Aug. 2012 Scotland Castles,Flowers,Lochs

Castles 

Flowers

Lochs

Scotland Photos

Aug.20,2012 Scotland

We arrived in Scotland and spent a month in this wonderful country.Scotland covers just over 30,000 square miles and has a coastline of 2300 miles.It has thousands of lochs which are magnificent.Edinburg is the capital.The worldwide number of people who claim Scottish decent is 25 million.I being one of them.I.2 percent still speak in Gaelic.We started on the western coast of Scotland working our way north all the way to John O' Groats and down the eastern side.We spent time on the Isle of Skye and saw dramatic landscape with miles of beautiful coastline.We spent time going to abbey's, castles and spending a lot of time in very north Highlands. This area is quite remote but what a beautiful place.When we arrived at John O' Groats we stayed a couple of days only because we wanted to go to Orkney Islands.There certainly isn't anything way up north.We took a ferry to Orkney and then did a bus tour for the day.We left the Rv in the campground at John O' Groats. .Orkney has 2 main settlements which we went to both.Small communities began to settle in the islands around 4000 BC and Skara Brae has the best stone age settlements in Europe. We were also taken to a small Italian Chapel that was made of salvaged scraps.It was made by a Italian prisoner of war.This small chapel is painted inside is very nice.It was a nice tour and if anyone makes it to the top of Scotland a trip to Orkney is well worth the time. We spent time in Edinburgh and stopped by the Whiskey center.Just had to have samples of the single malt. We also stopped and saw my cousins in St. Andrews and had a very nice visit.Of course for me a trip to Scotland wouldn't be complete unless we went to find my great grandmothers headstone.It turns out my great grandfathers sister was married to a very important man in Carnwath.They even put a monument to him.We spent time going to several castles where Mary Queen of Scots was born,lived as a child and also where she was imprisoned in Kinross Castle.She also had escaped from there with the help of Willie Douglas.No stop in Scotland would be any good if you didn't  go to a few Whiskey Distelleries.One was The Glenlivet and the other Glenfiddich.At Glennfiddich they took us on a nice tour and at the end to us into a dining room set up with for glasses of Malt Whiskey.We tasted 12,15,18,and 21 year old Scotch.Very nice.There is so much more I can tell you about Scotland but time is running short. Our next stop will be back in England.

Aug.4-9 Ireland

Moving further north in Ireland we came to Derry. We took a trolley tour around the town and learned some history about Ireland.They still have the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. It really is strange that this still goes on in Ireland.They have a lot of murals on walls that show about the troubles in Ireland.We went further north and came to a World Heritage site called Giant's Causeway. Layered basalt columns left by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago.After leaving here went stopped at another interesting place.It's called Carrick-a Rede Rope Bridge.You experience the thrill of crossing over the rope bridge that is 30 meters deep and 20 meters wide.This was a real thriller for me as I don't like heights.One way to conquer  your fears. On the 9th we will take the ferry to Scotland.

Ireland July29-Aug 4 #3

We moved along to the Dingle Pennisula and we loved it here.Dingle has something for everyone beaches,walking trails,pure Irish music,beautiful scenery and Gaelic language.The coastline consists of steep sea cliffs broken by sandy beaches.This has always been a area of the Gaelic language and was hit hard during the potato famine.You can see along the highway where the stones houses were abandoned many years ago.Today because of poor conditions the government has stepped in and subsidizes the region in order that the Irish language and  culture survive.There are newer homes everywhere in Ireland and quite large.We spent a couple days in Dingle  because we wanted to go to a few pubs at night and  listen to their music.lots of fun.Continuing along we stopped to see the Beehive huts and it was raining heavily.The beehive huts have stood for more than 4000 years.It's hard to imagine stones setting here for that long.
              Beehive Hut

Driving along we came to the Gallarus Oratory which is a stone church built 1300 years ago.Everything over here is ancient.The next day we went to the Cliffs of Moher.The Cliffs of Moher are a Unesco World Heritage sight.For 5 miles the cliffs soar as high as 650 ft. above the Atlantic.The cliffs are dramatic and there are walking trails to walk along.

I may  have to post my photos later as I'm having trouble transferring to blogger. We spent the night along the beach and were rewarded  with a beautiful sunset.The following day we drove along the coast and the Burren area.The Burren is a unique,windblown limestone wasteland that hides flora,caves and history.As you drive along you will come to Poulnabrone Dolman.This is a portal tomb made with stones and looks like a table.It's over 4000 years old.This is a very desolete place but interesting.It continues to rain but it hasn't stopped us from sightseeing.We drove the Inishowen route and  stop in Donegal to see the castle and old friary.We spent the night at the visitors center and they were putting in electic for rvs traveling and spending the night.Very nice of them.

July 26-29 continued

We drove along the Berea Coast and had a interesting drive.We encountered narrow roads,breathtaking scenery and some desolete countryside.We made a few wrong turns and didn't know where the GPS would take us. We drove the 120 mile Ring of Kerry and wasn't to impressed with it.They had narrow roads and buses coming from the other direction almost running us of the side.We ended up in Killarney and went to see the Muchross House and National park.Tomorrow Dingle.

July 23-27 2012 Ireland week 2

After leaving Dublin we headed west and stopped at Cahir Castle.It is one of Ireland's largest and best preserved castle.Our next stop was the Rock of Cashel.This castle sits high on a hill and overlooks a beautiful valley.It was the seat of ancient kings of Munster.This rock was fought over by clans for hundreds of years.The chapel is undergoing some restoration so they have some scaffolding.There is also a Celtic cross graveyard.Continuing on we drove over the beautiful Glen of Aherlow valley.

The next day we went to  Cobh,if your of Irish decent there's a good chance your ancesters left from this port.The first steam-powered ship made a transatlantic crossing from Cobh.

After visiting Cobh we arrived in Kinsdale and wanted to see Charles Fort.this fort is a star shaped one and was occupied by the British until the civil war in 1922.In 1923 the interior buildings were torched by the IRA to keep it from being used  by the free state during the Irish Civil War.After visiting the fort it was getting late so we spent the night in a parking lot at the church in Kinsdale.

July 17-23 2012 Ireland 1

Due to the fact that I don't have internet that often I will try and post once a week.I'll give my best shot.We arrived in Ireland on the 17th July.The next day I needed a Sim card for my phone so we went and got one that would work in Ireland.Then we needed to find someone that would fill one of our propane bottles.Ireland is the only one that we have found that will service other countries bottles.Every country has a different bottle and when you use the propane up you take that bottle back and they give you another already filled.This has posed a problem for us as we have one from Netherland,one from Germany and one from Italy.But at least they filled one of our German bottles. Here's some of the things we have done since we arrived in Ireland.The first place we visited was Glendalough Monolith site.This site was founded in the 6th century by St.Kevins. The best ruins are of a 10ft. round tower that has a high door.They had a ladder to climb into the tower in case of attack.Our next stop was Powerscourt Gardens and Mansion.The mansion had a fire in 1974 so they didn't have it open but you could go through the gardens.Sam decided to stay in RV so went without him.The gardens were beautifully done and they call them The Grand Finale of Europe's gardening tradition.Next we drove the Military road to Sally Gap.We saw some nice waterfalls,beautiful scenery,and bogs.The people still use the peat from the bogs to heat their homes.

 The next day we went into to Dublin ad the first place we went was to Trinity College.The students give you about a 30 minute tour of the college and a little bit of history.We also got to go into the old library that holds the Book of Kells. These are manuscripts made before the Dark Ages. Next we took the hop on hop off bus and stopped at Guiness Brewery.Guiness began in 1759 by Arthur Guiness and by1868 it was the biggest brewery in the world.It brews 10 million pints a day.On the top floor they have a gravity bar that has a 360 degree view.The tour is overpriced and we don't even like Guiness.Our next stop was at the Kilmainham Gaol.This jail opened in 1796 as a model prison.They incarcerated men women and children .It was frequently used by the British as a political prison and for the Irish who were fighting for Independence.Many were held here and executed during the civil war.The next day we went back into Dublin and went to the Temple Bar area.This place came on hard times in the 19th century and with the Government's help it has become a cultural hot spot with pubs and music.We loved the area and went to a few of the pubs and had a few drinks and listened to the good ole Irish music.

July 17,2012 Ferry to Ireland

While in Wales we met a couple that were from the US but have lived and taught school in Germany for many years.While in Brecon we walked into town and they had a nice market going on where you could shop and sit and listen to the music.There was also a beer festival going on and the 4 of us stopped for a beer and a bite to eat.Here's Ed and Michele.

The next day Sam and I went to Pembroke Cadtle and St. David's Cathedral.Pembroke Castle is one of Wales restored ancient castle and also went to St.David's Cathedral.After seeing the castle and cathedral we went looking for a place to stay for the night.We are leaving tomorrow on the ferry to Ireland.We spent the night at amarna overlooking the water.It was pouring rain.Hope this weather gets better when we get to Ireland.

July 12,2012 St. Fagan's

After leaving camp today we wanted to see St. Fagan's open air museum.The is not like a museum in that it is all outside.They have 40 different buildings they moved here to show how the Welsh people worked and lived.There is also a Manor house and gardens and in a very nice setting.Because it started to pour down rain so we didn't get to visit all of the buildings.The weather here is awful.If you want to see things you have to just get out and go.They tell us that this isn't normally like this in July and August.We hope we'll get sunshine soon.