Day 20- The Trip Home

I can hardly believe that 1 year ago today I was ending my amazing trip and traveling home. Here are some thoughts that I had as I was processing and preparing to come home. 

"In some ways this has been a very long trip- it seems like months have passed since our first days here. In other ways, I can't believe we're leaving already. I will be happy to sleep in my own bed again. I don't miss work yet (surprise!) but it will be nice to see my family and friends again. Normal routine sounds comforting as well."

It has taken me nearly a year to really begin to process our experiences and the enormity of this trip. When I returned home it was almost too much to begin to share with people. Every day was full of new places and lots of sights and emotional ups and downs. Things didn't go exactly as we planned. I saw indescribable beauty and met interesting people. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip and I'm so thankful for the memories and pictures. 

I hope that you have enjoyed this month of memories as well. I am planning to continue this blog to share some of the highlights as I continue in this journey of life. Thanks for joining me!

Day 19- Back to Glasgow

We spent our last day in Northern Ireland packing up and reading and buying as much chocolate as possible with our last few pounds! Jacqueline and John picked us up in the afternoon and took us to the airport. We found Tommy, who had just flown in, and spent a few minutes chatting with him and then we had to quickly get to our gate. That proved to be a nearly impossible task! This was the only time that we had any trouble at any of the airports and it was actually Karen who got held up at security! They held her carry on and then kept ignoring it as we waited, growing more and more impatient and nervous. Finally, they began unpacking the ENTIRE thing! Which she had spent so much time packing carefully so that everything fit since we had to be super careful about the weight of our checked bag (which just made it after we took some stuff out at the last minute!) We began to panic and once they determined that she wasn't carrying explosives onto the plane, we frantically shoved everything back into her bag and layered on every item of clothing that we possibly could since we were only allowed one carry on. They were very serious about this. Sweating and panting and shaking we made it into line and onto the plane without much time to spare.

We arrived in Glasgow and found Gillian and Beth waiting for us. What a sight for sore eyes! They drove us back to her mom's house and we spent some time hanging out with Marion, Jim and Lesley as well. The girls were a blast to talk to and play with. We knew that we had a tiny bit of time to re-pack everything and get some sleep before our early trip back to the airport the next morning. Gill desperately tried to get the girls to sleep but that was not happening- they were way too excited to have us there! Eventually we did sleep, but before we knew it we were up and off to the airport once more. Our brief visit was bittersweet- we only touched the surface of reconnecting but I'm so thankful for every minute I was able to spend with that sweet family. 

Day 18- A Quiet Day

"We didn't leave the house today. We did a load of laundry, wrote some notes and read. I took a few naps as well. That's right, I said a few! It was so nice to just relax after all of our running around. We watched "Harvey" and made pizzas and curled up on the couches with blankets. A few times kids came to the door to trick or treat but we had nothing to give them."

The time also changed that night so we got an extra hour of sleep.  It was kind of fun to think about gaining 2 extra hours in one year! 

Day 17- Belfast

"We returned the hired car, got dropped at the rail station in Ballymena and took the train to Belfast for the day. I really enjoyed Belfast quite a bit! That was kind of surprising to me for some reason. We saw the Europa Hotel- the most bombed hotel during "the troubles" and City Hall, which was very intricate and cool. We bought all of the rest of the gifts and souvenirs that we were hoping to find and then just wandered. We saw Queen Anne's Cathedral which had some really beautiful stained glass windows and mosaics. We also saw Writer's Square where quotes from Belfast writers and poets were all along the ground. The Titanic Quarter was quite empty and closed off because of construction on the new visitor center that is being built so we weren't able to see the exact spots where Titanic was first put into the water but we got the general idea. We stayed in Belfast much longer than we planned and were happy to see so many cool places!"

Day 16- All along the northern coast of Northern Ireland!

We woke up early and took the bus into Ballymena. From there we walked a kind of long distance to a car dealership where we were able to rent a car for the day! We set out and drove towards the coast and followed it north. It was beautiful. We just had to keep stopping and staring and taking pictures every few minutes. We didn't actually go a very far distance that day but it took all day because the sights were so amazing! They actually call this area an "AONB"- Area of Natural Beauty. It totally is.

On the way home, we stopped in a long driveway and looked at the abundance of stars. Incredible. It was a very long day, but full of fun and beauty and laughter!

Day 15- Ahoghill!

"Today was a mellow day...one that was much needed. I woke up and drank cupfulls of tea and made toasted cheese. Checked my bank and credit card balances, dealt with emails, etc. We did all of our laundry today which feels so good! I now have clean clothes to choose from, not "a bit less dirty" ones! We took a bus to Ballymena and figured out that we can rent a car tomorrow to go on the coastal drive and to the Giant's Causeway. Yay! We made our frozen pizzas for dinner and organized our stuff and read all evening. It's so nice and quiet and peaceful."

Day 14- I touched a mummy! (our final day in Ireland)

This day began horribly, but did get better! We woke up from our restless sleep at the awful hostel and high-tailed it out of there as quickly as possible! We found public bathrooms and paid 1 euro each to go in to brush our teeth, change, etc. That's how ridiculously disgusting the hostel bathroom was.

We dragged our suitcase to McDonald's and sat inside sipping coffee/hot cocoa and trying to figure out what to do next. It was still drizzling, we had no idea how we were going to get to Northern Ireland and then what to do once we got there since Gill and Tommy & the girls were in Scotland and would remain there until we flew home. Both Karen and I were unable to pull ourselves out of our sadness and felt pretty hopeless in our post-traumatic state. Yes, I'm being a wee bit dramatic, but in the moment we were just devastated. I may have cried into my coffee a little.

Once the information center opened, we found out about buses to Northern Ireland and renting a car from the airport in Belfast. They let us leave our luggage at the center for a small fee and we noticed that the sun was peeking out from behind the seemingly never-ending clouds. We decided to take the later bus north and to take advantage of this day to see some things we didn't get a chance to before. It's amazing how a little information can impact outlook.

Our first stop was St. Michan's Church and we both really wanted to go there to see the organ that Handel reportedly practiced The Messiah on as well as the crypts beneath the church. We spent a little time in the sanctuary admiring the details of the carvings, the stained glass windows and the artifacts. I listened to portions of The Messiah on my mp3 player and was swept away by the beauty of it in this historic place. When it was our turn to take the tour of the crypts we joined a man from Australia and headed below ground with our guide. It must be said that he really enjoyed his job. Everything he said was with a dramatic flourish and Karen & I had to keep from giggling out loud at times. There were totally naturally mummified bodies due to the exact conditions of the crypts and the limestone walls. Amazing! After telling us (in his creepy manner) about who each of the mummified bodies might have been, he moved away the gate and much to our surprise, told us that we were allowed to walk into the chamber and carefully rub the finger of the supposed crusader. Apparently it is good luck! So, I did!!! And then I wandered around the rest of the day believing that I had the bubonic plague. Hee, hee.

We spent the day seeing some of the sights we hadn't yet seen in Dublin and then caught the bus to Northern Ireland. It was an uneventful ride and once we arrived in Belfast we took another bus to the airport to see about a rental car. There were none. NONE! And it was about 7pm. Yikes! We called Gilly who called her sister-in-law to come get us and bring us to their house. Rescued! Yay! She even brought us to get groceries and showed us how to work the heat/water/etc. in the house. We promptly showered and ate and collapsed! It was good to be at Gill and Tommy's house, but sad to be there without them. We didn't really know what the next few days would hold, but finally felt safe and clean and ready to relax after the last few "adventurous" days!

Day 13- The Burren, Glendalough, rain & the worst hostel EVER!!!

"I am thankful to be alive and that's only a slight exaggeration! We left our lovely hostel and saw some of the sights in the Burren. The coolest part to me was the portion where we could just wander on the rocks on the sides of the hills- so very interesting and awesome. We saw a cool portal tomb and some other ruins. It began raining again as we drove to Portloaise and Glendalough. The roads just kept getting worse and worse and were flooding over so much. We were on windy mountain roads and were terrified at times! We finally arrived in Glendalough as we realized that our gas indicator was flashing. We had been so distracted by the rain that we didn't notice we were running out of gas as well! We put in 6 liters and it still flashed!!! We had been going on fumes for who knows how long! Yikes! We put in more gas and went to the monastery and looked around in the pouring rain. I didn't even bring my camera because it was raining so much. When we got back to the parking area one of the lots (where we nearly parked!) was totally flooding. We booked it out of there and drove a better road back to Dublin to return the car. It was still pouring and we got drenched as we ran to the bus stop. 

Finally headed towards our hostel only to quickly realize that all of the roads were flooding and the bus was having a hard time getting to all of the stops. The bus driver eventually told Karen that he was just trying to get the people off the bus as soon as he could because it was actually breaking down! There was also water sloshing along the floor of the bus. He dropped us off as close to our hostel as he could but we still had to go 5 or 6 blocks with the suitcase in the pouring rain. 

When we got to our new hostel we immediately felt that it was not so nice as we previously thought. There was a really creepy drunk/high man in the lobby that they were trying to get out, but he kept getting let in by random people. We were brought to our room which turned out to be a mixed dorm and there were 2 guys and a girl staying with us. Also the bathroom/showers were co-ed as well. And dirty. We were so creeped out that we didn't even brush our teeth. No TP in the bathroom either. Our roommates ended up being nice enough, but all of our stuff was drenched and we didn't feel that comfortable leaving it all out with people that we didn't know. Also, changing was a bit of a chore!

We went and found some food and nearly decided to just sleep out in the rain, but ended up going back and ate in the disgustingly dirty kitchen area. There were a few people playing cards at the table next to us who told us all about how crime-filled this hostel is and how the police don't even bother coming anymore because they would get called numerous times a week! Nice. Litton Lane looks pretty awesome by comparison at this point!"

This was truly one of the scariest things I've experienced. But we survived! A while ago I looked up the hostel online to see if I had the name right and sure enough it was. I began reading some of the reviews and was just blown away by how universally horrible this place was! Karen and I read and read the reviews and laughed until we nearly cried...insane! Here's the link in case you think I'm exaggerating: Chelsea Hostel in Dublin- reviews!

Day 12- The Cliffs of Moher

"We are in Lisdoonvarna! Fun name for a town! We drove from Dublin and the rain grew steadier and steadier. By the time we got to the Cliffs of Moher it was pouring and blowing really hard. I used my umbrella for real for the first time. We did not stay long, but did take some pictures and fight our way in the rain. We got to our hostel by the Burren and love it! I did laundry! We made hot drinks and sat and read much of the afternoon. Bought Honey-carrot-coriander soup and made it for my dinner with a roll and cheese. I also have been devouring Cadbury's tea crackers with chocolate. The hostel-keepers name is Cyrus and he is nice and funny. One of the other staff is a young girl from Germany. Cozy place. It's storming outside but we're glad to have a great place to be for the night."

I remember being so thankful to be in a nice hostel after our experience at Litton Lane! We didn't go and see as much as we'd planned on, but I think having a day to rest was a really good thing at this point in the trip. There was a nice sitting room with a fire and we just read and talked with the girl from Germany and hung out. We had the whole giant room to ourselves so after we did laundry we hung our clothes all over to dry! As much as this day didn't go as planned, it was exactly what we needed!

Day 11- Dublin!

"We took the train to Killiney and walked up to Bono's house/gate. Yay! We wandered down to the beach and picked stones. They were seriously so varied and cool. The waves were rolling in and we just enjoyed being on Bono's stretch of beach! Came back into Dublin and walked all over all day. We saw a ton of stuff. It began raining later in the afternoon but the rest of the day was quite nice. Warmer than it's been lately. We chose a little pub to eat dinner in- very Irish! We got to listen to live music and the crowd even joined in at times! i had a tart with carmelised onions, goat cheese and basil pesto along with some chips (fries). Yum!" 

 We also heard from Gilly and learned that her dad passed away that night. I felt so sad and helpless. I remember asking God what was our purpose in being there at this time...so close, yet so far away? It has been a year and Gilly posted this on her Facebook wall today:

"Can hardly believe that my lovely Dad has been gone from our lives for a whole year now. I miss so many things about him, especially his warm, friendly smiling face and the gentle quietness with which he went about his days but I know that our loss is certainly his gain and he gets to look on our lovely Saviours face every day forever. As much as I miss him, I wouldn't wish him back to this side of eternity now that he's enjoying the delights of heaven. What hope we have as children of the Living God :)"

Amen, Gill.

Day 10- Stirling

  "We left our sweet castle-like hostel in Loch Lomand and drove to Stirling. We explored the castle for a few hours- there was the cutest little tour guide- he was so enthusiastic and totally Scottish! The castle was just massive and cool. It rained off and on but was still beautiful. We went to the Wallace Monument and I was very happy to see William Wallace's sword! It was big and old and awesome. We walked up 246 stairs to the top and then I totally panicked and laid down on the floor at the very top and cried. Seriously. I was petrified!"

 We drove on to Carluke to repack our stuff and then head to the airport in Prestick. We were supposed to see Gilly at Lesley's but she called and her dad had taken a turn for the worse. It was so sad to hear her voice and know that she was so close and struggling but we had to catch our flight and leave Scotland. That was really tough for me. We arrived in Dublin after a somewhat odd, quick and turbulent flight.

  "Found a bus to take us near our hostel. Got to Litton Lane near midnight and immediately felt creeped out. We got to our room and everyone was sleeping and stuff was all over and I couldn't even hardly get to my bed (upper bunk) because the girl below me had her stuff all over. She also took my pillow so I had to sleep on my fleece. Grr...it was loud and we had a girl snore loudly and obnoxiously. I hardly slept at all for the noise and girls coming in and out at all hours. This is a party hostel in a party part of town. Yikes!"

Day 9- Oban and Doune Castle

 Excerpts from my journal:

  "I am in Loch Lomand at a really cool hostel. It is nearly a castle! We organized our luggage this morning and then headed out to explore McCaig's Tower and Oban. It was a pretty rainy day, but we are in Scotland!"

 "We headed out to find Doune Castle. That is where Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed. It was quite cool- long windy staircases, huge great rooms and passages all over the place."

Day 8- My Birthday! (and the Harry Potter train!)

 This was a perfect way to spend my birthday!!! The train ride was so much fun and our hostel in Oban was beautiful. I had a super yummy dinner at a great restaurant and just basically had a blast!

Day 7- Skye!

We drove all over the Isle of Skye on Day 7! It was a very interesting weather day- it seemed like it changed every 10 minutes. One of the highlights was the Quiraing. It is one of the most unique landscapes that I have ever seen. Unfortunately, this was one of the times that the weather decided to be uncooperative! We wandered for a few minutes just taking it all in and took a few pictures, but it was really windy up there which completely freaked me out. Karen kept laughing at me because I couldn't bring myself to walk upright due to my innate, irrational fear of being blown away. Pretty quickly I said, "we'd better not walk any farther up- it might rain soon." Within about a minute hail began pelting us quite dramatically! Karen began screaming, "owwww!" and I turned and hightailed it back to the car, laughing and laughing at her yelling at the hail for hurting her! Once in the safety of the car, Karen told me that she was laughing at me because I had thrown all caution to the wind as I ran down the hill...and this after slowly, carefully picking my way up the hill all hunched over. We laughed for a while at each other and then wandered around for a few more minutes, but then decided that it was just too precarious to try to hike any further into the Quiraing.  This is a place that I would totally love to visit again when the weather is a little bit more  reliable!

Day 6- Driving through the Highlands

Excerpt from my journal:
"Today we left early and drove in the rain a bit, but then started seeing the most amazing scenery and it didn't stop all day!. We saw mountains and valleys and the sea! I went out on a suspension bridge over Corrieshallac Gorge and even looked down! Go me! Karen has the pictures to prove it. We went to Ullapool which is a totally cute little fishing village. We mailed our postcards and wandered around a bit. We forgot some of our food in the fridge at the last hostel so we bought yet more chocolate! 
The road from Gairloch to Skye was a bit more treacherous than any we'd been on yet, but Karen did very well. Lots of 1 track roads with very little space for passing and lots of zooming cars. She yelped a few times and possibly closed her eyes once or twice, but we made it to our hostel in Skye in one piece. We got takeaway fish and chips and enjoyed it immensely, although the fish was bigger than my head! The laptop has also randomly  stopped lighting the screen so we're currently without much use from it. I'm having so much fun!"

Day 5- The Falls of Bruar, Loch Ness & Inverness

 Another day full of beautiful places!

"Today we began a sunny day in Pitlochry! We left early and went to the Pass of Killecrankie and the Falls of Bruar. So beautiful! Then off to Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle and finally Inverness.  It was a lovely day- very sunny but cool and the sky was amazing. We saw a rainbow arc right into Loch Ness as we drove north! Woo hoo! We're having so much fun and enjoying the beauty."

"It's hard to believe we still have so much of our trip left- we have done so much already. It's quite amazing! Today was one of my favorite days. I just love Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle so very much. The beauty and ancient feel is just very cool. Add the slight intrigue and mystery of Nessie and you've got a special place!"

Wonderful memories.

Day 4- St.Andrews, Dunkeld & Pitlochry!

 We woke up and hit the road to St. Andrew's because we had a lot to see this day! It is truly one of my favorite places ever. Here are some excerpts from my journal:

"We wandered by the beach, collected shells and stuck our feet in the North Sea. Stopped by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club/Course and then trekked to the Castle ruins.  I was very brave and sat on a window ledge that was very high up and not very safe! We also crawled into this ancient tunnel and then freaked out a little bit! We continued on to the Cathedral ruins and stood in awe there.  
It's just so huge and beautiful and amazing!"

"We made the decision to skip Perth and Scone Palace so that we could make it to Dunkeld before the shops closed. We made it and I bought a new sheep mug!"
(Dunkeld is one of the places that I have tried to make it to each time I've been in Scotland.  It's a tiny town, but beautiful and quaint. I just love it and this time was no exception!)

"Drove to Pitlochry and found our hostel.  Ate and decided to brave the drizzle and wander for a quick look at the church across the way.  That turned into a GIANT walk all over the place. In the drizzle and dark with no flashlight, no wallet, no camera, no umbrella! We saw the dam and fish ladder, the enchanted forest (lights and music) and walked across the Victorian bridge which was terrifying! It is a suspension bridge and it was totally moving as we walked. 
I freaked out and just booked it across."

"I am ready to collapse in my bed and sleep.  Tomorrow will be another long day and we have just been walking and going and going since we arrived. Sleep is a valuable commodity. I think I'm still a bit off from the time change, 
but at least I'm sleeping at night!"

Day 3- Edinburgh

We woke up and packed up what we would need for the next week or so. We picked up our "hired" car at the airport and set out to Edinburgh! It was a bit tricky, but we found our way and parked near the castle. I had been here once before, but it was a quick trip and didn't really get a feel for the city. This time, we took a tour of the castle and wandered around on our own as well.  We checked out a few cool places in the city and walked the entire Royal Mile.  
I have a lot of pictures from this day, so I'll let them mostly speak for themselves.  (Helpful Hint- if you click on the slideshow, it will bring you to the web album and you can view the pics in a bigger slideshow if that helps!) That night was the only night during our trip that we stayed in an actual hotel. It was a nice place and we also had our first excursion to an ASDA, which is a bit like a Wal-Mart. We bought some grocery essentials and I bought a belt (the only thing that I forgot to pack!)
It was our first day on our own, and in a sense the day that the trip became real to me!

Day 2- New Lanark

Once we arrived at the airport and made it through customs we found Jim (Gillian's sister's boyfriend) and he brought us to their place for tea and toast and a quick shower. We jumped in Leslie's car and Karen practiced her driving (on the opposite side of the car and road!) while taking us into town to get cash and phones.  And Wispa bars!

When I was in Scotland the first time, Gill, Diana and I came to New Lanark and found it very creepy and kind of oppressive-feeling.  I have always joked about how much that was one of my least favorite places that we visited and while planning this trip I told Karen that we didn't need to go there because it was weird and creepy.  So, in the car from the airport we were talking about our plans and the day ahead and I saw a sign for New Lanark and told Jim that was the one place I didn't care to go.  He proceeded to tell me that was where he and Leslie were planning on taking us today...oops! We all ended up laughing and I decided to be a good sport and give it a second chance.  It was fun and a nice mellow day trip and we were able to enjoy the beauty and company of Jim and Leslie.  It was also less creepy than I remembered!  Yay for new memories!

We went back to Jim and Leslie's and desperately tried to stay awake until evening.  Jim made us a fabulous Scottish dinner of mince and tatties (meat and potatoes with vegetables) and we chatted and hung out.  We finally crashed around 8pm and I slept for what I thought was a long time, but then woke up and it was only 10pm!  Tossed and turned until about 1am when I finally dug through my bags and found my melatonin.  Slept and slept and slept. End of day 2!

Day 1- Departure

Excerpt from my journal: "I am on a plane from GR to Newark! The adventure has officially begun. Wow. I had the thought yesterday that Karen and I are INSANE!!! This trip is going to be unlike any other that I have taken.  Which, is amazing and wonderful and terrifying all at once.  I don't know that I feel much at the moment- it's still a bit unreal. I keep telling myself that God already knows all that will happen and we'll be ok no matter what!"
- Wed, Oct. 12, 2011, 10:20am

This day was mostly spent in Newark Airport, watching episodes of Glee on the laptop and intermittently giggling hysterically as we realized that we were actually on our way! We purposely chose a really long layover in Newark due to my sketchy travel history...someday I'll share a few of my horror stories. Thankfully, everything was completely uneventful and we had lots of time to chill and talk and get more & more excited about the trip to come. One of the key things that I remember discussing was our personal styles of experiencing beauty/historical places/etc. Karen shared that she might need me to help slow her down and just soak in the experience while I shared the possibility that I will get caught up in the beauty of it all and need a reminder to keep moving!  The rest of our time was spent on the plane from Newark to Glasgow as we flew through the night and time zones.

Excerpt from my journal: "On the plane to Glasgow! Watching Music and Lyrics and hopefully sleeping soon. Yay!"
- Wed, Oct. 12 2011, 7:58pm

I was able to sleep for much of the flight and before I knew it we were landing!  We arrived in Glasgow early on the morning of the 13th and made it through customs with no problems. I'll leave off here, since technically that is where it quickly became Day 2!

Same name, different place

Welcome to my new blog! Something weird happened with the address of my previous blog and although it is not all lost, I decided it is a good time to just start fresh.  It's been quite a while since I've posted and I had almost decided that it's just not for me. I have always struggled to figure out if what I was sharing had any relevance to anyone but me. I guess what it comes down to at this time in my life is that I'd like to do this for me more than anything else. So I'm going to!  

Last year I went on a really cool trip to Scotland and Ireland where I saw so many amazing things and had experiences that I find I'm still processing. It seemed like a fun idea to relive the trip through snippets from my journal, pictures from each day and thoughts from the devotions that family and friends shared with me. So, that's how this blog will begin! From Oct. 12th-31st, it is my goal to share this journey, remembering where I was, what I was doing and what I learned a year ago on each day. Feel free to join me if you're so inclined!

Perhaps a habit will be formed after these next few weeks of posting and I'll continue on...