Arriving in Scotland

We have been here a few days.  We spent two nights in Edinburgh in a nice and very old building overlooking the historic Dean Village.  We walked through the village which was originally a mill with millstones still strewn about.  We also visited Edinburgh castle and walked part of the royal mile.  We were both impressed with Edinburgh and liked it much more than we expected.  There is a lot going on, many good restaurants, outdoor markets and more double decker buses than anywhere I have been.  Must still be high tourist season!
In any case, today we went to the airport to get our rental car which ended up being the most adorable little red Fiat 500 with white upholstery!  It is so cute!  It barely holds out stuff in the 'trunk' but we have managed and got to our first destination of Falkland North of Edinburgh with a stop at Midhope Castle (the castle from the series Outlander referred to as Lallybroch).  Since we love the series and it was less than 10 minutes out of the way, we stopped thinking it would be crowded with tour buses and too much of a scene and fully prepared to just leave in that case.  It was close to deserted with only a few cars.  Our good fortune because it's a lovely place where we spent some time walking around on a cloudy but pleasant day.
We are now in Falkland, a small, quaint medieval village and are staying almost across the lane from a haunted castle where Mary Queen of Scots liked to stay.  Our view is of a church with bells that ring and there is a square of sorts with a fountain in the middle within yards of our entrance.  Photo to follow as mine didn't turn out today.  We love it here!
Here are a lot of photos.

Our Edinburgh Apartment

View from the kitchen

 Edinburgh Castle and Views from there of the city.

Dee enjoying the entrance to Lallybrach

A wild pheasant

And Midhope Castle - Lallybroch

Falkland Castle

Our staircase to our room.

Our Hotel - The Convenanter

And below some view around town

And the car . . .

Slan Leat Ireland

From what I can gather, that is a way to say good-bye in Ireland.  We are now in Edinburgh in a really cute little flat in an old, old neighborhood having flown from Dublin today after turning in our rental car.  Yay!  Although I hate to speak too soon still having another 10 days or so of driving now in Scotland, our rental car in Dublin was successfully returned with no dings, scratches or dents and all of us in one piece.  I'm happy for that.  Ireland is a beautiful, friendly country and we have thoroughly enjoyed our time there.  We saw incredible sights, met lovely people and had some downright frightening experiences on the roads (and once with the wind on the Cliffs of Moher).  Here are some photos.

The Cliffs of Moher

At the Cliffs.  The ticket taker warned us to not be blown over by the winds!

It was still lovely and we only ALMOST were blown over!

An actual home with a thatched roof (and a satellite dish). 

A Poulnabrone or Portal Tomb from about 4000 BC located in the Burren, Ireland

The Burren - Ancient rocks that used to be sea bed over 300 million years ago?

The area covers a large part (maybe 300 square miles) of these amazing rock formations

and the plants that grow in between the rocks grown only in regions of the Arctic

and the Mediterranean basin.  The landscape there was incredible!

A castle ruin at the start of the Burren

More of the Burren

Athlone Castle and below - Our B&B in Athlone from both directions.

A cute litlle street and a great B&B built in the 1700's 

Sean's Bar - the oldest Pub in Ireland (and maybe anywhere!)

Me in Sean's Pub

Whooping It Up Irish Style

It's the last night in Ireland.  Tomorrow off to Edinburgh and while I have more photos to share from this beautiful country, for tonight I thought I would just share a little fun from Gus O'Connor's near the Cliffs of Moher.

At the End of the Dingle Peninsula

We have ended up in a very small village where most of the locals still speak Gaelic.  It is as far as you can get on the Dingle Peninsula and is incredibly beautiful.  The weather has turned to intermittent rain and wind with brief periods of sunshine, but we're not letting that slow us down.  I have adjusted somewhat to the driving on the 'other' side but some of these roads are really only one lane and make me glad I decided to rent the smallest car we could find!
At our last stop, St. Finian's Bay between Ballinskelligs and Portmagee, our GPS went crazy and sent us in several circles with 10 or more left turns, but we eventually got to where we wanted to be.  We have had the good fortune so far of staying in amazing places with great sea views and have met so many kind and friendly people already!  Tonight we are on a corner and can hear the wind whipping by, but are cozy and warm inside . . . and the pub is just downstairs!

A View of St. Finian's Bay from Up the Road

Around Ballinskelligs

 

View from Our Room of Skellig Michael

Rock Formation on St. Finian's Bay

Along the Road from St. Finian's Bay to Ballinskelligs

 

McCarthy Castle in Ballinskelligs

The Castle Ruins Inside

A Holy Well on St. Finian's Bay

Kerry Cliffs on the Ring of Kerry (Below Also)

An Aqueduct Along the Road

Ruins of a Castle Along the Road.  They really didn't want anyone to

visit this.  There were signs saying no admittance and dangerous wild animals.  Really!

No Pot of Gold but Beautiful Just the Same

View from our room at the Coast Guard House, Ballydavid

Along the Ballydavid Hike (below also)