United Kingdom and Ireland Trip - Wrap-Up and Miscellaneous Thoughts

Jesse Hart October 25, 2019

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Reflection

With the trip over, the write-ups of each section of our journey completed for posterity, and the passage of a little bit of time, it seems appropriate to engage in more the type of post I most enjoy writing: free-flowing/freestyle reflection and thoughts about the trip and the experiences.

One of the most interesting things for me was the validation of a long-running feeling that I was never entirely sure would play out as I imagined: Ireland (and to an extent Scotland) felt like home. I’ve long held to the statement that I feel Ireland calls to me in an entirely inexplicable way. As cliched as it will seem, take the traditional blessing and images below and consider the feelings/thoughts that they invoke; follow that exercise up with a simple set of questions: is there a place that seems to call to you (whether spending as much time as possible there or just wanting desperately to be there for some period of time), and why?

“May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you,
May you see your children’s children,
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness,
From this day forward.

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home,
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.”

— Traditional Irish Blessing

Influencing Thoughts for Another Trip

Thanks to the experiences of this trip, I already have some ideas on how I would prefer to experience a future trip. Importantly, I truly believe the way this trip went was absolutely perfect for trying to get a sense of the region in the time we had available, and would not change any aspects of a “first trip” as a result. Being exposed to a wide variety of environments and sights, however, make me want to have a follow-up trip with the idea of spending a few days based in Glasgow (with excursions in and out of the city, but returning to the same place each night) with a few days based in Belfast in a similar fashion, before winding down with a couple of nights back in London. While it is uncertain whether or not that trip will materialize, it is definitely something to consider if we make our way back to the British Isles.

Wrap-Up

Over the course of this series I’ve hit the highlights on what made this an important trip, provided the high-level overview of what we did along the way and some of the thoughts that went into making those decisions, and generally captured things in a manner that allows me to go back and reflect on the journey. I also touched on some of the emotional aspects and memories that are now a part of who I am. Something I have yet to be able to adequately capture, however (except in imagery, which is my medium of choice for many things anyway these days), is what overarching impact the experience has had on me in as broad a sense as possible. Those familiar with my past writings will find the following, in essence, a “return to form.”

Anxiously I make my way through the underground labyrinth to the designated train that will carry me onward, to my first glimpses of the city, marking the beginning of this adventure. I don't try to make sense of the names or places, or how to know where I'm going, and instead I simply follow Emily's lead.

Images of the city flash by as the train takes us away from the airport, many of which are reminiscent of any large city anywhere in the United States. I begin to wonder why London is such an attractive place for so many given the scenes flashing by, though I know better than to judge any location by the first things I see. After all, imagine driving through Ensley and using that to form an opinion of Birmingham as a whole.

The unusually warm air feels like a weight against me as I feel my shirt slowly being soaked through. Certainly the backpack full of photography gear isn't helping matters any, but the lack of cooling on the train amidst a sea of bodies is compoinded by much warmer than usual weather. I hope the forecast is correct and that temperatures will be more friendly for the rest of our trip.

We arrive at our stop and exit into the midday sun, navigating across the River Thames and finding the hotel that would be our refuge for the night. After a brief respite we embark upon our initial exploration of London, and I quickly begin to realize why so many desire to be a part of the city.

The contrasting views of ancient architecture and modern buildings set within a modern society elicits a certain amount of cognitive dissonance; the mind attempts to create an image of what could have been overlaid by what actually exists. Everything becomes instantly etched in my mind as I lose myself in the marvels of the city. From the seemingly mundane to the extraordinary, I revel in the experience of the city.

Suddenly I feel as though I am transported through time as I walk into our bedchamber suite, though there are reminders of our lack of time travel interspersed throughout. Cool air flows in through the open windows as I slide my fingers across the cool stone walls. Surely this must be the peak of our journey; to play and sleep in a place where the infamous Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn also slept seems surreal., only to be topped by the views of the formidable Castle of Edinburgh.

Nothing prepared me for the sheer joy of looking out over Edinburgh from atop an ancient volcano, however. The wind repeatedly assaults me, threatening to send me tumbling over and over. I choose my hand and foot placement carefully as I climb around the summit.

In the blink of an eye I find myself staring out at the beauty of the Wicklow Mountains, marveling at the vibrant richness of every visible color. Water trickles through a nearby stream, bringing the perfect sensory experience of peace and meditation in a way that could never be imagined or expressed before.

The Cliffs loom in front of me as the wind pushes me back slightly from the edge. Waves crash against the coastline as seagulls squawk. The tranquility of the sunrise sends me into a trance…

Everything has happened so quickly that I have yet to process it all. For a short, fleeting moment, I’m home.

United Kingdom and Ireland Trip - Ireland

Jesse Hart October 11, 2019

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Saturday, August 31st

Picking up where we left off on the Scotland post, we made our way to the Edinburgh Airport, through dealing with RyanAir’s bag check and security, and boarded our plane to Dublin. There were a couple of minor hiccups during that process, most notable of them being the complete lack of information on how the folks at Edinburgh wanted your bags/items separated into the bins for security screening, and therefore causing us a bit of a delay. This did make us cut it close getting to the gate in time, but since there was not an issue it isn’t really worth going into detail. Upon arrival we made our way to the Avis counter to pick up the keys to our rental, and with a little confusion about where to go we finally made our way to the correct car park and started our journey out of the city. Saturday was, in essence, a “drive around and see stuff” day, with a very loose itinerary: Wicklow Mountains, Rock of Cashel, and make it to our Airbnb (Connoles Gatehouse). In preparation for our trip I had at least plotted out some points as a rough guide for the road trip, just to have some idea of how long we could spend with random side trips and at a couple of points along the way.

Our first point of interest was to enter the Wicklow Mountains. From the very first area we stopped I fell in love with the Irish landscape, and the awe and excitement only continued to grow with each passing moment. Never before have I visited a place that I found so breathtakingly stunning, so diverse and intriguing, and so strongly calling to me as the place I should stay, and yet every portion of Ireland we visited reaffirmed those feelings time and again.

We spent a lot of time just driving down rural roads, making random stops to enjoy the views, and wandering around. It took a little bit to get used to driving on the narrow roads, not so much because of the roads being narrow but because my point of perception (the right side of the vehicle while driving on the left side of the road) was simply different. Factor in needing to shift with my left hand instead of my right, and it probably took the better part of a couple of hours to really feel comfortable driving around. By the end of the trip, however, I will say that I felt like I was driving more like a local than a visitor. Embedded below is a video clip from one stretch of road that was particularly enjoyable to drive.

During the course of our travels, we stopped at the Tullamore D.E.W. Visitor Centre for lunch (and, of course, a tasting flight of their whiskeys). The food was excellent, and I found the 15 Year Trilogy expression to be extremely enjoyable. It still does not top my preferred Irish Whiskey, but it is one I would definitely purchase if I saw it in one of the local stores.

Continuing our journey we spotted many castles and gorgeous vistas, taking it all in as we made our way to the Rock of Cashel. Part of the reason this was our choice for stopping and exploring on our journey related to its proximity to the route we would need to take to reach our accommodations for the evening, though its historical significance made it extremely appealing as well. From Discover Ireland:

The Rock of Cashel is an ancient royal site of the kings of Munster and first attained importance as a fortress. Its origins as a centre of power go back to the 4th or 5th centuries. Two of the most famous people of Irish legend and history are associated with the Rock of Cashel. They are St. Patrick whom according to legend, arrived in Cashel in AD 432 and baptized King Aengus who became Ireland’s first Christian ruler. The second was Brian Boru, he was crowned High King here in 990. He is the only king who was able to unite all of Ireland under one ruler for any significant period of time.

As we left Cashel dusk was fast approaching, and so we made our way to our accommodations in Fanore. Although we could not see the landscape well by the time we arrived, the sound of the ocean and the perfect weather reassured us that the view in the morning would be as advertised, though we were not prepared for it to be so absolutely gorgeous once the sun crested the horizon in the morning. I cannot recommend Connoles Gatehouse highly enough, and I will look for no other place to stay in the event we make our way back to the Wild Atlantic Way.

Sunday, September 1st

After enjoying the sunrise at Connoles Gatehouse, we made our way to the Cliffs of Moher. I have no words to adequately express how majestic, awe-inspiring, resplendent… let’s just say spectacular… the Cliffs of Moher are in person. Though this is a running theme for much of our trip, it seems that (of what we were able to see and visit) I have the most difficulty describing how profoundly gorgeous I found Ireland compared to the rest of our journey.

After leaving the cliffs, we ate lunch at StoneCutter’s Kitchen and then made our way to Moher Cottage for coffee and fudge. I highly recommend both locations.

We continued to explore Liscannor before heading back toward Doolin, spending the rest of our day exploring The Burren Region and the Wild Atlantic Way. Two videos will be linked below, a clip of the waves crashing against the coastline at one of our many stops (because I enjoyed the peacefulness of just watching and listening), and a timelapse of the view from our cabin as the sun set over the Atlantic.

Monday, September 2nd

Monday was, perhaps, the dreariest day we encountered during the entire trip. Not only did we have to leave a place that was absolutely perfect to travel back to Dublin, but almost the entire time we were in Dublin there was a light rain. We went to the Guinness Storehouse first and enjoyed learning more about the history of the famous stout, as well as enjoying an absolutely spectacular meal in one of the on-site restaurants for lunch. I have had many variations of Guinness stew, and I can unequivocally sat that the best I’ve had yet was at the Guinness Storehouse.

Leaving the storehouse, we went to Dublin Castle before proceeding to Trinity College and the Book of Kells exhibit. While I certainly understand concerns about photographing important works, the one disappointment for this portion of our trip was that no photography was allowed in the Book of Kells exhibit. Regardless, it was still enjoyable, though overpriced.

We did not have time to explore further, as we had a flight to catch to return to London. If you missed the details about the remainder of our trip, the second post in the series (England) covers the first few days and the last two days.

I can easily say that, while I fell in love with Edinburgh and what little we were able to see of Scotland, my heart definitely belongs to Ireland. Emily made the right choice in having Jacob stay home with her parents, because if he had been with us there is a very, very good chance I would have found a way to stay.

United Kingdom and Ireland Trip - Scotland

Jesse Hart October 4, 2019

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Thursday, August 29th

Picking back up from the previous post in this series (England), after visiting Liverpool and taking a tour of Anfield we made our way back to Liverpool Lime Street Station to travel to Edinburgh Waverley Station. This particular leg of our journey would prove stressful, though knowing what we know now it is not nearly as big an issue as we thought it would be at the time. Our train from Liverpool Lime Street to a connecting station, where we were to change to another train to take us the rest of the way to Edinburgh, was cancelled due to lack of available personnel to staff the train (there was a major incident somewhere that impacted train operations across the board). Being accustomed to the way things operate in the United States, this created significant cause for concern: our tickets were non-refundable, all of the trains were operated by different companies (though all a part of the same system, which plays its part in our story shortly), and there was not another connector scheduled to the same station where we were to meet the train that would take us to Edinburgh. We started asking the staff at the station what we were supposed to do and how things worked in a situation like this, and I cannot help but heap as much praise as possible on all of the people who operate the railways in the United Kingdom (and support personnel, and anyone affiliated with making this type of situation a non-event). We were told to take the next train to another station, and from there take the next available train to Edinburgh. It did not matter who operated the train, just provide our original ticket and an explanation of the events that transpired, and we would be accommodated. I won’t lie, I was surprised this was the answer. I was even more surprised to learn this was exactly what the process is in the event there is a transit issue.

If you are from the United States, take a moment to appreciate that concept. Imagine your flight being canceled, and you were told to just go grab a seat on another flight, regardless of carrier, to your destination. I realize this is not exactly the same, but that’s the concept in a nutshell. I cannot think of any mass transit operation in the United States that would even begin to suggest something like that to a traveler. Instead, every incident I can think of would be met with re-ticketing (potentially at a fee) and a complete change in itinerary. Instead, we were actually able to still connect to our original train to Edinburgh, though at a different station.

There was one other hiccup that caused us some concern, which was the loss of power in our train as we were close to where we would need to disembark and hop onto our connector to Edinburgh. After a delay of fifteen minutes or so, we were back on our way and were still able to meet our connecting train (it had also been delayed, thankfully), and so our trip was not hindered.

After arriving in Edinburgh, we made our way to the flat we had elected to stay in for the two nights we would be in the city (link to the Airbnb listing), and we were greeted by an absolutely phenomenal view of Edinburgh Castle.

For those that know mw, it is no surprise that our first task, once we unpacked what we would need and did a quick walkthrough of the flat to know where things were and be prepared for a relatively early morning, was to find a local pub and order a scotch whisky. It should also come as no surprise that the first one I ordered was from one of my favorite distilleries, though not my favorite expression from that distillery: the Auchentoshan 12 Year. Once the sheer enjoyment of enjoying a dram of scotch, in Scotland, in a local pub (which was actually right outside our flat, the White Hart Inn is well worth the visit) had truly registered, the next important task had to be performed: asking for a recommendation and trying a scotch I either had never heard of or, at the very least, had never tasted. The first recommendation ticked both of those boxes, and I enjoyed a dram of the Glen Scotia Double Cask expression. I found this Campbeltown scotch to be exceptionally pleasing and smooth on the palate, and would place it in my list of go-to selections for general enjoyment.

Having fulfilled two major requirements for our short time in Scotland, we made our way back to the flat for some rest after a relatively long day.

View of Edinburgh Castle from the Airbnb

Friday, August 30th

Friday seemed like a day we might not make it through everything we wanted to experience, yet at the same time was not planned very heavily. In the end we did make it to everything we had on our list to see or do, though.

We started the day with Edinburgh Castle, which was just as awe-inspiring and majestic as one might imagine a castle, situated in the middle of a city perched high on a rock, could possibly be. One piece of advice for those who want to get a few photographs of the castle without having a hundred people in your shots: as soon as you get through the admission gates, make your way as quick as possible to the courtyard area where the crown jewels are located. You will have a few minutes, at least, without the area being packed with visitors.

Beyond the spectacular views all around the castle and the simply amazing weather, we thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the history of the castle as a stronghold, residence, and prison. After taking some time to peruse the on-site whisky gift-shop, we began our journey down the Royal Mile (the individual streets that comprise the Royal Mile, from west to east, are Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street, the Canongate and Abbey Strand; sometimes referred to as Edinburgh's High Street, the Royal Mile is almost exactly one mile long and connects Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace).

As we meandered, we stopped in various places and ducked into various closes (the Scottish term for an alley) to see the city from many different angles. By the time we made it about halfway to Holyrood Palace we decided to stop and have lunch at the Tollbooth Tavern. I was slightly unsure of whether to try haggis or not prior to our trip, and ended up watching a video by The Broonfords entitled “Talking Haggis with The Haggis Box” (YouTube link) that made me decide I would absolutely try it. Unfortunately, due to the timing of our visit, the folks at The Haggis Box were on holiday, and we found the Tollbooth Tavern adjacent to where The Haggis Box has their shop set up. I wish I knew how the two compared, but I can definitely say the haggis from the Tollbooth Tavern was absolutely excellent, and I highly recommend it!

After lunch we continued our exploratory meandering toward Holyrood Park. The next item on our agenda was to hike Arthur’s Seat. I should pause for a moment and add a note here: while we were in Edinburgh the wind was blowing at a pretty constant 20ish miles per hour. While it felt absolutely wonderful to me, it did make some aspects of our excursion a little more challenging, such as being strong enough to knock Emily over once as we hiked to the top of Arthur’s Seat. As a result, we did take a little more of a roundabout route to the summit, just as a precaution.

The views from our hike were breathtaking. I easily fell in love with Edinburgh before we even made it to Holyrood Park and started toward Arthur’s Seat, but the hike and views from our trek made me love the city even more. Below I’ve included a short video clip recorded at the top. Just listen to the wind!

Just a quick video to hear the wind at the top of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh (August 30, 2019)

As we made our way back down to the Royal Mile it started to sprinkle, and we elected to stop in The World’s End to have a pint to see how long it would last. By the time we finished our drinks it was no longer raining, and we made our way down another street for coffee at the Edinburgh Press Club (definitely recommend stopping by for coffee if you’re in the area!) before continuing our journey back toward Edinburgh Castle.

We had finished our hike earlier than expected, and the next item on our itinerary was to have a tour and tasting at the Scotch Whisky Experience. We decided to go ahead and make our way there and see if we could go through early or if we needed to meander longer and come back at our scheduled time. Luckily they were not very busy when we arrived, and were able to move our time slot to the next available tour.

The tour itself was somewhat gimmicky, though still interesting. It does provide a decent idea of what the traditional scotch producing regions are known for and the official classifications of those regions, as well as an opportunity to see the world’s largest collection of scotch. The guided tasting was enjoyable, and anyone who would like to understand some of the subtleties between scotch whiskys will definitely learn a thing or two. The real treat, however, was in being able to enjoy a number of assorted scotch whiskys in their lounge.

As I previously mentioned, Auchentoshan is one of my favorite scotch distilleries. My favorite expression, at least prior to this trip, is the Three Wood, and the 18 Year expression I also found enjoyable (though I felt it not worth the price given how fantastic the Three Wood is). I found a new favorite, however, in Scotland. The Auchentoshan 21 Year expression was phenomenal. It definitely will not become one I am able to enjoy often, but I highly encourage everyone who enjoys scotch to give it a shot the next time you see it at a bar/pub.

After making our way back to the flat, Emily went to bed and I elected to go back out and just walk around the nearby area. I definitely was not ready for our time in Edinburgh to come to a close, but the next morning was an early flight to Dublin, and I was quite excited for the next leg of our journey.

I meandered for a short while, just taking in the sights and sounds of the city, before finally heading back to the flat. Edinburgh, you definitely made me wish for more time, though I am quite glad I even had the opportunity to experience even a fraction of what you have to offer!