Scotland the Brave

Waking up at 515 was rough, but I was excited to take the ferry to Scotland.  I quickly and contemptuously ate an English muffin at the hotel after Tommy and I painted our faces.  It rained as we loaded onto the coach.  

The ferry was massive, Cathal, told me it was the medium-sized one.  It was quite luxurious.  Kate and I got coffee at a cafe on board and a woman told us that the sea was 90% calmer today than it had been, it was so rough that you couldn't even get out of your seat.  I nearly died at the thought of 2.5 hours of rough seas, but, on this rainy morning, we were in the grace and favor of Celtic Gods and our ride was nice and smooth.  I drank coffee and nearly got blown off the ship when I stepped out onto the promenade.  

We met a new bus driver who boarded us onto the new coach - all gold everything. 

Driving through western Scotland we finally got to experience some of the narrow, seemingly dangerous, and beautifully scenic roads.  Our trip up the kingsroad from Dublin to Belfast was almost entirely wide-open motorway.  

Cathal gave us some Scottish history, which is similar to Irish history in that much of it involves struggles with England.  That's what life is though - the struggle, a fight to survive.  

Out first stop in Scotland was the Robert Burns cottage and museum.  Robbie was born in a house similar to the size of the one my great grandmother was born in, in Ireland, which was a cow shed the last time I was there.

We were treated to some fine Scottish weather as Kevin drove us to Glasgow for lunch through the pissing, sideways rain.  I've been sitting in the first seat for days and it was hilarious watching Kevin and Cathal talk.  Kevin speaks a different language entirely.  I have plenty of experience with the Western European accents but Kevin is on another level.  Pretty sure he's speaking a language people stopped using 500 years ago.  I think the sheep have a better chance of understanding it.  Cathal claimed to understand 75% of what Kevin was saying but I don't think he's very good at math.  Tommy said he got the last word of every turn, maybe.  But, that was a hour or so ago and now that I'm listening on this leg of the drive I'm getting a little better.  Like the rest of us, Kevin just wants to be understood, so I'll keep listening. 

Ate lunch in Glasgow at Horton's and the tomato and basil soup was excellent and the burger was terrible.  The meat was meat too lean and overcooked.  The waiter nearly spilled Katie's soup all over her.  

We got to the King Robert Hotel around 5 p.m and after settling in I wiped the face paint off and took a nap.  Dinner was at the hotel and we were served white rice and chili - a staple of the Scottish diet.        

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“My love is like a red, red rose 

That's newly sprung in June: 

My love is like the melody 

That's sweetly played in tune. 

How fair art thou, my bonnie lass, 

So deep in love am I; 

And I will love thee still, my dear, 

Till all the seas gang dry. 

Till all the seas gang dry, my dear, 

And the rocks melt with the sun;

I will love thee still, my dear, 

While the sands of life shall run. 

And fare thee weel, my only love. 

And fare thee weel awhile! 

And I will come again, my love, 

Though it were ten thousand mile.” 

― Robert Burns

“By Oppression's woes and pains!

By your sons in servile chains!

We will drain our dearest veins,

But they shall be free!

Lay the proud usurpers low!

Tyrants fall in every foe!

Liberty's in every blow!

Let us do or die!” 

― Robert Burns

Winterfell

After my second shower at the hotel in Dublin, the name I never cared enough to know, I'm ranking it as the top European shower I've ever had the pleasure of using.  The wide stream, fierce pressure, and consistent temperature provided a transformative experience each morning, it truly was an Irish spring. 

After breakfast we loaded up the coach and headed to the North.  Cathal, our guide, covered about 450 years of Irish history, a violent history, in under 2 hours.   The line "surrender or you'll all die" got people's attention.  

We were treated to a rare beautiful day in the Irish winter.  The sun shined brightly welcoming us to the North like kings and queens.  On the bus Tommy offered me a pair of sunglasses he found on the fairway of Longmeadow.  Their snug fit made me suspect that they were women's sunglasses.  He pretended to be offended when I suggested this, and did not allow me to continue wearing them. 

We picked up an auxiliary tour guide, Maureen, upon arrival to Belfast city center.  She led us outside of town to the Northern Ireland parliament building, where we stopped for some photos.  My favorite line from Maureen so far is "Ireland is not very wooded".  She also pointed out that Game of Thrones was mostly filmed in Northern Ireland.

Belfast has the best-looking Irish people I've seen yet.  Relatively speaking, of course, as the Irish aren't know for their beauty. 

Irish people like their little boasts and making things sound impressive, which are often quite specific - largest enclosed city park in Europe, longest bar in Ireland for university students, tallest obelisk in Europe commemorating a defeat over Napoleon, the largest hospital in Northern Ireland named after a British Queen. 

Had a lovely lunch and I ordered the roast of the day.  I hadn't had Yorkshire pudding in at least 10 years so that was a treat.

The Titanic Experience was impressive.  I went through the self-guided tour at an extra medium pace.  The most compelling parts of the exhibit for me were the details of when the ship started sinking and the details of the survivors.  The chaos and panic when the ship started sinking is unimaginable.  What could be more terrifying than being in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and aboard a ship you know is going to sink. Unimaginable.  

Last transmissions from the Titanic

Original deed to begin work on the Titanic

Murals - Belfast

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Turning Darkness Into Light

We had a full day in Dublin today.  Breakfast at our hotel agreed with me very much - bacon, sausages, beans, orange juice, and coffee.  Although the breakfast agreed with me there was a scandal.  One girl discovered a spot of mold on her toast and advised us to be wary of the bread.  During breakfast Tommy informed me that I was talking in my sleep.  Around 4 a.m. he couldn't make out what I was saying, but he was sure that the conversation ended with me saying, or yodeling, "HE HE HE WHOOOO".

Our first stop after a guided bus tour of Dublin city was Saint Patrick's Cathedral.  I had too much caffeine at breakfast to listen closely to the tour guide but I got some awesome photos.  I'm beginning to think that caffeine might be my magic elixir because I'm a better photographer and funnier when I have a caffeine buzz.  

St. Pat charms Tommy and Kate

St. Patrick's had a gift shop at the opposite end of the hall from the altar.  Tourism is the religion of Ireland.  

We then headed to Phoenix Park, the largest enclosed city park in Europe.  We drove past the Irish White House and the ambassador to Ireland's house.  There's an opening and the tour guide Sally suggested putting our resumes in because it's "good work if you can get it".  

Trinity College was the next stop to see the Book of Kells.  The book is over a thousand years old so I was pretty impressed in the 20 seconds I look at it.  I took some photos in the Long Room upstairs and then we headed to lunch after a restroom stop.  I tried 6 hand sanitizer dispensers on the walls throughout Trinity College and all of them were empty, which didn't surprise me because the Irish are a filthy people - I should know, I rarely shower on the weekends, but that's between me and the lord.

The Long Room

Lunch was terrible, the fish with the fish and chips tasked like it was just caught in the Liffey belly up, and Rosie's salad took about 35 minutes to show up.  Hopefully the students chose more wisely than we did.

The students had free time so we went to check out Kilmainham jail.  We were unable to get a tour because it was so packed, but there was a stirring monument across the street to the men executed after the Easter Uprising in 1916.  I thought it was worth the cab fare just to see monument, I wasn't sure everyone else was so I didn't ask.

We headed back to the city center and I had time to take some photos in the heart of Dublin.  The whole group met for dinner at Belvedere Hotel.  We were served a dish and we couldn't figure out if it was the best soup ever or the worst entree ever.

Right now, we're sitting in the hotel lobby eating pizza and hanging out.  Tomorrow we're headed to Belfast and I'm excited because that the only leg of the trip I've never visited.  I'm looking forward to the bus ride to Belfast and seeing the countryside.

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Back to the Ould Sod: Lowell to Dublin via London

Getting a snow day off from school was convenient for our departure from Lowell and allowing me to ease into the day and get my mind right.  We left extra early and the roads were a mess.  It took us two and a half hours or get to Logan airport from downtown Lowell.  When we finally got there we had a good 5+ hours to kill in terminal E.  I people watched and had a delicious prime rib French Dip at Durgin Park for dinner.

Airports are fun place to pickup the vibes.  There's a latent excitement because people don't seem to mind waiting for hours.  I certainly didn't.  Most other places people are furious when they have to wait.  But as soon as the status quo is disrupted people are ready to draw their fangs.  I saw a lady bump into a man standing idly and there was a crash and a brief instant of animosity.  This aggression also manifests itself in line for boarding as people inch aggressively in fear of getting locked out of overhead compartments and armrest claims.  

It was the slowest boarding I've ever been a part of and when I boarded the plane I was impressed by the size of the aircraft.  I hadn't flown internationally since 2005, so perhaps I had become accustomed to smaller aircraft.  I passed a section of seats that reminded em of 'the couples' toilet' I had seen on a Saturday Night Live.  It was a toilet where couples could sit side-by-side, face-to-face and hold hands and stare into each others' eyes as they shitted together.  Despite that image I would have preferred for sit there and have space to exhale. 

Our group was scattered throughout the back of the plane - 4 chaperones, 22 students.  I sat next to a couple of nice kids.  I had the window seat and I informed them how I had consumed an excessive amount of water in the airport.  We laughed, but soon they'd probably be concocting ways to poison my dinner.  However, the plane is so damn hot and packed that I might sweat it out.  The flight attendant hassled me about putting my backpack all the way under the seat in front.  The plane was about to split open, but we have to follow procedures.  I gave my bag a couple of kicks and she was eventually satisfied.  

As we took off into the storm and disappeared into the raging winds and cloudy, dark night there seemed to be a nervousness simmering in the cabin.  U2's One played from my Irish Hit Parade list and as Bono sang I did feel like we were one, and carrying each other.  I'm never afraid so I'm sure the other passengers appreciated the strength that I was transmitting.  It was the bumpiest takeoff and climb I can remember.  Then The Wolfe Tones version of You'll Never Beat the Irish played and I was certain we'd be ok.  But, then again, we were flying British Airways and stopping over in London first so I didn't want the storm mistaking us for a bunch of tea-drinking British snowflakes.  Within thirty American minutes the cabin reeked of vomit.  The flight attendants struggled desperately to distribute beverages.  

The flight was long and cramped.  I watched Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in Gravity as we soared at 35,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean going 583 mph with an air temperature of -72 degrees, so it was the closest I could conceivably get to feeling like they did in the movie.  I enjoyed it mainly because of how terrifying it made outer space seem.

Finally landed in London-Heathrow and I really am not yet prepared to relive the experience we had there.  I'll just say this -  Heathrow is the worst airport in the world.  Heathrow essentially terrorized us and we eventually boarded for a short trip to Dublin.  This short flight would turn out to be, as Tommy said, one of the three worst flights ever.  It was filled with huge drops and swings and everyone agreed that it was brutal.  I was nervous that I was going to throw up on one of the lovely girls sitting on either side of me.  It shook some people up.  It was miserable.  Once we landed in Dublin and deplaned I was gassed.  One kid's bag didn't show up at the baggage claim.

After checking in at the hotel we went to Dublin's city center and did a short driving and walking tour before dinner.  We walked down Grafton st and went to our arranged dinner at Thunder Road Cafe where they served us bangers and mash.  Some people seemed skeptical of Irish cuisine, but I think generally it was better than expected.  I love bangers and mash so I was in my glory.

Whenever we got on our "coach" people were dozing off, including me.  It was a long, hard day and people are very tired, I know I'm exhausted.  Despite the travel obstacles I've had a great time so far and we have a long way to go, so after a good sleep we'll be rejuvenated and ready to get back at it.

Cheers!

Grafton st

Bangers and mash

Tommy and I are basically sleeping together