Scotland + Ireland: Cobh and Dublin Days 8 + 9

One of the big reasons we chose to travel to Scotland and Ireland this past summer was to celebrate a big birthday of my MIL. They'd done a little research into their Irish family roots and wanted to stop at the Cobh Heritage Centre, which has a on-site genealogist to help you do just that. As a major transatlantic Irish port, Cobh served as a significant departure point for people emigrating to America.  Because this was the last port of call for many Irish emmigrants, it is frequently mis-recorded as people's place of origin in ancestral documents. It is also famously the last port of call for the Titanic. And another brightly painted seaside town, so we were all interested in checking it out.

Scotland + Ireland: The Dingle Peninsula Day 6

We went round and round about which western coastal area of Ireland to visit. Most people do the Ring of Kerry, but since we were doing just a day trip and driving ourselves, we wanted to skip the crowded tourist loop. I really wanted to check out the lesser known Beara Peninsula—it was a touch closer to Cork and was supposed to be much, much less crowded than Kerry or the Dingle Peninsula. Plus there was the option to hop across to a little rocky island refuge and see a pretty amazing mountain pass. But after the third or fourth Irish person we asked about it appeared to have never even heard of it, the others in our group really wanted to head to Dingle. I'm pretty sure we were all just saying it wrong, but I went along with the group's decision. And it was one of my favorite days of the entire vacation.

Scotland + Ireland: Cork and Kinsale Days 5 + 7

We headed out of Scotland to Cork, Ireland on our fifth day of vacaye. I was sad to leave Edinburgh because there was so much more I wanted to do there, BUT we were meeting up with my MIL and FIL in Cork and the kids were beyond excited for that. The flight was super easy and quick and we headed right to pick up our rental car at the Cork airport.

Scotland + Ireland: Edinburgh Day 4

After our day long trek out to the Highlands, we were ready for a bit of a chill day for our last day in Edinburgh. But since it was our last day, had a lot to pack in. Nevertheless, we woke up on the later side (by the kids' standards) and just the four of us headed out to spend the morning at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. We picked up breakfast on the way and walked over to the New Town while we ate and then cabbed it the rest of the way. It was a really gray morning so I knew some indoor time was what everyone needed.

Scotland + Ireland: Scottish Highlands Day 3

The third day of our vacation in Scotland was definitely one of our favorites! In contrast to our days in Ireland, we spent most of our time in Scotland in just one place. But we all really wanted to get up to see the highlands at least one day. So I booked a private driver and guide through Rick Steves recommended Timberbush Tours. Our guide Gillian picked us up right at our apartment and we spent a few minutes planning our itinerary with her, which was key. We wanted to see as much of the highlands as we could without making the kids spend the entire day in the car. So Gillian suggested skipping some of the more well known sights for closer but still fabulous places. And she didn't disappoint.

Scotland + Ireland: Edinburgh Days 1 + 2

We've just returned from our fabulous 12-day #greensgogreen trip to Scotland and Ireland! Everyone is struggling a little with getting over jet lag and getting back on a normal schedule, but while we are glad to be home, we were also all incredibly sad to end our trip. We moved around a lot more than our trip to Italy last year and I have mixed feelings about our approach to trying to see a little bit of everything. On one hand, we got to see a lot of both countries. On the other, I felt like we didn't get to spend much time in any one place and I left each city and area of the countries feeling like we needed at least an additional day there. I guess we'll just have to go back!