We toured the UK "on the cheap"--packed super light and carried our luggage onto a RyanAir flight to Ireland.
Ireland was completely different from England-even more pastoral (which is hard to imagine), but it was obvious that the few freeways were very new; our GPS software (which we just bought last year) was outdated indicating roundabouts where there were now freeway exits. We had an interesting time of it.
It was also not as green as England--not what I had expected. But apparently there is a really bad drought there right now. Still, all in all, we had a lovely time.
Visiting the carrick-a-rede swinging bridge
Don't look down!
the Giant's Causeway
We love the self-portraits, can't you tell?!?
Northern Ireland was an additional culture shock inside of a culture shock. It really felt like a war-torn eastern European country, as far as I can imagine. Definitely the vibe was one of an injured city and the multitudinous murals spewing propaganda, while artistically amazing, were a bit creepy.
We had a few in mind that we wanted to see, so with map in hand,
we went on a jogging tour of Belfast.
Here's a fun story from Belfast. So, Andy and I stay in hostels when we travel abroad because we are frugal. In London we had actually stayed in dorm rooms with other members of the opposite sex and we were excited to be in Ireland because we had actually booked some hotel rooms. In Belfast though, we had booked dorm-hostel rooms again. When we received our keys we noticed that they were for the same room and we thought "Sweet! we just got totally hooked up with a private room...or maybe they thought "shawn" was a guy and we're going to be in a boys room..." We got to our room, turned the key, walked in to find 2 sets of bunk beds and some bags. "Maybe they thought "shawn" was a guy and we were going to be sharing with 2 other dudes." I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Well, turns out it didn't matter. When we came back from our jog, we entered our room to find a french couple spooning on the lower bunk. "What?!? We are sharing the room with another couple?" Okay, that was really weird. Probably the weirdest traveling experience I have ever had.
Back in Ireland, we visited the Marble Arch Caves-how could we resist a hole in the ground with an underwater river? Unfortunately water levels were 1" too high for us to go on the underground boat tour. Bummer.
We basically drove around the entire country, starting in Dublin, heading north, then west, down south so we could visit Skellig Michael. As luck would have it, weather was perfect for us to go out to Skellig rock.
I have no pictures, but this is also a great story. As we were riding out to the rocks, Andy and I had been relegated to the back of the boat where it was a bit cold (actually freezing) because this family of incompetent kids (you'll see what I mean) decided to rush onto the boat first so they could be in the cabin. It wasn't a big deal, just a little rude by my Southern standards. Anyway, it was a pretty bumpy ride and one of the kids, actually, a teenager...who should have been old enough to know to come outside if she was feeling sick...I say "should" because she didn't and she proceeded to vomit all over the inside of the boat's cabin. It smelled so bad that no one wanted to be in there anymore. But, to make matters worse...or maybe to make matters more humorous, several other people started puking too. Anyone seen The Office...the one where everyone starts throwing up? Well, it was kind of like that. And then, and then, oh and then...to top it all off...the girl's aunt asked if Andy and I could move and give up our seats to that chick..because she wasn't feeling well, which forced us to stand near the cabin door where the puke-smell was wafting our way. Of course, we said yes...begrudgingly.
FYI: Skellig Michael was a monastery built out on the rocks and is famous for its beehive-shaped stone houses. It is a world heritage site. Very very cool. For me it was up there with Macchu Picchu because of the fun boat ride out, the crashing ocean and the cool ruins.
View from the top.
A long, steep walk down
That is bird poop, not snow.
The Blarney Castle
complete with dungeon
I kissed the stone, but aside from the very unflattering angle from which they make you kiss it, a picture was expensive. So, I have no proof.
