Ireland and the like

Ahhhh...my first post.  Prepare yourself for over-shares, tales of adventure, and the usual dramatic outpourings from yours truly. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a travel blog or not, but I've gotten a lot of encouragement from people, so I'll give it a try and see what you all think. 

The first few days of the trip have been amazing so far!  With the help of my beautiful assistant Vana White (or Jackie Black), I flew into Dublin airport without a hitch. After a quick 6 1/2 hour flight, we arrived in the city at 5 am, decided to rent a car at the last minute and, with an over-inflated view of our stamina, let our enthusiasm get the better of us.  Which is how we ended up driving all the way across the country to Galway on no sleep!  

(It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive each way)

Because we arrived in the country so early, we were able to stop at a few towns along the way and still make it to Galway for a late lunch.  Our first stop was a town called Athlone, which had a castle from the 13th Century (built in 1210) called Adamson Castle.  We got there at around 8, though, and the whole town was still asleep - on a Wednesday if you can imagine - so we stopped to buy some bread from a local bakery and had delicious cappuccinos by the river that ran through town.

(We sat on the bank right in front of the castle - which you'll note is crudely (okay, VERY crudely, drawn onto the map by me. #SorrNoSorr)

By 9:30 we were on our way and had made it almost all the way to Galway by 10:30. But, being the castle zealots that we are, we stopped again in a wee town (Irish lingo, people. Irish lingo) call Athenry to see another castle.  This one was also 13th Century, but it was much more expansive.  We learned about the logistics of bathroom maintenance (Garderobes have a whole other meaning in the middle ages), murder holes, and how to rightly protect your castle. (Hint: It involves arrows - hooray for archery!)  After walking around the lovely grounds, we finally made our way to Galway where we were too tired to do more than eat lunch.  However, the lunch WAS delicious and traditionally Irish (Jackie had the fish and chips and I had an Irish stew - yes, there were a TON of potatoes)

(Athenry Castle and grounds)

We drove back to Dublin during the afternoon, checked ourselves into our beautiful hotel right downtown for a nap, then headed out again to experience the Dublin nightlife.  Suffice to say -  it was brilliant.  The streets were lined with singers and performers near the Temple Bar area and we got to hear a lot of really stunning traditional Irish music - also known as Trad music.  

The next day (after struggling to wake up), we made our way to the North of Ireland to the town of Banbridge where we saw our dear friends Naimh (pronounced Neave) and Cormac Quinn and got to hang out with their three  boys (with the most traditional - and for Jackie, hard to pronounce names Oisin, Foalin and Conor) and get caught up.  Most of you know that Jackie and I visited Ireland over New Years 2008/2009 and stayed with the Carlins and Quinns.  Better people don't actually exist and the only comparison I can make is that of the Weasley family (#HarryPotter4Life).  A close-knit family with 6 kids and the sweetest dispositions you'd find anywhere. :)

(We might be a little excited to see each other again!)

Today we flew to Edinburgh and drove all over the place getting the keys to my flat and getting my gear for the apartment and a new phone! (Without our phones we literally NEVER knew what time it was - which was nice in some ways and not in others.  Wake-up calls from the hotel concierge isn't actually the best way to wake up, for instance. lol)  However, I am so grateful for Jackie's help and for the already amazing experience I'm having.  Besides being overwhelmed, I feel totally at peace and at home already.  Over the next few days I'll be continuing to settle in and get outfitted for school, but I'll try to keep this updated as often as possible.  And I'll have photos of my own now that I got a phone - so that's something to look forward to. 

Love, Fairies, and Kilts,

Liz