Country 7 - Scotland

15 - 27th September 2018

On day 45 of this epic honeymoon we said goodbye to our friends in Ireland and with a hop, skip & a jump we were finally in Scotland. As we caught the bus from the airport our faces were glued to our windows as we entered the city. WOW. Just wow. If you haven't been to Edinburgh, let me tell you it's like walking into the best possible time warp.

We spent our first couple of days exploring this magical city on our own. Cobble stone streets are the norm, wind gusts could easily give you whiplash and the buildings that date back hundreds of years will take your breathe away. We stayed in Old Town and were surrounded by restaurants, shops & the lure of underground ghost tours. Edinburgh is a bustling city with pubs a plenty too which just adds to the vibe! We spent much of our time on the Royal Mile - the distance between the castle and palace. It's not uncommon to pass 2 or 3 bagpipe players while you walk the streets which just adds to the experience. 



Our first stop was Edinburgh Castle. A historic fortress, perched on Castle Rock, dominated the skyline of this pretty town. Dating back as far as the Iron Age, Castle Rock has housed the royal castle since the 12th century and remains an active British army base to this day.  For 311 days a year the One O'clock Gun is fired at precisely 13:00. The Time Gun was established in 1861 as a time signal for ships in the harbour approx 3km away. If you're thinking that 12pm would be a more common time to signal the ships well you have to understand that the Scottish were just thinking about their pockets back in the 1800s and figured 1pm was better so only one shell had to be fired instead of 12. Pretty decent logic if you ask me.



Before long our first night as a tour group was here and we were treated to dinner at a local cooking school in New Town where we were shown how to cook the meal we were about to eat. Haggis was on the menu and although I tasted it and actually didn't mind the local delicacy, Caleb on the other hand was a total baby. We spent time chatting and getting to know the people we would be spending the next 8 days with. Majority of the group were from the US with a couple of Canadians and Aussies thrown in for good measure. 






The following day we explored Holyrood Palace & Holyrood Abbey. As the Queen's official home in Scotland, the Palace is a very well maintained building situated on beautiful gardens with an adjacent Abbey. She visits for a week in July each year and for all other times the palace is open to the public to view rooms used to accommodate state dinners and government officials.




Our 2nd night on tour we had the option to attend a Scottish night out. Needless to say we signed up without a second thought. We were taken by bus to the outskirts of the city to reconverted stables where we were wined and dined and entertained with folklore songs and national dances. Before the meal was served the presenter recited the Address to Haggis by Robert Burns. This poem is to celebrate his appreciation of the Haggis and since it's creation, Burns and Haggis have forever been linked. 


The next day we were off! Our first stop on this highland tour was the seaside town of St. Andrews. Here we spent time at the world famous golf course despite the 50km/hr winds and golfers trying to perfect their swing. In the afternoon we stopped off at a local sheep farm where a lifelong Shepperd demonstrated the awesome work these sheep dogs do. This farm has 7 men, 32 dogs with 3000 sheep on 11.000 acres. He demonstrated how his commands and whistles keep his dogs on track and after 2 years of training they have perfected the art of the sheep dog. I got to sheer some wool and more excitedly I got to feed one of these little cuties. It was truly amazing to see these amazing animals at work. 

Heading further north we spent the following morning at the fantastic Culloden War ground Museum where the famous Battle of Culloden took place. This museum outlined the tale of the Jacobite uprising which has gained notoriety in the Outlander TV series. Miserable weather aside this was a highlight to learn more about the local history. Back on the bus again and this time towards the amazing Dunrobin Castle. Here we spent time exploring the rooms of this beautifully restored castle before exploring the grounds with a bit of Croquet and a Falconry show. 


The following day was the main reason we chose this tour. We were off to the Orkney Islands! After a ferry from the main land we arrived and picked up our local guide who took us around these beautiful islands for the day. Interestingly, although part of Scotland, our guide explained to us that people of Orkney recognize their nationality as Orcadian first then Scottish. As history would explain the Vikings invading these lands centuries before & there are still many signs of Norwegian influence in these parts. Our first stop was the Italian Cathedral which was built by Italian POWs during WWII from recycled army supplies. As we ventured into the main town of Kirkwall we viewed St Magnus cathedral - built by catholic vikings in the 1100s and took nearly 200 years to complete. We stopped to view the neolithic Stones of Stennes (Orkney's version of Stonehenge) before finishing our day at Skara Brae, the oldest prehistoric village site in Europe. This site is approx 5000 years old, dates further back than the Great Pyramids of Giza. Truly spectacular.

Having hit the most northern point of our tour we began south by stopping off at Loch Ness for a leisurely cruise before spending lunch at the Castle ruins of Urquart Castle. Unfortunately no sitings of the monster herself but we somehow restrained ourselves and only bought probably half of everything the Nessie gift shop had to offer. Before ending our day we stopped at the UK Commando War Memorial where tributes flew for soldiers of all different wars past and present.




We were lucky to have a day trip out to Isle of Skye but were unlucky to have the 'proper' Scottish weather today. Rain, hail or shine was not going to stop us from exploring Armadale Castle, viewing the landing point of Bonnie Prince Charlie for the Jacobite Rebellion and the aqueduct used for the Hogwarts Express sans steam train unfortunately. With a good 2 hour highland drive in each direction our time in Skye was limited but well worth the taste we had. Just proves we have to go back!





Sadly our time in Scotland was coming to an end and we slowly made our way to Glasgow to finish the tour. On our way we drove through the majestic valleys of Glencoe, stopped off to see the famous Highland Cows and our last castle visit to the beautiful Stirling Castle. It wouldn't be a Scottish tour without one more distillery so we spent some well earned time at Glengoyne Distillery which lays on the unofficial boarder on the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland. Our final group dinner was at the National Piping Centre. Along with a delicious meal, I got the chance to try my luck at playing the bagpipes and it's very safe to say my instructors job is safe and secure.

While we said goodbye to our tour friends we reminisced over the last 8 days. Bus tours can consist of long travel days but what got us through was the daily Scottish music, our tour guide's Scottish treats that he would buy for us and him belting out a karaoke farewell song - John Denver's Leaving on a Jet Plane - for our local bus driver on our last day. All in all it was a great taste of Scotland and it is yet another place we know we have to come back to and spend more time exploring. Thank you Scotland we loved it!

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Daily Mail article about our Honeymoon
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Travelers tip - Orkney Islands requires at min an overnight stay to explore this region. We are planning to a car roadtrip next time as most islands are connected by road and the car can easily be put onto the ferry for the crossing.

Travelers tip - highly recommend staying in the Royal Mile while in Edinburgh. It may not be the cheapest but you are in the heart of everything and can walk everywhere.

Travelers tip - Anyone can visit St Andrews golf course as it is public land. Just watch out for all the flying golf balls as players are active while you're walking on the greens. 

Country 5 & 6 - Ireland & Northern Ireland

1 - 15th Sept 2018


I LOVE  business class. Seriously I do. We've been lucky of late that we have been able to travel up the front of the plane on a number of recent international holidays and when we were planning our honeymoon it was a no brainer. After the unfortunate end to our Asia experience, we moved our flight forward and were off to Dublin and could not wait to get to cooler weather.

Like most countries, on arrival you are split into visitors & nationals, or in this case EU nationals. Now having my Italian passport would permit me to go in the much smaller and much quicker line instead of the dreaded line that is normal airport customs but alas my husband has to do his time before he can skip the line with me so the visitor line it was for us. It was slow & frustrating but eventually we got asked how long we were visiting for and a stamp in the passport later we had finally arrived!

The plan for Ireland was simple. Hire a car and drive around the country in 14 days. First stop was Dublin. The beauty of an over night flight is that you can try and get some sleep in the 13 hours you're in the air. The not so great thing about it is that you get to your hotel at 9am (5 hrs before check in time) and when all you want is a shower and change of clothes you instead have to start your exploring early.

We stayed in the heart of Dublin and were within walking distance to everything we needed. First stop was Trinity College - a 430 year old university which showcases the Book of Kells, the worlds oldest book. Trinity College is also home to the Old Library, the largest of it's kind in Ireland and as a 'copyright library' it has the rights to receive a copy of anything published in the Republic of Ireland free of charge. As we left the college we walked through the first ever National Services parade in central Dublin. Bagpipes and service men and women marching down the street was a pretty great experience for our first day. We retreated back to our hotel for a well intended afternoon nap and found ourselves waking up some 15 hours later ready to take on day two.


When one thinks of Ireland I'd have to assume Guinness beer would be one of the first things that come to mind. Perhaps Jameson Wishkey comes in as a close second? Well needless to say we spent day 2 drinking our way around the city. First we made our way to Jameson's where our tour guide was Australian - go figure. After a distillery tour and a Jameson & dry (yep I'm converted) we walked the streets of Dublin and found ourselves next at Guinness. Here we learnt about the iconic beer, had my first amazing Irish stew for lunch, entertained with some Riverdance inspired Irish tap dancing by the Guinness bar staff and of course hubby had a beer or two. He was in his happy place.



The following day our road trip began. Did we have a plan? Not really. We'd book a hotel the night before and just aim to reach it by the end of the day while seeing as much as we could of this beautiful country. The main sight on this day was the Rock of Cashel (pictured) and Hore Abbey in Tipperary. Founded in the 12th century this cathedral and chapel are a sight to see. There are graves spaced around the grounds and to this day descendants of those who have been buried there are the only people to still be allowed a final resting place on the rock.

We then headed further down the east cost to Killarney spending our day castle hunting. We first came across the 18th century Carey Castle which is so well hidden in a small forest we only came across the locals taking their dogs for a walk. Next we drove the coastal route to Cork and spent the rest of the day at Blarney Castle (pictured). After a somewhat steep climb to the top of the castle Caleb hung upside down and kissed the Blarney Stone. An Irish friend of mine saw his photo online and told me the local story is that the youth in the area go up there at night and pee on it so needless to say I'm happy I opted out. Just hoping the hundreds of people that went before Caleb kissed it clean for him.

Over the next couple of days we drove the Ring of Kerry in the southwest and visited sights such as the Gap of Dunloe, Rosspoint Beach, Ballycarbery Castle, Molls Gap, Ross Castle and Killarney National Park. One of the highlights of our roadtrip came on day 5 when we visited Skellig Michael (pictured) & Little Skellig. An incredible place, near inaccessible sheer cliff of an island with a monastery built around 1300 years ago. The monks that inhabited the island valued their privacy which is good because they were cut off from the mainland for 9 months of the year. Here we walked up and down the equivalent of approx 59 flights of stairs to reach the monastery at the top. Photos just don't do this place justice. Of course hubby, who is a mad Star Wars fan, had an ulterior motive for wanting to go and visit this amazing place. Apparently it was a filming location of 2 Star Wars movies. He was one happy man to see the stone where Rey practiced her light sabre skills.

It was time to start the journey north and what better way to do that then via the Cliffs of Moher. We had perfect weather but the winds are known to be very strong so hold onto your hat! Before we knew it we were about to cross the invisible boarder into Northern Ireland and I for one am a sucker for a good boarder sign. I was quickly disappointed as it only read 'Welcome to Ireland'. Upon closer inspection as we drove pass it was clear that the 'Northern' part of that welcome had been spray painted over. It was very clear some don't want the distinction of the invisible boarder. But as soon as we passed that sign the roundabouts became larger and traffic light operated, kms turned into miles, euro turned into pounds, the Union Jack was visible and there was just a general sense that more money had been used to maintain the country then it's attached cousin to the south.

With one of the worst days of weather we'd had so far we decided the only thing to do was to visit Old Bushmills Distillery near the Giant's Causeway. We then drove to our hotel which happened to be the haunted Ballygally Castle. This castle has it's own Ghost Room which conveniently was right above our tower room. After a ghost free nights sleep we headed out to Carrick-On-Rede (a Game of Thrones filming site) and walked the 30m high footbridge and enjoyed another stunning shoreline view. We finished off the day at the Giant's Causeway which will leave you breathless but stumped for answers at the same time.

As our roadtrip was fast approaching it's last legs we left our castle abode and headed east to Belfast. Here we are very surprised to learn there is still a literal wall between the Catholics and Protestants and that these gates are closed and locked at 6pm each night. There are murals up all over this part of town still which paint a picture of the history that transpired here not that long ago. We visited Titanic Belfast - the birthplace of Titanic. The new museum was built on the docs where she was built and tells the fantastic yet tragic life of the ship that couldn't sink and those that perished when she did.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Dublin for our last night in Ireland before jumping across the pond to Scotland. After a final lunch in the famous Temple Bar area our friends whom we had met
on the tour in Cambodia and Vietnam were nice enough to come into the city and meet us for a drink. It was so nice ending this amazing time with friends we had met only weeks before. Just shows how small this world really is.


Travelers tip - You need a min of 5 hours at Blarney Castle if you want to walk to grounds. Try and spare a full day here if possible. The average wait time to the Blarney stone is approx 1 hour.