Recent Adventures (Scotland & Ireland)

Its been a while again, so I figured I would capture this before memories of our trips started to overlap... feel free to skip ahead to the titled locations below if you would like to skip my personal update/rant.

As I mentioned on my previous post, my position at work has been made redundant thus ending my 8 year career at Agilent. In order to make the best use of my situation I have decided to take some time to myself and explore Edinburgh and small pockets of Europe with Evelyn.

Firstly I must note that I have been having a blast. I have discovered a passion for cooking, and a renewed pleasure in reading books.

Edinburgh:

I find that photos speak volumes over words (especially the ones I tend to use) so take a look through our collection. To summarize, Spring has passed and we are now in the midst of a lovely Scottish summer (no really), the number of international visitors in Edinburgh is increasing exponentially as we approach festival season... and we have already purchased our tickets for not only the Movie Festival but also for several shows in the Fringe festival (not cheap!)

Scotland:



Recently Evelyn's work contract ran out so we figured we would take some time to explore our new surroundings. The first was a 1,600Km road trip around Scotland.

The following is our top ten places or experiences from our journey

1. The friendly and very chatty Scots
   
2. Ancient ruins on the Isle of Lewis (Iron Age Broch, Callanish Stones)
   
   
3. A true appreciation of peat (not just as a source of fuel but an essential part of the flavour in some Whisks!)
4. The majesty of Glencoe
   
   
5. Unique and unexpected discoveries such as "the place where fairies live"
   
6. Great local food the further away you get, best of which featured lamb and pork on the Isle of Harris and Lewis respectably followed by wild Venison and Hare in Loch Ness.
   
7. Staying in a castle on the cheap!
   
   
8. The diverse character of the landscapes as you cross from very mountainous Scottish Highlands to the barren yet dramatic landscape of the Isle of Skye to the boulder ridden Isle of Harris (both Isles void of trees)
9. Countless ruins scattered throughout the country that resulted from a brutal history.
   
   
10. The endless selection of Ales (Froach being a clear stand out)
    

Ireland:
Before Ev returned to work we figured we would squeeze a week long road trip through Ireland...
I have also provided a top 10 list Ireland:

1. Drink shit loads of Guinness, it really does taste the best in Ireland
   
   
2. Dingle Peninsula... go there first and dedicate a couple of days!
   Eat at Murphy's..
   
   
3. (Dublin) Visit the Chester Beatty Library, its amazing and free... DO NOT waste your time queuing to see the Book of Kells (its pricey, overcrowded and OVERRATED)
   
4. (Dublin) Peat Bog people at the National Museum
   
   
5. For the freshest local seafood eat at Jim Edwards in Kinsale (worth staying the night)
   
6. (Dublin) Guinness Brewery... its touristy (and can get busy) but worth a visit
   
   
7. Climb Croagh Patrick... because St Patty did!
   
   
8. (Dublin) for a great coffee and a quick bite got to Dunne and Crescenzi on Sth Frederick St south of the Trinity Collage


9. The eerie Portal Tomb, in The Burren (good luck finding it)
   
   
10. Driving the very narrow back roads in the Irish country side (Ev swears by it)
    

I didn't realize how long this post would take so I will blog our Polish wedding / Alps and English Lake District trips soon, I promise :)