So Meghan and I decided to take a break from our horrible lives in Paris and took a cheap little deal from the devil (Ryan Air) to Scotland (approximately 12 euros one way). Edinbrough, a city we had planned almost nothing beforehand for, ended up being the best city on our tour of Scotland, N. Ireland, and Ireland. We went on a free walking tour around the city and heard tales of a darker time when serial killers and stalkers roamed the tangled streets and alleyways. We also saw where J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series and the graveyard that she walked around to gather names. The most interesting one was the headstone with "Thomas Riddle" scrawled across it (the main villain in the series).
Our second city on this tour of the UK was Belfast in N. Ireland. The city was incredibly downtrodden and weary after years of painstaking efforts to assimilate the Catholics and Protestants. The first night we arrived we decided to grab some food and watch a rugby game, assured that we would be left alone after a light filament covered our skins after hours of traveling by ferry and bus. We were quite mistaken though. A group of men, all dressed in kilts, surrounded us and informed us that we would be joining them for one of their mate's bachelor party. While we weren't entirely sure that this was the night we had planned, we ended up going along and having a really fun night, even if it was in Belfast.
We spent the next day exploring the city and the shipyard where the Titanic was built. We were soaked and in desperate need of shepherds pie by the end of the day. We later found out that through our hostel we could get a free tour of Giant's Causeway and then a free ride from them to Dublin. We were beyond thrilled to save a few extra bucks and get to the next city on our list without sufficient planning or effort.
The bus set out at 9 the next morning and we were ready to site see our way through N. Ireland, rain and all. Our first stop included a rope bridge and breathtaking views of the coast where we could once again see Scotland. We got back on the bus and drove to Giant's Causeway where volcanic activity made rocks form into these hexagonal shapes that jut towards the sky. The last stop on our journey towards Dublin was Londonderry. We opted to show ourselves the rainy city via map rather than pay a guide. We walked through the streets with the war murals and the square that Bloody Sunday took place in. Finally we made it Dublin and passed out in our beds after grabbing a snack.
The next day we walked around and did the Guinness tour. The Queen of England also made an appearance, which means we witnessed the first royal to visit Dublin in over 100 years. We waited outside of Trinity University for three hours until she finally appeared, soaked as usual from the on and off again rain. She drove by and waved from in side her car (it wasn't rolled down either, let down). We jet packed it back to our hostel where we left our luggage in order to make it to the airport in time for take off. Unfortunately for us though, she, and her 30 million euros worth of security, had other plans. We weren't able to cross the bridge that we needed to and got stuck in a crowd that were on the edge of starting a riot by shouting "Guillotine the Queen." After another hour of waiting, we were finally let through and made it to our hostel. We made it, safely and on time, and were grateful to witness history in the making.
