Ireland and Scotland

[ckmk47]

When I saw that Yehoshua had written a trip report for a trip he took just a week before me, I thought I was off the hook.  But my experiences were so different than his, that it’s worth writing mine up, too.
The main thing to do in both Ireland and Scotland is see beautiful sights.  Throw in some castles and drinking and you’ve got most of this vacation covered.
The weather doesn’t get too hot, even in summer–it went as high as the 70’s F - and somewhat rainy – overcast with some drizzle and some breaks of sun – but didn’t feel miserable.  I was comfortable with a hooded jacket that I sometimes left in the car.
We rented a car in both Ireland and Scotland. You can see the sights without a car, though.  There are day tours everywhere from the city centers.
Driving:  It’s not just that driving is on the opposite of the road, the whole scheme is reversed. You sit on the right, drive on the left, and the right lane is the passing lane.  The problem I found was that the driving lanes are narrower than ours, especially on back country roads, but even in the city. I kept the lane marking at the base of my windshield wiper as I drove, so I stayed in lane.  There’s a tendency to drift too far to the left ( so the driver sees the road as he would when sitting in the left driver’s seat), so I had to concentrate when driving.  I would do it again, but it’s not so easy that you don’t have to pay attention.
Lodging: There were several advantages for us to stay in an Airbnb.  First of all, my husband and I were traveling with my sister and BIL, so we like having common living space to socialize and plan together.  Secondly, we like having a kitchen to heat our dinners and prepare breakfast and lunch. Additionally, we’d need 2 hotel rooms, so an Airbnb is usually cheaper and larger although it has no luxuries or concierge.  (I bought some Airbnb giftcards for 90% of value, so I got an even better buy.)
Food: For breakfast we brought coffee, Quaker oatmeal packets and a small frying pan.  We bought eggs and vegetables locally on our first day. For lunch, we brought tuna packets, mezonos bread and prepared quinoa in bowls and flavored tuna and salmon in easy open cans. 
 
In Dublin we got frozen, prepared dinners from Melanie Stein. ([email protected])  They come double wrapped in a tin. As per her instructions, we defrosted it overnight, refrigerated it over the day, and heated it up when we came home. Worked well. Generous portions, good food. She brought it to our Airbnb the first night. She’d thoughtfully defrosted the first night’s meals for us.
And in Glasgow we got frozen meals from L’chaim.  Rabbi Jacobs was very accommodating as far as pickup, and he even microwaved the first night’s meals for us.  We followed Melanie’s plan and defrosted each night’s meals in advance.  These were double wrapped in plastic sectional trays.  Ready to be microwaved. He only had 2 varieties available because a cruise ship had unexpectedly wiped out his stock. So we took both roast chickens and lamb.  Delicious, full portions!

[ckmk47]

Activities
We landed Monday morning and after settling into our Airbnb, [The apartment was clean, had a decent amount of living space and a good working kitchen.  2 tiny bedrooms each with a tiny bathroom. Limited hot water meant staggering the showers. Acceptable, not great.  $505 for the 3 nights we were there. Approx $85/couple /night.]
We went to the Guinness Storehouse, the most popular tourist attraction in Dublin.  It has you walking along with large posters to teach about brewing their ‘iconic’ beer and then you get a pint in a bar with 360 degree windows. Great view of the city. Fun time!  We bought tickets in advance for this, but you probably don’t usually have to.

From there we went to Trinity College, a secular, formerly Protestant, university established in 1592.  They’re famous for the Book of Kells, a Christian Gospel manuscript written and illustrated around year 800.  When we walked through the gates, there were students offering free tours of the university grounds with the purchase of a ticket to view the Book of Kells.  The tour was interesting and enjoyable. It was about the history and habits of the university and its old buildings.  They’re particularly proud of having the longest library room, which has its books filed by size – largest volumes on bottom, and so on. (lehavil- gemaras on the bottom, pocket siddurim on the top). The Book of Kells itself was the equivalent of, lehavdil, old illustrated Hagadas, but much older.  Also, it’s written in a Celtic font, but writing Latin words. Unique.
 
The Great Hall in Trinity College Library.  Each alcove has bookcases with the largest books on the bottom shelf.”a”. smallest ones on the top shelf “o”.   

This was enough activity for the first day; we were all exhausted from the travel and time change, though we stopped at a grocery to pick up some fruits, veggies and drinks, etc.  When we got back to our apartment, Melanie delivered our food.
Tuesday we started with a davening disappointment. We got an Airbnb within walking distance of the shul. As per the website of the Dublin Hebrew Congregation, the guys got to shul at 7 am for shachris.  Unfortunately, the shul was locked. They made some more effort, but came back and davened in the apartment and resigned themselves to not having a minyan in Dublin.  They tried reaching the Rabbi, who replied to their email only days later as we were leaving Dublin, that the minyan had been moved to 8 am.  Really annoying!
Since we were all up early, we got a good start and drove west.  All around were fields with cows, even along the highways. We didn’t see food being grown. Only hay farms, with tan colored grasses. The farms had stone walls separating them.  Picturesque. When we got off the main highway, the roads were curvy and went right through towns. We had to slow down on Main Street, then out of town and faster again.
We went to the Cliffs of Mohar.  We bought our entry tickets in advance because we heard they fill up and limit capacity.  It wasn’t overly full when we went, but there were plenty of people.  The cliffs are pretty - like their pictures. Since they’re at a curve, when you stand on top you look out at the other section. We were there on a slightly foggy day.
Cliffs of Mohar, right side

  Cliffs of Mohar, left side

Really nice. Very windy. The car park leads to the center area that is part of the national park system. It has large stairs and platforms to walk along the cliffs.  Then there’s a warning sign that the next section is NOT part of the ‘visitor center’ and is dangerous. People climb around the sign and keep going along the cliffs.  Toward the left side of the Cliffs, the additional area is wide and flat.  On the right, the extended path is too narrow and too near the edge.  My sister and I were too scared to go forward.  Our husbands went, though. The cliff path too close to the edge.

Right side: you can see the Official Visitor’s Center stairs and path. At the top, there’s a small, castle-like, locked building. Also note the layers of rock that form the cliff.

Cows grazing right near the parking lot.

When we left the Cliffs, we drove a bit without knowing exactly what we exactly what we were looking for.  We passed an old shell of a castle and stopped to explore.  Others were doing the same.
           
   
The right side of the building was probably the original the defense tower.  No windows, only arrow slits.  The rest of the house maybe added at a later, safer time.
Inside, I put a pink arrow where a wooden floor beam possibly once was.

We then stopped at a visitor’s center and got a map of a nature trail.  It was nothing special, but we got to understand that the area has limestone as its base, rather than a rich soil for planting.   
The road we drove along often had trees whose foliage was cropped to reach across the road above the car.  It felt like driving through a tunnel of leaves.

We drove back to Dublin, but an alternate scenario is to stay in the west overnight and see Galway and other things in the area.
To be continued.....

[Denverite]

Really cool, thanks for sharing and looking forward to the rest!

[ckmk47]

Wednesday drove south (westerly).  We drove through the Wicklow Mountain Gap.  Curvy narrow road, but not at cliffs edge.  Beautiful!  There’s an official place to see the beauty, but the views on the drive were better.  There are ‘P’- parking cutouts along the road to pull over and look.  Many are blocked by trees from seeing the best stuff, unfortunately.  Mostly sheep, rather than cows. We were there in the foggy drizzle.  Still beautiful.
We continued on to Kilkenny Castle.  Beautifully furnished. Great views. Thoroughly enjoyed. Guides in each room to answer questions. Then we walked around Kilkenny itself.  Old town feel. Quaint streets, but not solely a tourist town. Also enjoyed. We passed a college and walked onto its grounds. It might have been Ormonde College.  Old stone buildings.  Pillars and trim.  Filthy, though. They need a good power wash, but they’re afraid it will ruin the details of the carved designs.
Kilkenny Castle
Kilkenny Castle
   
Dining Room                        and garden in Kilkenny Castle

One interesting thing about ceilings/ roofs.  In the late 13th century they developed and used a method to construction a hammerbeam roof.  When standing underneath it, it looks like the inside of a boat.  It’s made without iron nails, only wooden pegs.  The Kilkenny Castle in Ireland has it in its Gallery Room, painted in a way that I didn’t think enhanced it. But this type of ceiling we saw in Edinburgh in the Holyrood Palace and Edinburgh Castle. All built in the same era.
               
The Gallery                Detail of the ceiling. Note the animal head on the end of the support beam.

Then we drove back home, not through the mountain. After we ate supper at our apartment, we should have gone out to a local pub. Pubs are not the exact equivalent to a bar in NY. They’re more like informal restaurants with drinks served.  It’s a place to get a feel of the locals.  Known to be fun.
Thurday, we stayed in Dublin because we were flying out to Glascow Scotland in the evening.  We packed up our stuff and left it in the car all day. 
We went to Kilmainham Gaol.  An old jail.  A bit of history about jails and 19th century reforms, some of which we find absurd today, like no glass in the windows to allow in fresh air.  Although that was a step up from dungeons with dank fetid air. The tour hit upon the history of revolts against England and the rebels held in the jail. Worth visiting.
After lunch, we stopped in the National Art Gallery.  They're very proud of it. It has a Rembrandt and other Dutch paintings, a Picasso and some other cubist art, along with plenty to see and enjoy.  We started by following a free tour, but weren’t interested in delving that deeply into the painting.
Then off to the airport and our flight to GLAsgow. We ate our defrosted, room temperature supper either at the gate or on the plane.
Scotland to come...

[Yehoshua]

Nice TR so far. I wonder why we didn't plan our trips together if we went to the same places just a week apart and in the opposite order? Looking forward to the rest.

[davidmal]

so cool

I was expecting is to be more intoxicating

[nafnaf12]

Nice TR so far. I wonder why we didn't plan our trips together if we went to the same places just a week apart and in the opposite order? Looking forward to the rest.

although that ship has sailed, maybe you guys want to help put together a 1 1/2 day itinerary for me 
id like to pass by en route* from Belgium to London ideally would like to spend Sunday afternoon to Monday night

*fly there and make my way to London

[ckmk47]

Edinburgh
Quaint, old city.  You can hit representatives of all the Scottish highlights within walking distance of each other.
Edinburgh castle has Scottish history and the Crown Jewels.
Walk the "royal mile" - we used Rick Steves, but there are numerous walking tours.
At the other end of the mile is Holyrood Palace - a residence of Queen Elizabeth.
Additionally, there's a steep mountain climb available near the palace with a good view and along the 'walk' there's The Whiskey Experience which teaches about types of whiskey, gives you a taste and an opportunity to buy some.

[ludmila]

Thanks for the TR.

[seemorehabs]

looking into visiting Scotland with 8 adults, mostly distillery and general tours. any advice or tips, also would love to get a driver......

Thanks in advance

[UKinNYS]

If you want full concierge https://kosherscotland.com/
I've not done any tours beside a random stop years ago to The Famous Grouse which is now under the Glenturret brand. Its officially Scotland’s Oldest Working Distillery.
They had a cute thing where you could buy a bottle and print a customized label with "The Famous fill in blank"