We reached Dublin via Glasgow, and though the Ryan Air lady tried to give us a scare by ‘wondering’ if our UK visa was enough for Ireland, it turned out ok. Asking for a BVIS category specifically in your UK visa application is a good idea. We had pre-booked Aircoach to take us to the Holiday Inn Express on O’Connell Street (the stop is right outside the hotel) and the room was ready when we reached (lucky!), so we got straight into the thick of things, armed with a Flexi tram ticket for the day.
See/Do
The Jameson Distillery Bow St. tour is the right way to say hello to Ireland. Coincidence that we visited on the death anniversary of John Jameson! Going drunk to college has always been a dream. So we went to Trinity College soon after!A path we would take at least once day Guinness Storehouse. This should be your view from the ground when you get out 🙂
Rock of Cashel
We used Dublin as a base and did day trips to different places. Our first trip was with Paddywagon Tours.
The Irish High Cross, and a lovely viewAlso known as Cashel of the Kings and St. Patrick’s Rock,The neighbourhood is picturesque too
Blarney’s Castle
The first view of the castle. Kissing the Blarney’s stone is supposed to give you the gift of the gab, but though we were within kissing distance, we skipped! Ireland’s winter palette is out of this world!Blarney’s Castle is like a fairytale treasure hunt. The tour guide gave us a map and we spent all our time trying to catch the different spots. This was The Seven SistersIf a fairy popped up, I wouldn’t be surprised. The place is magical.Poison Garden. After this D tried to see the Fern Garden and we lost track of each other! These three window towers are all over the place.
Cork
Cork has a lovely small-town charm that was soon to become a signature of many places in Ireland. When we visited, it was all set for Christmas.
Eat/Drink (Dublin)
After our bookmarked places turned snooty, D found this wonderful place – JW Sweetmans, where we began with a cider and a golden ale. Now that’s a bar! Whiskey ChickenThe first of our Irish stewsMooneys was a small place near the hotel. And we tried a different version of the stew. The Temple Bar. Might as well call it a temple given the crowds! Everything is priced higher in this part of town.A peek inside The Temple BarAnother favourite spot in Dublin for the great food, drinks, and most importantly, the service. A little note for the warm water and the warmth. Highly recommended. D had a Bertha Gin, and I tried the first of many local whiskeys. This was Teeling, and the one that I chose to finally buy after sampling many others in later days. For a change, I loved the Tomato Soup. This is a Gaelic Boxty. Irish FilletBeef, Teeling Irish Whiskey, Black Pepper & MushroomCream Sauce, on Boxty Pancake
Glasgow was the last of our Scotland destinations, and our primary interest here was the street art. Unlike Edinburgh which had a historical character to it, Glasgow, or at least the parts we visited had a standard city vibe. The only exception was probably the university premises. As usual, we explored the city on foot, but found the First Day pass (bus) pretty useful when the distance was too long.
Stay
We stayed at the Motel One on Oswald Street, which was close to the station, main streets, and had a bus stop right in front. While their entire play seemed to be on design, we found quite a few things off – the check-in rush, the room design in terms of space utilisation, the design of the breakfast area, and the breakfast itself. Thankfully, the time spent here was low enough for this not to be a major irritant.
Our overall reaction to Motel One, Glasgow
See/Do
The Duke of Wellington (right in front of the Gallery of Modern Art) continues to be decorated with a traffic cone, despite every effort by the city authorities. An interesting install at the Gallery of Modern ArtThe Citizen Firefighter statue on Gordon StreetGlasgow was dressed up for Christmas already. There were multiple markets – St.Enoch, George Square, Sauchiehall Street… The Botanical Gardens just made us sigh a lot, just thinking about the quality of life. At the Kibble Palace. A good representation of me on the first working day after the vacation!The University of GlasgowInside the Hungarian Museum. Mild Dracarys feel.A stroll along the Kelvin Walkway will help you finish your quota of sighsThe Glasgow Cathedral. Closed by the time we got here. We were also too late to catch the Necropolis view. Street Art (the first of our favourite dozen) Thomas MuirToday we’re in love, aren’t we?World’s Most Economical TaxiHoney, I Shrunk the Kids (I liked how the car fit right in!)Bubbles (Part 1)Bubbles (Part 2)The MusicianTechnically not street art, but I thought they did a good hat tip to the genre. (The Ubiquitous Chip is also apparently a great place to dine)(part of) Strathclyde UniversitySt.Enoch and childSaint MungoBarras Pirate
Eat/Drink
Garlic & Thyme Chicken Breast @ CranachanCranachan Burger (beef with haggis fritter)The cake version of the traditional dessert named Cranachan (what we came for!)The Spiritualist is a go-to place if you’re in the mood for some genuinely innovative cocktails. D had a Raspberry Beret (which arrived in a white chocolate covered glass!) while I tried their Smoking Old FashionedPork Carnitas TacosThe Duke’s Umbrella became a favourite, for a fantastic mix of old world charm + new age aesthetic and serviceAn Old Fashioned for me, and a Dark Chocolate Negroni for DPotted Beef & BaconCumbrae Oyster‘Winston’ at The Finnieston, another favouriteA fantastic Shetland Mussels in Coconut Broth The Impersonator for DSquid Ink RisottoPork Medallions at Mharsanta, who managed to find us a table despite the weekend rush.
What’s a visit to Scotland without a trip to the Highlands! Thanks to the Rabbie’s Tours itinerary, we were able to cover a decent bit of ground in 3 days.
Stay
Our base technically was Portree, where we stayed for two nights at the Pier Hotel, run by a very homely Effie and family. The place is right next to the water, and less than 5 minutes walk from the town square. The building, Effie told us while making us breakfast, was more than 200 years old. But for a small stay, it’ll do just fine.
The one on the top left was our room. That meant a good view of the water.(more…)
Prologue: The original trip was planned in 2020, the rest is history. When we set about planning this, the original destination was Cuba, but a Canada transit visa thwarted us. We decided to make it Scotland+Ireland. Since we were only 2 months away from the trip, tickets too turned out to be a pain, especially because, thanks to Brexit, pretty much every European airport required a transit visa. And embassies were still reeling under post-Covid volumes. Long story short, we managed to land in Manchester via Doha right when the World Cup started. The adventure continued because there was a rail strike on the day we required a train to take us to Edinburgh. Thankfully, we had an inkling, so we had also bought bus tickets as back up. Absolute lifesaver. But thanks to delayed trains, our bus had to stop midway for more than an hour because we had ‘missed’ a few passengers! All of this meant that our planned time in Edinburgh was curtailed. And now we can begin!
Stay
We’re still not Airbnb people, so Ibis it was – Edinburgh South Bridge. It was about 10 mins from the bus and train stations and pretty much everything we wanted to see was within walking distance. They also served a great (though same) buffet breakfast. Having said that, I’d also recommend looking for options on Princes Street.
See/Do
Edinburgh Castle. If you want to go inside (the internet is mixed on whether this is worth it) , you need to buy tickets online. Pretty view of the city from the castle groundsTolbooth Kirk, now known as the HubA short walk will take you to the Vennel steps that give you a different view of the castle.St.Giles Cathedral has quite the majestic look..and the inside is a different level. I loved the sense of tradition one gets as you go through the lists of people. Greyfriars Kirkyard was extremely serene Dunbar’s Close, along the Royal Mile, turned out to be an extremely pretty hidden gem Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland.Same place, different view (as you get out of the tour)From Calton Hill, you get a grand view of the city. The sun chose to hide when we visited.The Christmas Market had just begun on the weekend we landed.Greyfriars Bobby spent 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died in the late 1800s. The pub was our lunch spot. Scottish Whiskey Experience. An experience that’s absolutely worth it.
We visited the Camera Obscura but unless you have children who need to be entertained, I’d skip this. We also went for a Horror Tour, and though the guide did her best, the content itself was not worth the hour.
Eat/Drink
Haggis is a must-try, so long as you’re the kind who is not particular about the components! That, and black pudding, was part of the Ibis breakfast I could get used to!
D’s cider and my house Old Fashioned @Greyfriars BobbyDid not become a fan of Cullen Skink, a thick Scottish soup with smoked haddock, onions, potatoes.Game Suet Pudding – pheasant, and venison pastry in port wine sauceCider, and Old Fashioned again, this time at Copper StillChicken in Mushroom SauceShelling it out
We visited in winter, and thus had limited daylight time – the sun set at 3.45! But we managed to see pretty much everything we had on our list. We did wish we had allocated a few more days. Overall, I felt Edinburgh exudes a certain character thanks to its rich history, and traditions. Except for the kitchens closing early in some parts, we totally loved the place.
Our final day in Malta predictably began with a walk to the Ponsonby bus stop, the first step in a multi-hop trip to San Anton Gardens. After fumbling through the first one at Gnien/Garcin, we gave up on the original bus route and just caught a bus to Piu, the bus stop nearest to our destination. A 15 min walk later, we were at San Anton gardens. The palace within is the official residence of the President of Malta, but we were here for another “historic” sighting.
