so special. Eryri is dotted with communities across the landscape where culture, language and history intertwine to create a unique and lively identity.

Fun facts about Eyrie National Park:
— 9 mountain ranges
— 74 miles of coastline
— 11,000 hectares of native woodland
— 1497 miles of route to explore
— As well as being the largest National Park in Wales, Eryri (Snowdonia) boasts the highest mountain in England and Wales.

And we only had part of one day! Ideally, we would have had several days, but we had planned for this UK/Ireland trip to be a total of 30ish days, and we weren’t spending a lot of time in any one place. If we ever return, we will spend more time in this beautiful park!

Since we were clearly going to see very little of the park, we decided to go to the top of Snowdon, the tallest peak. The Welsh name of this mountain is Yr Wyddfa. Although there are several mountains over 3,000 feet in the National Park, the popularity of this famous mountain is far and above the rest.

Here is a guide on how to pronounce Yr Wyddfa:

• “Yr” is pronounced “Uhr
• “Wydd” is pronounced “With”
• “Fa” is pronounced, “Va.”

Legend has it that Yr Wyddfa is the final resting place of Rhita Gawr. Rhita Gawr was a fearsome giant who wore a cloak made of men’s beards. He challenged King Arthur to combat, but Arthur defeated him and cut off his head. According to legend, the cairn on the summit of Yr Wyddfa marks the final resting place of Rhita Gawr’s head. Yr Wyddfa roughly translates to ‘tomb’ or ‘cairn.’

Continue reading →

Robin Hood is one of the world’s best loved folk heroes and Nottinghamshire is proud to be his home. The legend of Robin Hood dates back to medieval times, when he was said to have lived in Sherwood Forest with his band of loyal followers, fighting against the tyranny of the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John. But was he real? Yep! Although it seems that Maid Marion wasn’t. Feel fee to read a bit more here: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Robin-Hood/

Despite the name “Nottingham Castle,” there is no castle. There was one at one time, but it was demolished in 1651. For six hundred years Nottingham Castle was one of the most important royal castles in England. Its position guarding the bridge on the River Trent made it both a convenient, and an important, base for royal power in the midlands used by monarchs regularly until the early sixteenth century. It is now a museum and art gallery.

From https://citydays.com/places/nottingham-castle/:

“In its infancy, Nottingham Castle was a classic Norman wooden motte and bailey fortification, strategically overlooking the bustling town of Nottingham. The 12th century ushered in a transformation under Henry II, who replaced the wooden structure with a formidable stone castle, enhancing its strategic and political significance.

The castle’s narrative is intertwined with iconic figures of English history. During the reign of King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart), his brother Prince John, later King John, held the castle. This period is famously linked with the tales of Robin Hood, where the Sheriff of Nottingham, operating from this very castle, became Robin Hood’s arch-nemesis in folklore.

The English Civil War in the 17th century marked one of the castle’s most dramatic episodes. As a pivotal Royalist stronghold, it witnessed fierce battles before falling into Parliamentarian hands in 1642. The war left the castle in ruins, leading to its eventual demolition.

The late 19th century breathed new life into the ruins. Reimagined as a museum and art gallery in 1878, Nottingham Castle became one of the United Kingdom’s first municipal museums, marking a shift from a symbol of power to a beacon of culture and history.

The Ducal Mansion, rising from the ashes of the medieval castle, adds a touch of 19th-century grandeur to the historic landscape. According to one newspaper report from 1831, a former dweller at the mansion included an ‘ancient lady of rank’ who had a ‘fondness for lap dogs and a large ape – her constant companion.’ “

Continue reading →