Days 7 and 8---Scotland

Day 7: We woke early to pile on the bus and make our journey to Scotland. On the way to catch the Ferry we were able to see where the Titanic was built. Interesting--and this brought on conversations of how many people on the bus have not seen the movie. CRAZY! Since the seat rotation on the coach changed each day-it was our turn to sit in the back of the bus. These are the dreaded seats of all seats. There are 5 seats across and we are expected to fit 5 grown adults in them. Not hardly. I was squished between a 94 year old women sitting sideways and my husband who needs 3 times the leg room than a women. Needless to say this was the LONGEST-most difficult leg of our journey. I tried to sleep to make the sickness go away-but that is quite difficult when you have no place to put your head. Oh well- we survived.
We caught the Ferry that would take us from Ireland to Scotland, and this time it only took 2 hours. While on the ferry we decided to have lunch. I was craving a hamburger and fries so is what we ate. We picked up Heinz packets thinking it was ketchup and to our surprise it was vinegar. Still not sure why vinegar was out in the open like ketchup is here in the states. It amazes me how precise the system is they have in place. They had the entire Ferry full of vehicles empty within 15 minutes. Amazing! After the Ferry--we were on solid ground for another 5+ hours of driving in our lovely back seats. The scenery was beautiful and it was just what I had pictured Scotland to be. Green rolling fields, sheep, flowers, rock "fences", blue sky---just really pretty. WE finally arrived at our hotel in Edinburgh--perfect timing too----we had to get off that bus before Devin and I killed each other. The hotel was tiny--tiny is actually an understatement. If you were a larger person-I really think you would have been stuck between the bed(s) and the wall. There was maybe a foot of space between. It was fine- our room overlooked a really pretty park and we could see the old part of Edinburgh very clearly. In fact, we had a perfect view of the castle. We took an evening stroll around the area of our hotel and guess what we came across??? The Hard Rock Cafe. Go figure. Of course we went there (if you travel with Devin-the Hard rock is the only reason to visit a city and/or a country) and had potato skins and ice cream. Dinner of champions. That evening we called the kids to see how they were doing. I think Cortlynn and Tristan were handling the separation better than me.
I actually hung up the phone and cried. I sure did miss my kids.

Day 8: I woke up and was exhausted. I think the traveling from the day before caught up to me and I just looked like someone had beat me. We loaded onto the bus for the tour of the city and a stop at Edinburgh Castle. Since I was in such a "wonderful mood"--I lost it on the bus and told one of the most annoying individuals I've ever met to Chill-Out and be patient. This was in my not so nice tone and when I was finished I sat in my seat and was ticked off. Devin had missed the situation but could tell something was wrong by my face and was probably glad I didn't unleash my fury on him. We toured the castle and our tour guide Richard was great. Kilt and everything. The castle was lovely and we were able to see an actual Scottish wedding--bag pipes, Roles Royce, Kilts, small little ancient church--it was really cool. After the castle we had the entire day to ourselves to explore the city. Devin had it in his head that he was going to buy himself a kilt in his families colors. That was until we went to a wool mill and he was told that for them to make a kilt in his families tartan (which is not an every day tartan) it would be $1000.00! That wouldn't even include the added accessories. That dream was dashed and he decided to get the next best thing: the Family Crest. I heard this will be awesome but we won't receive it for about 8 weeks. He's excited so that is what matters. I loved the older part of Edinburgh. LOVED IT! Everywhere you go is up hill--but it was always worth it. The old buildings, pubs, cathedrals, passageways, just everything was interesting. That evening we did a Ghost tour of the underground taverns and the graveyard the McKenzie Poltergeist frequents. This was on Devin's list of top things he wanted to do. The underground was a little scarier because it was pitch black---the cemetery, not so much. It doesn't get dark there until 11:30pm, so the atmosphere wasn't creepy at all. The tour guide was good but everything he would say would start out like," What I'm about to tell you is true and really happened to me or to someone I am close too"...right! The one story he told us was "true" and happened to some girls he knew-sounded exactly like the movie "The Ruins". Yep-I'm sure that really happened to girls you knew. Of course when you're in a group there is always a person that is obnoxious and ruins it for the rest of us. This tour was no exception. In fact the tour guide came close to kicking the guy out. Why do people think they need to be the center of attention all of the time. Just shut up and enjoy it. Don't spend the money if you're going to be a butt; I didn't pay money to listen to you flap your jaw. Next to the "scary" cemetery was a little diner where the Rowlins chick wrote Harry Potter and the inspiration for the Hogwarts school was on the other side of the cemetery. I really could care less-but I bet a lot of Harry Potter fans would have gone absolutely crazy.

Continuation of Trip- Days 4-6

Day 4: We woke up early, loaded onto the motor coach, and drove around Cardiff do view the beautiful city. We were able to stop and visit Cardiff Castle and do a little shopping before making our way over St. Georges Channel via the slowest ferry ever. After 4 extremely long hours on the ferry we reached solid ground and departed for our next stop-Waterford. Our hotel was right along the river and we had a wonderful view. That evening we had a dinner as a group and enjoyed some of the local Ireland food.

Day 5: We woke up the next morning and took a walking tour of Waterford. Our guide was great and the information he had on Waterford and the early vikings was interesting. Come to find out he has been to 2 states in the United States: Montana and Idaho. How random is that?! Later that day we stopped in Kildare to visit the Irish National Stud. This place would have been my grandfathers dream. What beautiful horses and grounds. While there we were able to "meet" a horse that costs $70,000 for his stud services. WOW!! He just stood in the field as if he knew he was THE STUD. For lunch we didn't understand anything on the menu so I went for the safe bet and ordered a baked potato--I still have no clue what was in that potato. I think everything but the kitchen sink. That evening we stayed in Dublin in a hotel right along the river. It was great until the hotel lost Devin's suitcase for over 3 hours. They had placed it in an empty room and just thought it would miraculously find it's way to the correct owners. Devin and I decided to take a walk and locate the Hard Rock Cafe. We had an enjoyably expensive American meal and toured the city for a little bit longer.

Day 6: After taking an orientation drive of Dublin we stopped at Trinity College and toured the museum and was able to see the Book of Kells. This place was hot and everything smelled like really old musty books. After existing the museum we had to walk thru a gift shop (just like getting off a ride at Disneyland-always a gift shop) and we saw a girl who passed out. She actually looked dead---they dragged her outside and called for help but in the meantime was just trying to wake her up. Devin went over to help and I sat out of the way. After a LONG time-a medical person showed up and looked lost. Not sure what he was planning on doing. Note to others traveling to Ireland: Don't get sick b/c you may not recover and help takes forever! After the college tour we had the entire afternoon to tour the city. Devin and I went to the park and watched the Worlds Best street performers. This was pretty fun and there were even break dancers from New York performing. We walked throughout the streets and enjoyed the atmosphere Dublin had to offer. We went back to the hotel to get ready for our evening dinner and tour of the Guinness Storehouse. Devin was in heaven! We toured the brewery and it was very interesting. Devin was able to taste test a Guinness and taste test some more. Dinner was wonderful and the dessert was even better. Since we were part of a private tour- the building was open late just for us and we were able to do some shopping at the gift shop. We arrived back at the hotel around 10:00 and I needed ice cream. Since there wasn't anything in the hotel, we had to walk to the nearest McDonald's which was blocks away. The long walk was worth it--that was one of the best Sundays I've had.
Overall all Ireland was pretty but not what I expected. I expected rolling hills and rock fences with castles and open green farm land. Nope- this isn't was we experienced. We were probably on the wrong side of the island but Ireland is so commercial. Everywhere you turned there was a KFC, Subway, McDonald's, Burger King, and Starbucks. It was like you were walking down a street in the United States.