Umbrellas, Treats and Stuff

Well guys, it's been THREE WEEKS since C senior and I set off on our adventure. We've been all over Ireland and halfway around Scotland. It's hard to believe we've seen so much and still have so much more to see!

Since you lovely people have been so nice to read our posts, I thought it would be nice to write a bonus post for you all. Just a wee insight to our actual experience being so far from home. I know pictures of castles and rolling hills are pretty cool, but I want to share more details on everything that surrounds the sightseeing. 

"It'll be grand."

This is a phrase you've all heard. However, our tour guide way back in Dublin taught us how the Irish use it. He distinguished between the English 'grand' and the Irish 'grand.' Most people use 'grand' in the English context: "Isn't that sunset GRAND?" "We know exactly where we're going and how to get there! Isn't that GRAND?" Basically it's an adjective saying something is great, awesome, fantastic, wonderful etc. But the Irish use 'grand' to describe a state of thinking. Example: "Well, we've got 8 hours of traveling from Skye to Edinburgh today... but it'll be over before you know it. It'll be grand." "I have no idea which bus we're supposed to take! But we'll find our way; it'll be grand." It's like saying "It'll be fine. It'll be alright in time." As you can imagine, we've had to adopt this phrase as a kind of motto for this trip :P

Weather

I feel so blessed in terms of weather during our trip so far. Thank you so much to those who prayed for nice weather because God heard you! The Irish, Scottish and English will readily joke with you about the loads of rain they get - all 357 days of it. But thankfully, the rain has mostly come at opportune times for us - travel days, during the night or in the evening after we've already been 'oot and aboot. Keep praying because we've got 3 1/2 more weeks until we get to Berlin!

Food

Between the two of us, we've been exosed to mighty strange foods in Africa and South America... but thankfully the weirdest thing in the UK is haggis. If you don't know what it is, wait only until after you've eaten and then look it up. There's also little to no language barrier when choosing off a menu; in fact, the hardest item to request is soda... I haven't quite figured out what they call it aside from asking for "Coke." The best thing I've found at local grocery stores is real fruit smoothies. They're not like America's "real" fruit smoothies, the ingredient list is literally: 1/2 and orange, a bunch of red grapes, 5 strawberries, an apple and 2 bananas. They're my new favorite thing!  

C senior and I have our own little indulgences when it comes to food... she drinks tea all the time like any proper person would, and I try every kind of dessert and pastry I can get my hands on! And just to prove my indulgence is better than my sister's:

But sometimes our two treats collide, and it's grand.

Hostel Situations

If any of you are curious how a person gets a good night's rest abroad... let me enlighten you: you don't. Okay, it's not that dramatic but living the hostel (not hostile) life is a world away from being at home. For our younger readers, think of your dorm room but with 5 bunk beds in it and getting new roommates every night. For my less young readers... imagine the same thing. This might help you understand:

It was more comfortable than it looks! And don't worry, this is just an "extension" of our hostel (which is an actual building).

You kind of get used to it after three weeks. And it's a great way to meet fellow travelors. You must know, however, that hostel conversations do not follow the same rules as every other day conversations.

Question 1: Where are you from?

Question 2: How long have you been in _____? How do you like it? You should check out these places....

Question 3: How long is your trip?

We would respond with 2 months and the next question would depend on the questioner. 

a) If the questioner is Australian (it's normal for young Australians to travel for 8-10+ months at a time): "Oh that's cool, I've been to all those places and you'll have a great time."

b) If the questioner is American: "WOW that's SO long! I would love to go to all those places but we're only here a week..."

c) Anyone else would say: "Where have you been/where are you going in that time?"

Question 4: (this question is only asked out of habit but no one really cares what the answer is and is the first thing they'll forget. It sometimes isn't asked at all even if you room with the same people for 3 days) "What's your name?"

Overall, it's an interesting experience staying in hostels. Your really get to know the local culture plus many others.

Other Stuff

I've covered the main bits of the traveler's life, but here are a few other things I've noticed:

Not only do they drive on the left side of the road (the wrong side) their lanes are SO SMALL! Basically their highway lanes are about the same as our back road lanes. You can probably fit 2 full Irish back roads into our highway lanes. And the people here are such good drivers too! They only need two highway lanes because people go at a proper pace, know when and how to use the "fast" lane, and (the most admirable and lacking trait back home) they are understanding drivers. They're okay with sitting for a minute while you make a three point turn because it happens, it's not a big deal and they get that. If you can't tell, I have strong opinions about drivers' conduct. Maybe if we cut the size of our roads in half, we'd learn to drive as well.

The views are always better on the other side of the bus. Buses, trains, ferries or tours we always seem to sit on the wrong side. Granted, the best photos usually aren't taken through a window, but it's a trend we have unfortunately fallen into.

Speaking of photography, here's the story of how my first camera bit the dust... literally. It was several years ago in Mexico, and my camera got dropped in the sand and consequently ruined it forever. I learned an important lesson from that experience though. Before, I would take pictures of everything and then I would immediately go back through all these pictures deciding which to delete. I would spend all my time looking at the camera display that I missed out on what was happening right in front of me. Learn from me: yes, it's important to document new scenery and experiences, but not so important that these new things pass right by you (through the opposite window of the bus, of course).

I hope you enjoyed this wee insight to the experience of your two favourite travelers. More soon from Edinburgh.

Isle of Skye Highlights

It was windy and rainy when C junior and I set off for the Isle of Skye from Oban. The rain persisted through our train trip and part of our bus trip. Then, when we came to the bridge connecting the mainland to Skye, the sun burst between the clouds, and a rainbow appeared. The first of many that we saw that day.

After checking in, we immediately went on a walk called Fox Hill. Check out the views we saw of the island below.

On our second day, we went on a tour of the whole Island of Skye with MacBackpackers Tours. And we had a blast. We stuck our faces in a river for six seconds to gain eternal youth. It was quite cold but it helped sharpen our senses to take in the fantastic Cuillin Mountains. 

And we visited the Fairy Glen, making sure NOT to swear, whistle, or put our hands in our pockets because those are the three things that apparently annoy fairies...

And then we took a hike in Staffin...

After all this, C junior and I decided to climb up to Moil Castle. What a long day!

On our third and final day, we had planned on going to Loch Ness with the hope of catching a glimpse of Nessie. But, when we heard a lesser known telling of the legend of the Loch Ness monster, it caused us to change our plans.* Did you know that Nessie...has a little sister?! Yep, it's true. Lil' Bessie was actually born right off Skye's beach and then got trapped in a river right outside our hostel. We thought that seeing Bessie was more probable than her moody and secretive sister, so we scoured the river. We looked and looked and then suddenly...Bessie popped up out of the water!

*Like all legends, there's only a grain of truth and a good measure of exaggeration. The truth is that Loch Ness was too expensive and difficult to get to, and we also needed a day of rest and relaxation. But Bessie is real, even though she is a plastic blow up toy and came from a gift shop. But who knows, she might make another appearance...

-C&C

Fast & Furious 7

I know Fast & Furious 6 just came out... but C senior and I started filming our own version of sorts. 

Last Friday, we walked to the bus station bright and early, rode the bus to the ferry terminal, rode the ferry over to Scotland, begged to be put on an earlier bus to Glasgow, and finally walked to our hostel.  If you think that's crazy, that's pretty much how it goes on all our travel days...

The ferry ride over was actually really cool. I classify it as a mini-cruise... but not really. There was a spa, a few restaurants and an arcade though! But the only comforts I needed were a juicy hamburger with chips and the ocean air. 

Glasgow was pretty uneventful. We only stayed one night so there was little time to really get to know the city. We did check out the Glasgow Cathedral, George Square an the shops. AND (for all you nerds out there) We stumbled across a TARDIS replica! (I know it wasn't the real thing because I called and called but the Doctor never came.... if you don't get it, don't worry about it)

On Saturday, we rushed to the train station to continue our fast and furious journey to Oban. Though, however fast and furious WE are, I can't help but feel that our modes of transportation are slow and tiresome... at least we had good views on this train ride.

Oban is a nice coastal town that is nicknamed "The Gateway to the Isles" since it is so close the many isles of Scotland. I'll get to the isles later... but for now, here are some maps so you all can picture what I'm talking about.

We were in Oban for just two days, but we certainly made the best of it. The day we got there, we walked up a steep hill to check out McCaig's Tower - an unfinished colosseum of sorts on a high hill behind Oban.

The steep climb was worth the views. We could see the many isles in the distance and the giant ferries carrying passengers to and from them. After stumbling back down the hill, we walked along the coast until the sidewalks stopped. Even then, we kept going for awhile anyway to get closer to a castle we had found. The walk was really refreshing after being cooped up in a train for so long.

The next day, we hopped on one of those giant ferries to the Isle of Mull - this is one of the larger islands. We took a bus across the island while our driver pointed out miscellaneous wild life and geological wonders of the island that I didn't understand. One fact did stick with me though: did you know that Phil Collins lived on the Isle of Mull for 5 years at one point?? Apparently these islanders don't listen to rock and roll so no one knew who Phil was. He found this solitude so nice that he tried to buy an old house on the island intending to turn it into a recording studio. I cant help but wonder whether he wrote  "I Wish It Would Rain Down" before or after he lived in this rainy part of the world.

From the bus we rushed to make the first ferry to the Isle of Iona, the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland. The picture below is St. Columba's Abbey, where St. Columba resided and spread Christianity on the island. I am sure that he must have climbed to the top of Dun'I (the second picture) to gain a greater understanding of God's creation... that's what we did!

And so, we ended our day rushing back to the first ferry, the Mull bus, and the last ferry to Oban.

Today begins the climax of Fast & Furious 7. We'll be spending the next 3 days on the Isle of Skye chasing trains, buses, tours and who knows what else - you'll here more once the credits start rolling on this crazy section of our trip!

-C&C

Belfast Highlights

Hey all! C junior here. 

We left the Republic of Ireland on Monday and entered Northern Ireland which is still part of the United Kingdom. We spent 5 days in Belfast as a sort of quiet before the storm (our itinerary really speeds up once we get to Scotland - yikes!).

On Tuesday, we took the Black Taxi Tour of West Belfast where the "Troubles" happened. The Troubles was the time in the 20th century when Belfast was in a civil war between the Catholics and the Protestants. It was very sad to hear about how each side massacred the other just for being Catholic or Protestant, and that a wall, called the Peace Wall and was established before the Berlin Wall, still separates the two sections of West Belfast today. Yet, our cab driver, who had three family members killed during this struggle and was arrested five times at gun point, is hopeful that the wall will come down in 18 years time. The really sad thing is that nobody ever hears about this situation or the history behind it.

Wednesday we took a tour to the Giant's Causeway. This natural wonder is located on the NE coast of Ireland and situated so one can look off to the East and, on a clear day, see Scotland. The amazing rock structures were created by the ancient Irish giant Finn McCool who wanted to pick a fight with the Scottish giant, Benandonner, who he could see across the water. 

True story. And here are the remnants of that encounter:

We also walk up the mountain to see Finn's pipe organ which he only plays at 6am on Christmas day. 

And on up the mountain we strolled for fantastic views of the Causeway area. 

The tour also took us to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge which was used by fisherman to get to Carrick-a-Rede Island for salmon fishing (that really is a true story). Learning the history if the bridge was very interesting - and the views were pretty cool too. 

Our last day was a very relaxed one touring the Titanic museum (Belfast was where the ship was built).

On Friday we will be taking a 2 hour ferry ride over to Scotland!

An Inconceivable Excursion

We stayed in Galway for the past two days. Galway's best attraction is its night life. Since we are not really pub/nightclub people, we did not enjoy the city as much as we did its outlying attractions.

So, what we really enjoyed was our tour to the Cliffs of Moher (we used and would recommend Healy Tours http://www.burrenwalks.com/burrenandcliffsofmohertour.htm).

Our first stop was on the Connolly Family Farm where we got to feed a wild goat, walk along the Burren (literally meaning rocky place; basically a limestone covered area), and eat some cake with cream at Granny's house.

Our next stop was the Cliffs of Moher (pronounced "more"). Now these very cliffs were featured in a film we know and love: The Princess Bride. Remember the Cliffs of Insanity? Yep, they are one and the same. Thankfully, we didn't have to duel the Dread Pirate Roberts on the cliffs' edge. Our only struggle was against other tourists to get the best shots.

To end our tour, we stopped off at the Castle of Dunguaire.

Just like The Princess Bride, we started with a charming farm, were thrilled by the cliffs, and ended in fleeing a castle. Now, if only we could find an MLT, where the mutton is nice and lean...

-C&C

Killarney Highlights

I (C senior) am writing this post in the middle of a thunderstorm here in Killarney. We have stayed in Killarney for the past four days, changing our plans yet again.

On the first day, we went walking in the Killarney National Park. We visited Ross Castle in the pouring rain and some hail.

The second day, we saw the Ring of Kerry. The picture  below really speaks for itself as to how awesome and beautiful the west coast of Ireland really is.

The last picture stop we made on the Ring of Kerry was called Ladies Point. When queen Victoria made a visit to Killarney, she decided to have a picnic at the place we now call Ladies Point. The morning of the picnic, she sent her ladies in waiting ahead of her to prepare the seating and eating area. The ladies went and set and prepared, but it was such a nice day that they decided to take a short break to enjoy the sunshine. However, the Queen came early. On finding that her picnic was not ready when she arrived, she chastised her ladies in waiting. Therefore the spot is not named after Her Majesty, but her ladies.

On the third day, we ventured off to find Muckross House. The weather was sunny, very rare in the past couple of days. It was about a 5k walk to Muckross Abbey along rock strewn paths by the lake.

Then, it was another 2k to the actual house. It started to rain pretty hard, but we were able to take refuge in a small gazebo.

To end our visit, we walked another 2k to Torc Waterfall in the pouring rain.

After leaving the waterfall, we realized that we were going to have to walk all the way back! (That would be 2k + 2k + 5k = 9k!) Our achy bodies were very thankful when we got back to the hostel.

On our last day in Killarney, we saw the town of Dingle and went around the Slea Head Loop on Dingle Peninsula. The Dingle Peninsula is part of the Gaeltacht region, meaning that they speak Irish (Gaelic) as their first language and then English second.

-C&C

Dublin Highlights

Hello all! 

Sorry for the delay! I (C junior) actually wrote an entire post on the train yesterday but failed to save it :( so here we go again:

Dublin was a very lovely city. Staying five days was a great way to ease into the trip. During our time in Dublin, we saw the Garden of Remembrance (a memorial for all the Irish who gave their lives in their fight for freedom from English), Trinity College (home of the book of Kells - illuminated manuscripts of the four gospels written by Celtic monks), and went an Evensong at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

On our last day, we took a day trip to the Rock of Cashel, Blarney Castle and the city of Cork. Up on the Rock of Cashel, it was just as beautiful as it was windy. Blarney castle was even more amazing. The huge castle was so cool to climb around and the castle grounds was like walking through a Jane Austen story. I did kiss the Blarney Stone to acquire the "gift of gab." Look up the story behind that if you're curious!

And that's what happened in Dublin! We made it our next location (Killarney) without any problems.

In Killarney we walked around the small town and took a day tour around the Ring of Kerry. This is a 3 hour loop around the east coast by Killarney. The drive was full of mountains, lakes, ocean views, old houses and lots of wind. It was an absolutely gorgeous way to spend a day.

Future posts will be more prompt and detailed, I promise! We're just trying to get into a rhythm :)

Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoyed this quick summary of Ireland so far!

-C&C

Mother's Day

My sister and I have to spend this Mother's Day away from the woman who has been there since the beginning. Mom, you've been such a dear friend to us - always fun and wise and willing to spend girl time with your daughters. Your ability to be a mom, a friend and a woman of God has always been so inspiring. We love you so much and are so sad we can't be with you today.

To our mother and all mothers reading this, here is some encouragement in Steven Curtis Chapman's words. You are changing the world "One Heartbeat At A Time."

You're up all night with a screaming baby

You run all day at the speed of life
And every day you feel a little bit less
Like the beautiful woman you are

So you fall into bed when you run out of hours
And you wonder if anything worth doing got done
Oh, maybe you just don't know
Or maybe you've forgotten

You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

With every "I know you can do it"
Every tear that you kiss away
So many little things that seem to go unnoticed
They're just like the drops of rain over time
They become a river

And you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
How you're changing the world
You're changing the world

You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
Oh, I believe that you
You are changing the world
One little heartbeat
At a time

And you're changing the world

And So It Begins...

Well, we made it to Ireland! After a long flight and public bus ride, we decided not to hit the sights right away or stay in our tiny hostel room but instead retreat to St. Stephen's Green. This is a 22-acre park located in the heart of Dublin. We strolled along the interweaving paths, leisurely sat on park benches, and slowly allowed Dublin culture into our weary minds. Oh! And we got rained on...three times. But I suppose that is to be expected. However, unlike the weather we are used to, the sun makes an appearance after each shower. Well, good night, and we will have more for you soon.