A Laddie and A Lassie In Scotland and Ireland: Hello, Dublin!

Day 7 & 8 – From Scotland to Ireland

The day after the Open Championship, we woke up early and knew we had a long travelling day ahead of us. First we had to drive from Blackpool, England back to Glasgow, Scotland (about 3 hours), and then we were flying to Dublin! We checked out of our Blackpool hotel with some time to kill before our rental car had to be handed in. On the way back to Glasgow, we took a detour into an area called the “Lake District” in the U.K. We passed by little lake towns such as Windermere, Ambleside and Keswick. They were pretty hopping, as many tourists drive up to the area to do water sports and to hang out by the lakes, kind of like Grand Bend. There was tons of pedestrian traffic, and the towns were very cute!

After the Lake District, our next stop was my idea; it was to a small town called Gretna Green. I knew of this place because of all the romance novels I read…it is a village in the very south of Scotland that is famous for runaway weddings. It was historically the first village in Scotland. The place became a marriage destination in the 1700’s, when it was decreed in England that if both parties were not 21, then their parents had to consent to the marriage. This act did not apply in Scotland, so many couples began to elope here. Now, it 1 in 6 Scottish weddings are held at Gretna Green. Knowing this statistic, it was not surprising that the famous marriage museum and chapel was being rented out for a wedding. This meant that we only could walk around the outside of the building and in the gift shop. On the way out of Gretna, you can see a little house that has the words “first house in Scotland” painted on it…kind of cool!

We got back to Glasgow in good time and handed in our awesome green car…I was sad to see it go! We walked down the street with all our luggage (oh, so that’s why I shouldn’t over-pack…) until we found a restaurant with Wi-Fi and large screen t.v.’s, so that we could keep track of the Open Championship and wait for our flight to Dublin. I tried a sticky toffee pudding, actually a British dessert, which was like eating heaven! However, it was so sweet it kind of made me feel ill afterwards. Note to travellers: share your sticky toffee pudding with someone else instead of eating it all yourself!

We caught a nearby shuttle bus to the Glasgow Airport and hopped on the quick one hour flight from Glasgow, Scotland to Dublin, Ireland. It was so beautiful to see the two countries from the sky! There are so many different colours of green all mixing together. When we got to Dublin, we knew which shuttle bus we needed to catch (thank you, guide book to Ireland!) to get nearest our hostel. We dragged our luggage to the Jacob’s Inn Hostel. When we pulled up there was a huge crowd of people spilling out of our hostel…we had forgotten it was Saturday night and all kinds of young adults were ready to party. Us old folk, however, just wanted to check in after a long day of travelling. We got into our room, and surprise, surprise, were greeted by yet another bunk bed! Hostels love bunk beds! Luckily, this one was a bit bigger and we were able to sleep comfortably on it.

The next day, we decided to join in on a free walking tour of Dublin. We have always tried to use the same tour company, Sandemans New Europe Tours, whenever we go to Europe, because they always seem to be fantastic tours. Our tour guide Richie took us on a three hour tour of the city. We started with a quick background story of Dublin’s history, from the time the Vikings invaded to the Irish War of Independence in 1922. Obviously, he left a lot of details out, but it was very interesting to hear about how the Vikings slowly integrated into society and Britain’s attempts to control Ireland. Our first stop was to visit Dublin Castle. We stood in the inner courtyard. The last famous visitors to the castle were Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth, although they slept elsewhere. The last people to actually stay overnight there were Bill Clinton and Margaret Thatcher (not at the same time!). He talked about different parts of the castle and showed us the oldest brickwork (1500’s).

Next, we walked to the Castle Gardens, just in front of the castle that has the Celtic Knot design throughout the grass. It is used as a helipad when foreign diplomats or politicians come to visit. The garden stands over top what used to be the River Poddle, exactly where the Vikings sailed up on their ships hundreds of years before. The name Dublin itself comes from the Irish name Dubh linn, or “Black pool”, apparently because the area in front of the castle was that same important river.

Another site was The Clarence Hotel in the Temple Bar District, which is owned by U2’s Bono. We walked to the famous Temple Bar District, the Ha’Penny Bridge (built by the same company as the Titanic!), Leinster House (houses the national parliament), and St. Stephen’s Green (a giant green space in the middle of the city). It was a very good tour and we learned a lot about Dublin’s history.

After the tour we decided to walk across town to see the Guinness Storehouse. I was very excited about this, as I have never actually had Guinness before, and would be trying my first in Dublin. You go through a self-guided tour of an amazing 7 floor display. You learn about the ingredients, the brewers, Guinness advertising, the changing barrels, and lots more. There are old pieces of equipment everywhere, short movie clips explaining the brewing process, and quotes written on the walls…it is a fantastic place. I finally tried my first taste of Guinness and I quite like it! On the fourth floor we joined a little class on how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. We each got an opportunity to pour our own pint, and then to sit down and drink it. We also got certificates stating that we can now pour Guinness…lol. The top floor is the Sky Bar, which is all glass windows, giving you a 360 degree view of the city. It looks really amazing up there!

We went out for dinner later on to a little pub down the street from our hostel. I was very excited to hear a musician playing “Whiskey in the Jar” which is on my c.d. of Irish Pub Favourites. Guess it really is a favourite!

Last House in Scotland/First House in Scotland...depends on your view!