UK and Ireland recap
Friday, Apr 27: Leave Seattle
Saturday, Apr 28: Arrive London. Lunch @ Earl’s Court Tavern (fish and chips / chicken tikka masala). Mass @ Brompton Oratory, dinner @ Windsor Castle Pub.
Sunday, Apr 29: Breakfast @ Bencho Café (eggs and bacon on toast / quiche), walking tour with London Walks of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St James’ Park, and Buckingham Palace. Lunch @ Busaba Eathai (fried chicken / tom kah gai w/ lemongrass tea). National Gallery (mostly the Impressionists wing - I really liked comparing the two very different Monet water lily paintings hanging side-by-side) and the British Museum (Rosetta Stone, Parthenon sculptures, and a ton of Egyptian treasures). Dinner @ Amalfi (delicious crostini w/ goat cheese, spaghetti / pizza).
Monday, Apr 30: Breakfast @ Bencho Café (pain au chocolat / quiche). Day trip to Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor Castle with International Friends. Lunch @ Scoff’s in Bath (Bath Rugby Pie / chicken and leek pasty). Leicester Square, lukewarm quik-e-mart samosa, Billy Elliot @ Victoria Palace. Dinner @ Masala Zone (butter chicken, mango lassi).
Tuesday, May 1: Breakfast @ Bencho Café (pain au chocolate / scone). Westminster Abbey, Sherlock Holmes Museum (the outside, at least), Rococo chocolates (my favorite was the “red berry” one), Golden Hind for fish and chips, London Bridge, Tower of London (but we didn’t want to stand in line to see the Crown Jewels), Tower Bridge, St Paul’s including the stairs up to the dome (great audio guide!), sub-par indian buffet, Wicked.
Wednesday, May 2: Breakfast @ Bencho Café (eggs and bacon on toast / quiche), train from King’s Cross to Edinburgh with chicken salad and pineapple from Sainsbury’s for lunch. Calton Hill. Dinner @ Gusto (tasty pizza bread w/ rosemary and salt, lamb cacciatore / goat cheese tart w/ onion and tomato, arugula salad).
Thursday, May 3: Breakfast @ Elderberry Café (French toast w/ bacon / scone). Edinburgh Castle when it opened, lunch @ The Holyrood 9A (burger / delicious haloumi burger). Palace of Holyroodhouse and garden tour; we especially liked the ruined abbey. Hike to Arthur’s Seat, (expensive) art galleries. Dinner at Wildfire Grill (ham and pea soup with rib eye / haddock pate with salmon).
Friday, May 4: Muffins from Caffe Nero for breakfast. Day 1 of Isle of Skye tour w/ Rabbie’s: Elevenses @ Mhor Bakery in Callander (ham melt / chicken and leek pie), Doune Castle (it was in Monty Python!), Glen Coe, lunch @ Fort William (tomato and basil soup w/ bread), Ben Nevis, Eilean Donan Castle (photo stop). Dinner in Portree: Gammon (it’s like roast beef, but made from ham) / mushroom soup.
Saturday, May 5: Breakfast at B&B (eggs w/ bacon / eggs), Old Man of Storr, Kilt Rock, Quiraing, fairy glen (much better than it sounded in my guide book - we really liked it), fish and chips for lunch @ Stuart’s Café in Portree, Dunvegan Castle, Neist Point, Dun Beag. Dinner in Portree @ The Caledonian Café.
Sunday, May 6: Breakfast at B&B (eggs and bacon / eggs and weirdly salty porridge). Fairy bridge and Cuillan hills, Skye bridge. Eilean Donan Castle, Victorian summer house and bridge, Loch Ness and lunch @ Fort Augustus. Commando monument and Ben Nevis (again, because our driver was so shocked by the nice weather), baby waterfall in Cairngorms National Park, Firth of Forth bridge. Mass @ St Mary’s in Edinburgh, surprisingly good dinner @ The Conan Doyle (lamb shoulder / salad, apple pie with custard).
Monday, May 7: Breakfast @ Edinburgh Larder (croissant w/ ham & cheese / croissant w/ tomato & cheese), St Giles Cathedral, chicken salad sandwich on the flight to Cork. We had a taxi take us on a little tour of Cork and then drive us to Killarney; he took us to St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, St Anne’s Cathedral, drove us past Blarney Castle (sorry, not worth the entrance fee to kiss a rock), a stone circle (he said he’s one of only six guides authorized to bring tourists there - there was no one else there when we went), the memorial where Michael Collins was ambushed, another castle suspiciously similar to Blarney (the family used the same plans to build multiple castles), a bronze age settlement, and a hexagonal tower. Dinner @ The Flesk on the driver’s recommendation (soup and “caesar” salad / rack of lamb); this was not the best recommendation. Music nearby.
Tuesday, May 8: Breakfast @ Jam (pain au chocolat, sausage roll / scone with butter and delicious delicious jam). Day trip to Dingle Peninsula with O’Connor Auto Tours. Lunch @ Blaskett Center, which seemed like a little bit of a racket because we had no other options, but the broccoli and cauliflower soup and fish & chips were pretty good. Dingle and the area were perfectly acceptable (we especially liked a tiny church where we stopped) but may have suffered a little in comparison to how great the Isle of Skye was. Great dinner @ Bricin (chicken boxty / soup with some of the best brown bread of the trip, pear tart).
Wednesday, May 9: Breakfast @ Jam (scone with butter and jam / pain au chocolat). Then we set out to walk to Muckross House and hoped to stop by Ross Castle on the way. We started out in the wrong direction but did end up walking to Ross Castle, then to Muckross Abbey, and then to Muckross House; however, Ross Castle was almost completely out of the way, so we ended up walking, by my calculations, about 8 miles. We had a little lunch there of soup, bread, and an apple, and then decided that we were not walking back to town. Muckross House has lots of “jaunting cars” (open horse-drawn carriages) that are desperate to give you a ride, but I found the cost to be unreasonably expensive and we had seen all the sights on our walk out, so we called a taxi for a ride back into town instead. From Killarney, we caught the train to Dublin and had dinner at Gallagher’s Boxty House (beef, lamb, and coddle soup taster / leek and potato soup).
Thursday, May 10: Yummy breakfast @ Lemon (fruit waffle / fruit crepe). Dublin Castle and its awesome Chester Beatty Library, which includes copies of the Gospels on papyrus from the 2nd century as well as some beautiful illuminated manuscripts and Japanese scrolls. St Patrick’s Cathedral.
Friday, May 11: Grocery store muffins for breakfast before a day trip to Northern Ireland with Extreme Ireland. Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (windy!), Giant’s Causeway (where we picked up some sandwiches and ice cream for lunch). Our last stop in Belfast, where I was hoping to use up our extra pounds, but everything was inexplicably closed except a cupcake shop. Dinner @ The Porterhouse in Dublin (lamb stew / sweet potato, orange, and chicken soup).
Saturday, May 12: Grocery store muffins for breakfast before a last-minute day trip to Newgrange, a passage tomb a thousand years older than the pyramids @ Giza. Lunch @ Bru na Boinne visitor’s center (ham and cheese Panini / tomato soup). Hill of Tara, which impressed me less than Newgrange. Mass @ St Mary’s Cathedral, unimpressive dinner at La Paloma.
Sunday, May 13: Bus to airport and then “pre-customs” in Dublin, which meant that we did not have to clear customs on our arrival into Atlanta, so we caught an earlier flight home to sunny (!) Seattle.
Saturday, Apr 28: Arrive London. Lunch @ Earl’s Court Tavern (fish and chips / chicken tikka masala). Mass @ Brompton Oratory, dinner @ Windsor Castle Pub.
Sunday, Apr 29: Breakfast @ Bencho Café (eggs and bacon on toast / quiche), walking tour with London Walks of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St James’ Park, and Buckingham Palace. Lunch @ Busaba Eathai (fried chicken / tom kah gai w/ lemongrass tea). National Gallery (mostly the Impressionists wing - I really liked comparing the two very different Monet water lily paintings hanging side-by-side) and the British Museum (Rosetta Stone, Parthenon sculptures, and a ton of Egyptian treasures). Dinner @ Amalfi (delicious crostini w/ goat cheese, spaghetti / pizza).
Monday, Apr 30: Breakfast @ Bencho Café (pain au chocolat / quiche). Day trip to Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor Castle with International Friends. Lunch @ Scoff’s in Bath (Bath Rugby Pie / chicken and leek pasty). Leicester Square, lukewarm quik-e-mart samosa, Billy Elliot @ Victoria Palace. Dinner @ Masala Zone (butter chicken, mango lassi).
Tuesday, May 1: Breakfast @ Bencho Café (pain au chocolate / scone). Westminster Abbey, Sherlock Holmes Museum (the outside, at least), Rococo chocolates (my favorite was the “red berry” one), Golden Hind for fish and chips, London Bridge, Tower of London (but we didn’t want to stand in line to see the Crown Jewels), Tower Bridge, St Paul’s including the stairs up to the dome (great audio guide!), sub-par indian buffet, Wicked.
Wednesday, May 2: Breakfast @ Bencho Café (eggs and bacon on toast / quiche), train from King’s Cross to Edinburgh with chicken salad and pineapple from Sainsbury’s for lunch. Calton Hill. Dinner @ Gusto (tasty pizza bread w/ rosemary and salt, lamb cacciatore / goat cheese tart w/ onion and tomato, arugula salad).
Thursday, May 3: Breakfast @ Elderberry Café (French toast w/ bacon / scone). Edinburgh Castle when it opened, lunch @ The Holyrood 9A (burger / delicious haloumi burger). Palace of Holyroodhouse and garden tour; we especially liked the ruined abbey. Hike to Arthur’s Seat, (expensive) art galleries. Dinner at Wildfire Grill (ham and pea soup with rib eye / haddock pate with salmon).
Friday, May 4: Muffins from Caffe Nero for breakfast. Day 1 of Isle of Skye tour w/ Rabbie’s: Elevenses @ Mhor Bakery in Callander (ham melt / chicken and leek pie), Doune Castle (it was in Monty Python!), Glen Coe, lunch @ Fort William (tomato and basil soup w/ bread), Ben Nevis, Eilean Donan Castle (photo stop). Dinner in Portree: Gammon (it’s like roast beef, but made from ham) / mushroom soup.
Saturday, May 5: Breakfast at B&B (eggs w/ bacon / eggs), Old Man of Storr, Kilt Rock, Quiraing, fairy glen (much better than it sounded in my guide book - we really liked it), fish and chips for lunch @ Stuart’s Café in Portree, Dunvegan Castle, Neist Point, Dun Beag. Dinner in Portree @ The Caledonian Café.
Sunday, May 6: Breakfast at B&B (eggs and bacon / eggs and weirdly salty porridge). Fairy bridge and Cuillan hills, Skye bridge. Eilean Donan Castle, Victorian summer house and bridge, Loch Ness and lunch @ Fort Augustus. Commando monument and Ben Nevis (again, because our driver was so shocked by the nice weather), baby waterfall in Cairngorms National Park, Firth of Forth bridge. Mass @ St Mary’s in Edinburgh, surprisingly good dinner @ The Conan Doyle (lamb shoulder / salad, apple pie with custard).
Monday, May 7: Breakfast @ Edinburgh Larder (croissant w/ ham & cheese / croissant w/ tomato & cheese), St Giles Cathedral, chicken salad sandwich on the flight to Cork. We had a taxi take us on a little tour of Cork and then drive us to Killarney; he took us to St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, St Anne’s Cathedral, drove us past Blarney Castle (sorry, not worth the entrance fee to kiss a rock), a stone circle (he said he’s one of only six guides authorized to bring tourists there - there was no one else there when we went), the memorial where Michael Collins was ambushed, another castle suspiciously similar to Blarney (the family used the same plans to build multiple castles), a bronze age settlement, and a hexagonal tower. Dinner @ The Flesk on the driver’s recommendation (soup and “caesar” salad / rack of lamb); this was not the best recommendation. Music nearby.
Tuesday, May 8: Breakfast @ Jam (pain au chocolat, sausage roll / scone with butter and delicious delicious jam). Day trip to Dingle Peninsula with O’Connor Auto Tours. Lunch @ Blaskett Center, which seemed like a little bit of a racket because we had no other options, but the broccoli and cauliflower soup and fish & chips were pretty good. Dingle and the area were perfectly acceptable (we especially liked a tiny church where we stopped) but may have suffered a little in comparison to how great the Isle of Skye was. Great dinner @ Bricin (chicken boxty / soup with some of the best brown bread of the trip, pear tart).
Wednesday, May 9: Breakfast @ Jam (scone with butter and jam / pain au chocolat). Then we set out to walk to Muckross House and hoped to stop by Ross Castle on the way. We started out in the wrong direction but did end up walking to Ross Castle, then to Muckross Abbey, and then to Muckross House; however, Ross Castle was almost completely out of the way, so we ended up walking, by my calculations, about 8 miles. We had a little lunch there of soup, bread, and an apple, and then decided that we were not walking back to town. Muckross House has lots of “jaunting cars” (open horse-drawn carriages) that are desperate to give you a ride, but I found the cost to be unreasonably expensive and we had seen all the sights on our walk out, so we called a taxi for a ride back into town instead. From Killarney, we caught the train to Dublin and had dinner at Gallagher’s Boxty House (beef, lamb, and coddle soup taster / leek and potato soup).
Thursday, May 10: Yummy breakfast @ Lemon (fruit waffle / fruit crepe). Dublin Castle and its awesome Chester Beatty Library, which includes copies of the Gospels on papyrus from the 2nd century as well as some beautiful illuminated manuscripts and Japanese scrolls. St Patrick’s Cathedral.
Friday, May 11: Grocery store muffins for breakfast before a day trip to Northern Ireland with Extreme Ireland. Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (windy!), Giant’s Causeway (where we picked up some sandwiches and ice cream for lunch). Our last stop in Belfast, where I was hoping to use up our extra pounds, but everything was inexplicably closed except a cupcake shop. Dinner @ The Porterhouse in Dublin (lamb stew / sweet potato, orange, and chicken soup).
Saturday, May 12: Grocery store muffins for breakfast before a last-minute day trip to Newgrange, a passage tomb a thousand years older than the pyramids @ Giza. Lunch @ Bru na Boinne visitor’s center (ham and cheese Panini / tomato soup). Hill of Tara, which impressed me less than Newgrange. Mass @ St Mary’s Cathedral, unimpressive dinner at La Paloma.
Sunday, May 13: Bus to airport and then “pre-customs” in Dublin, which meant that we did not have to clear customs on our arrival into Atlanta, so we caught an earlier flight home to sunny (!) Seattle.