June 2, 2013

Note to self, at the gas station in Ireland, green means unleaded, black is diesel.  We were suppose to go to Northern Ireland today but plans changed. Good thing the gas station is only a block from the hotel. I did get a short nap in the parking lot of the gas station and the rest of the crew got to nap at the hotel.  Tow truck finally  made it and about 20 minutes later we had a new van only this one is gray.  I was reassured that this happens all the time and I did the best thing by calling the rental company before I drove it.  Glad we paid for the extra insurance.

We ended up at the    Ardgillan Castle just north of Dublin.  Kids loved this castle because it had huge lawns that they could run around on and roll down the hills. It was great for us to just sit and enjoy the views.  We then found a beach and picked up sea shells.  Kids were glad that we did not have to spend another day traveling in the van.

Ardgillan Castle 

Kids running around on the castle lawns.

Showing off some of the shells they found.

June 3

We caught the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead Wales.  The trip was about 2 hours long and was a new experience for all of us.  When we got to Holyhead we rented 2 cars because as we learned later you cannot rent 9 passenger vans in England unless you are affiliated with the government.  So Tauna gets to have the experience of driving on the left hand side. We then had a 5 hour drive to Coylton, Scotland.  We finally got there around 12:30 am and was glad to be out of the cars.  The last 50 miles was on a small Scottish road that had no part longer then a 100 yards that was straight and barley wide enough for 2 cars to pass by each other.

Waiting to board the ferry.

On board the ferry

June 4

Today we just stayed at the house we had rented and did some laundry.  We are still having a hard time adjusting to it being light so late and slept  in late.  Scotland smell s like a dairy farm, at least this part we are staying in.  We ventured over to the beach this evening and let the kids play for a while.  We found a castle perched on the side of some cliffs on the coast and took some pictures.  We found out that it was called Wallace tower and belonged to the William Wallace family.  We could not go inside and it was not very large.  Saw a fox and some pheasants while we were there.

Abbey in the back yard in Scotland

The Wallace Tower (Castle)

The house we stayed at in Scotland, the white one on the left.

May 28, 2013

Made it to Las Vegas and had about 4 hours to wait in the terminal for our plane.  Kids were able to watch the plane come in and the see what was happening to it as it was prepared for our flight.  Our kids were pretty impressed that we all had our own little screens that we could choose movies on.  The flight was good and no problems.

May 29, 2013

Landed at Heathrow and the fun began.  British airways had a wheelchair for Mike and gave him, Natalie and Grandma Buchanan a ride to the next terminal.  Tauna, I and the kids walked and took a shuttle.  Heathrow is a crazy airport, there are 5 terminals and no order to any of them.  3 of our group managed to sneak past airport security and were not allowed to get on the plane to Dublin.  So half went on to Dublin while the other half went back and caught the next flight.  We caught a double decker bus to the hotel. Finally got to the hotel around 9:30 that night and was ready for bed.  Sorry to admit it but we had McDonalds our first night in Ireland.  Mike will deny that if you ask him.

 May 30, 2013

We slept in and then decided to take a bus into Dublin City Centre.  We loved Dublin and spent most of our time in the National Museum.  We got to see the Bog people, St. Patrick's Shrine and other amazing artifacts....and of course the gift shop.  We had dinner in St Stephens Green, a park right in the middle of the city and had our first proper Fish and Chips. It does not get dark until 11:00 pm and light at 4:00 am so we are having a hard time adjusting to the fact that it really is late.  Picture to the right is outside the national museum.

  This picture is of Grafton Street downtown Dublin.

the one below is of the Liffey river.

The kids at St Stephens Green Feeding pigeons.  We loved Dublin.  It's an amazing city and the architecture is indescribable.  The Irish are very friendly and willing to help.  Several people asked us if we needed help and gave us directions.  The fellow that sat next to Dad on the bus gave him a personalized tour of the city as we traveled to the city centre.         

May 31, 2013

Rented a 9 passenger van today have to get used to driving on the left again.  Forgot that once you get on the roads the traffic goes quickly.

 Headed to Galloway, Ireland.  Of course we took a wrong road and ended up taking a "short cut".  It was fun to see the countryside of Ireland.  We never really made it into Galloway, but got to see a couple of sight's around the area.  Stopped at a small grave yard and cemetery a long the road.  The roads are a lot narrower then I remember. We have figured out we have to get out of bed and leave earlier if we want to get our sight seeing in.  The people in Ireland have been great.  Had to laugh because on the news this morning they were concerned because a study had been done and had shown that the Irish consume 700 times more alcohol then any other European country. It was a nice thought as we rented the big red van and learned to drive on the left side of the road and use round abouts.

A small valley north of Galloway

Kids outside the Dunguaire Castle on the west coast of Ireland

June 1, 2013

We drove south to Cork and Blarney.  First we stopped at the Rock of Dumanse and spent about an hour there.  This was interesting to see how the castles were put together to protect the main building.

All of us in the Castle Ruins

View from the castle to the west.

We toured the Blarney Castle and it's grounds.  Ireland is truly magical.  If a fairy flew from behind a tree or we walked through a forest of elves it would not surprise me.  We all climbed to the top of the Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney Stone.  Legend says that if you kiss the stone you will be given the gift of eloquence.  You climb to the top of the castle and an Irishman sits next to you, explains how to lay on your back and you lean backwards over the edge of the castle and kiss the stone while the Irishman holds your waist.  

We toured the fern garden and the poison garden where we got to see marijuana, wolfsbane and mandrakes.      We now have lot's of landscaping ideas (ha ha, not with marijuana) but with ferns.  We just don't know how to keep it all from drying up in sunny southern utah.

Fern Garden

Blarney Castle