MikeandMichelle

On Saturday, we were on the road again on the Isle of Skye... First we had to see the sites then it was the monstrous drive to Oban. We first took in a couple of the little tourist stops... the first was a tannery that made sheep skins, you may see one of these in our living room one day. The second was a place that died yarn with natural dies found only in nature... not all that exciting. After that it was onto Dunvegan castle to take in the home of the MacLeod's. Occupied pretty much throughout its 800 year history (including today), the castle is a pretty interesting view on clan life today and in the past. For all you single girls(Tracy), the clan Chief is married, but who knows, he is under forty ... read more

Tuesday was an easy day in Inverness. The first part of the day we traveled by boat out to the Castle Urquhart on Loch Ness and were dropped off for an hour. After our return we headed to the Loch Ness Exhibit Center which is dedicated to telling the story (scientifically) of the Nessie mystery. It was a pretty good exhibit for 6 pounds. After that we went off to the battle of Culloden interpretive center that open up just last year. The center was great and gave an excellent description of the battle, the atrocities that took place after and the significance to the shaping of the world today on how that battle turned out. That was pretty much it for Inverness, short but sweet. Yesterday was a travel day... Since our ferry didn't leave ... read more

Wednesday afternoon we did a historical walking tour of Dublin. Tour was lead by a PHD grad from Trinity college; so she new her stuff. We walked through Trinity College which is one of the ancient Universities(established in the late 1500s). Then its was off to the old parliament, Dublin city hall(which completely puts to shame any city hall I've ever seen), Dublin castle, and then Christs Church. That was it for the tourist things as it was back to the hotel to pack for our fights to Scotland. Yesterday, we flew from Dublin to Aberdeen. Got our rental car, checked in to our B&B then we went to meet Skye, Brigid and John's new addition. She's a cutie. Now we're just hanging out with Brigid, John, Skye and Brigid's Mom for the weekend.... read more

So yesterday we made another mammoth drive from Killarney to Dublin. We stopped off in Blarney where the famous Blarney stone resides. Since Mike has the gift of eloquence already, he chose to not go up and kiss the stone, but meet up with his relatives instead. Three of the girls went to the castle, climbed the stairs, bent over and kissed the stone. We haven't noticed anything yet, but I'm sure they'll be speaking Gaelic anytime now. My relatives were great. We chatted for a while over a cup of tea and then sat down for a nice pick nick Sharon had put together. The three kids where fun and interesting and Ken and Sharon where great Irish hosts. We had to end lunch quickly as we had to get up to Dublin before our ... read more

So... we made it to Ashford Castle with out a problem, although apparently reserving seats on the train does not mean a whole lot here. At the castle (see the amazing pics) we had afternoon tea and then Michelle and the girls toured the gardens while Mike went for a run(need room for the Guinness). We went for an "informal" dinner at the thatched roof restaurant at the castle then enjoyed the live local entertainment in the Dungeon lounge. On Tuesday we had a rather large buffet breakfast and took a boat tour of Lough Corrib that Ashford Castle is situated on. We then walked into the local town Cong to mingle with the commoners and have a bit of a late lunch. Mike played 9 holes of golf and the girls relaxed for the afternoon ... read more