Ireland and Scotland: We're Wandering Again!

Well, hello again.

It has been a while since we posted anything on Winery Wanderings. Life happened. Real estate happened. Travel most definitely happened. We just weren't very good about writing about it.

Then we spent three weeks wandering through Ireland and Scotland and came home with hundreds of photos, a few videos, some wonderful memories, and several stories that have already improved with the telling. It seemed like a pretty good time to dust off Winery Wanderings.

So...we're back.

It Started in Ireland

We began in Dublin, where there really isn't a more appropriate way to start an Irish adventure than with Guinness. We visited the Guinness Storehouse, learned all about Ireland's most famous beer and, more importantly, drank some.

I'm not sure whether Guinness actually tastes better in Ireland or whether everything tastes better when you're on vacation, but we're going with Ireland.

Dublin was a wonderful mix of things we'd planned and things we simply discovered along the way. We did a Jameson whiskey tasting, visited Trinity College and the Little Museum of Dublin, ate very well at places including FIRE and Pichet, wandered the city and, of course, found our way into a few pubs.

And that's how Neal met the beef and Guinness stew at the Hairy Lemon.

This turned out to be more consequential than anyone could have predicted.

He loved it. I loved it. And from that moment on, beef and Guinness stew became something of a theme. We ordered it again as we traveled through Ireland, comparing each version to the last.

We've since tried to recreate it at home. Our first attempt was absolutely delicious.

It was also absolutely not the stew we ate in Ireland.

So apparently we have a new hobby.

But my favorite Dublin memory wasn't something we ate or drank. One of the things I most wanted from Ireland was traditional Irish music, and one evening we found ourselves close to the stage listening to exactly the music I'd hoped to hear.

There are moments when you're traveling when you suddenly realize, This is why I came.

That was one of mine.

From Dublin we continued north to Belfast, and the mood changed. Belfast's history is complicated, brutal and fascinating. I found myself horrified by parts of what we learned and at the same time wanting to understand more. Our visit to Titanic Belfast was equally fascinating and somber, but Belfast also handed us one of those completely unplanned travel surprises we love: a music competition. We happened upon a bagpipe group from the United States and a children's marching band, stopped to watch, and suddenly something we'd never put on an itinerary became part of the trip.

There was also a Titanic rubber duck.

Naturally, we bought it.

This will become relevant later.

Then we headed for Giant's Causeway, where Ireland reminded us just how spectacular its coastline can be. We walked all the way down to the water and—because gravity is only helpful in one direction—all the way back up again.

I'm an ocean girl, so dramatic cliffs, crashing Atlantic water and a good walk along the coast are pretty much my definition of a great day. Giant's Causeway delivered.

Ireland also gave us a couple of experiences I hadn't expected to love quite as much as I did: falconry and sheepdogs. There is something both ridiculous and magnificent about standing with an enormous owl perched on your arm, and watching working sheepdogs respond to their handler and move a flock exactly where it needs to go is extraordinary.

By then Ireland had given us Guinness, music, history, stew, an ocean, owls and dogs.

Not bad.

And then we went to Scotland.

Scotland — Where Apparently It Rains

Scotland greeted us with rain.

And continued greeting us with rain.

For quite a while.

We quickly learned that Scotland is gorgeous in the rain, which is fortunate because Scotland seems to spend a fair amount of time that way. We had good rain gear and decided early that we weren't going to let the weather determine what we did.

That became our Scotland motto:

It's raining. We're going anyway.

My Columbia raincoat became one of the MVPs of the trip. While pretty much everyone else eventually got wet, I stayed dry, and my FootJoy rain hat did its job, too. Travel recommendations aren't always glamorous. Sometimes the most useful advice you can give someone is simply: Buy a really good raincoat.

The rain certainly didn't dampen what became one of the great experiences of the entire trip: the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

We had seen pictures and knew it would be impressive, but none of that prepared us for sitting on the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade at night as the massed bands and performers filled the space in front of the castle.

Then the pipes started.

The music, the setting, the precision, the spectacle—it was magnificent. Not just “I'm glad we saw that” magnificent. This was one of those travel moments that stays with you long after you've come home.

If you're considering Scotland during Tattoo season, this is one experience I would build a trip around.

The Tattoo was magnificent.

The next part of our Scottish adventure was considerably less magnificent.

Shortly after leaving Edinburgh, we managed to ruin a tire on the rental car. Not damage it. Ruin it.

The car couldn't be driven, so we had to be towed to Glasgow, where we spent several hours waiting for the tire to be repaired.

This was not on the itinerary.

But, as so often happens when travel plans go sideways, the day wasn't a complete loss. During all that waiting we met some very interesting people we never would have encountered if everything had gone according to plan.

And really, that's travel. The castles and bagpipes make the itinerary. The people you meet while waiting for someone to fix your tire often make the stories.

Eventually we were back on the road.

Scotland: 1. Us: still wandering.

Scotland, of course, also meant whisky.

Lots and lots of whisky.

This presented a small issue because I am firmly not a Scotch whisky drinker. Fortunately, I married someone willing to pick up my slack.

We toured distilleries, saw copper stills, learned about barley and barrels and aging, and Neal did his best to make sure none of those tastings went to waste. At Talisker we encountered a 46-year-old bottle priced at approximately £6,000.

We did not bring it home.

Winery Wanderings has standards.

Winery Wanderings also has a budget. 😂

By the time we reached Dufftown, we'd become pretty well educated about how Scotch whisky is made. We started the day with tea and scones at the Cozy Coo—much more my speed—and then headed to Balvenie.

Balvenie is fascinating, and the tour was exceptionally thorough.

Really exceptionally thorough.

By this point, however, we'd already seen several distilleries and understood the process, so somewhere along the way I began thinking, Yes, yes, whisky is being made. Can we get to the tasting?

I declared myself the driver, which meant I could take my samples with me for Neal to drink later.

Marriage is about sacrifice.

Into the Highlands

Somewhere along the road, Scotland began to feel less like a series of destinations and more like one long adventure.

One of our best decisions was hiring Don's Skye Tours to show us around the Isle of Skye. Don was 78, knew his island inside and out, and quickly became part of the experience rather than simply the person driving us around.

He took us to the Quiraing, the Old Man of Storr and viewpoints we'd never have found as easily on our own. There was rain, naturally, but there was also scenery that changed every few minutes and seemed to get more dramatic around every corner.

That's the beauty of hiring a great local guide. Years later you don't just remember what you saw.

You remember Don.

From there our wandering continued through the Highlands and eventually to Loch Ness. Obviously, we couldn't travel all that way and not look for Nessie.

We stopped in Fort Augustus, took a cruise on Loch Ness and visited Urquhart Castle.

No monster.

I suppose it's possible Nessie saw us and simply decided not to engage.

Her loss.

Eventually we made our way to St Andrews, which had been Neal's one real request for the entire trip. Naturally, Scotland celebrated his arrival with some of the worst weather we'd encountered.

We went anyway.

There were photos. There was golf history. There was a trip to the pro shop.

Neal was happy.

Mission accomplished.

What Actually Worked

Three weeks on the road meant changing hotels constantly—about every two days for much of the trip. I don't mind moving around when we're traveling, but unpacking and repacking that often can get old very quickly.

This trip gave me one product I can recommend without hesitation: my Cozy Essential vacuum storage bags with the little cordless pump.

I used them over and over again. Pack, compress, unpack, repack, compress again. They made getting everything back into my suitcase remarkably easy, and I've already recommended them to several friends.

Neal, meanwhile, travels everywhere with his Solgaard suitcase. They’re not inexpensive, but after all the miles we’ve put on his, it has definitely earned a permanent place in our travels.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase through one of our affiliate links, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

And We’re Wandering Again

Three weeks. Two countries. A lot of rain.

Guinness and whiskey in Ireland. Whisky in Scotland. Castles, owls, sheepdogs, cliffs, bagpipes, Nessie hunting, one magnificent Military Tattoo, more beef and Guinness stew than two people probably needed, and one rental-car tire that definitely did not survive the trip.

And somewhere along the way, we apparently started collecting rubber ducks.

That's the thing about travel for us. The famous places are wonderful, but when we get home, they're rarely the whole story.

We remember the unexpected music competition. The traditional Irish music we'd traveled all that way hoping to hear. Don, our 78-year-old guide who became part of our Skye story. The people we met while stranded with a ruined tire. The stew we're now determined to recreate. Standing in the rain because we weren't going to miss St Andrews. And sitting beneath Edinburgh Castle as the pipes began to play.

Those are the moments that turn a trip into our trip.

And those are the stories we want Winery Wanderings to tell.

So after a bit of a hiatus, we're wandering again.

We're glad you're coming along.

Alyse & Neal
Winery Wanderings