We spent three perfect days in the Highlands of Scotland this summer, and its capital, Inverness made the perfect home base. Though much of our visit to the area was spent day tripping, we really enjoyed the time we did spend in town.
The path along the River Ness, aptly named, the Ness Walk was really lovely and lucky for us the sun made an appearance during our visit.
The many footbridges provided not only a convenient way to cross the river, but lovely views as well.
Although it’s not open to the public, Inverness Castle, makes a very pretty picture perched on the hill above town.
During our river walk we discovered the Waterfront restaurant where we enjoyed one of the best meals of our entire trip. Not only was my salmon excellent, but on this rare occasion everyone enjoyed their OWN meal!
Hitting the two week mark of our six week adventure it was time for a laundry stop! The New City Laundromat, turned out to be just right for our needs! Disaster was narrowly averted when I left an entire load of my clothing in the washer, which then got mixed up in another family’s laundry… thankfully I figured it out and recovered everything. Whew!
Our accommodations at The Kingsmills Hotel, about 5 minutes from downtown Inverness, were very comfortable. The rooms were spacious and all of the bathroom amenities were very nice. This was the one place on our trip with a pool and the boys and I enjoyed it very much! The water was warm, there were pool toys available for the boys and over all it was a really lovely time. A very family friendly place with excellent service, I would absolutely stay here again.
My hilarystyle review for the Kingsmills Hotel is: 
Afternoon Tea
Having learned about Glasgow’s tea rooms during our tour of the Glasgow School of Art we decided to visit the 
Once our bellies were full with tea and cakes we wandered toward George Square, named after King George III, it is home to an impressive amount of statues as well as the city council’s headquarters. This is a lovely spot to stop and rest, or feed the many birds.
A happy accident, we discovered Glasgow’s Mural trail on the way to our next destination! The trail, a series of paintings in just about every style imaginable, was created to reduce the negative impact of an economic downturn and to help bring new life and visitors to the city center. You’ll find these amazing works of art on the side and front of buildings both occupied and vacant. These are just a few of the many amazing pieces of street art on display! If you’re interested in the Mural Trail there is a 
Our guide, Tom, met up with us at our hotel and after a brief discussion about the day’s itinerary we set off in Tom’s “black” taxicab. The tour covered everything from Belfast and it’s Troubles, to The Antrim Coast and was an all day affair. I wrote about Belfast in an earlier post: 
Northern Ireland’s coastline is some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever had the good fortune to see! Each and every place we visited was a photographers dream come true, so even though it poured rain the entire day and the lighting definitely wasn’t on my side, I still managed to take MANY photos. I’ve done my best to narrow them down, but as you’ll see below I had a tough time with that… as I often do.
Our stop at 
The one that started it all! As soon as I read about 
Declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986 The Giant’s Causeway was created when the giant Finn McCool was challenged to a fight by Benandonner a Scottish giant. Finn built the causeway so the two giants could meet in the middle for their fight, but Finn played a trick on Benandonner making him think Finn was much larger than he was, Benandonner fled back across the sea destroying the causeway as he went. Or so the story goes…
Another plausible theory is that the Causeway, a very large area of interlocking basalt columns, was created as a result of an ancient volcanic eruption. Whatever story you believe this is a place worth visiting!
Practical Information: Although there is a fee to enter the visitor center, you don’t have to pay to visit the Giant’s Causeway. Buses located just beyond the visitors center will take you up and down the hill for about 1￡. Take care when walking on the columns as they can be extremely slippery.
We’ve all heard of Titanic, the unsinkable ship that sadly sank on her maiden voyage. Her tragic story and the stories of her ill fated passengers have held our fascination for over 100 years, but did you know that Titanic was built in Belfast, home to the famous shipbuilders Harland and Wolff? Titanic Belfast, a museum dedicated to all things Titanic, is appropriately located in the very spot Titanic was built and launched. The moment I knew we would be in Belfast I knew this place would be on my list and we weren’t disappointed! If you find yourself in the vicinity or anywhere near it I highly recommend a stop!
Along with our admission to the museum our tickets also granted us access to the 
A huge Game of Thrones fan I was excited to see that Titanic Studios, where some of GoT is filmed is located just behind the museum! Maybe next time I’ll work out how to get in there for a look around…
To better understand Belfast it’s important to understand at least a little bit about The Troubles. Fueled by earlier events in history The Troubles took place in the mid to later part of the 20th century. Though there are many factors, one key issue was whether or not Northern Ireland, which had become separated from the Republic of Ireland, would continue to be a part of the United Kingdom, or would/should it once again become part of the Republic. I don’t mean to oversimplify, but in a nutshell, many Protestants consider themselves British and have no wish to leave the UK, while many Catholics consider themselves Irish and wish to once again become part of what is now the Republic of Ireland.
As a child I remember hearing about the troubles in Northern Ireland and Belfast. The nightly news painting a picture of a city plagued by terrorism, unsafe and divided. This was a place I was sure I would never visit. It never even crossed my mind. Yet here we were! Just the very idea that things have progressed enough for our visit to safely take place was so meaningful! The people we met and spent time with were some of the kindest and most pleasant of our entire trip.
The Troubles officially ended in 1998, but during our visit it became immediately clear to us that the peace, which exists today, is a tenuous one at best. Belfast is still very much a city divided, and when I say divided I mean quite literally. Walls or “peace lines” as they are known, some as high as 25 feet, separate the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. A number of these walls were built AFTER the 1998 peace agreement.
Many of the peace walls have gates which are at times staffed by police. They are open for passage during the day, but are closed at nights and in some locations on the weekends as well.
Tom, born and raised in Belfast, was a wealth of information. He drove us through the city explaining the history of Belfast, the Troubles, and the peace walls. We drove through both catholic and protestant neighborhoods easily identified by the different flags flying high outside their homes. Catholics, fly Irish flags, while the Protestants fly British flags…We got out at the wall and signed our names and wrote messages of peace.
It’s hard not to form opinions when you see homes with cages covering them for protection from the debris thrown over the top of the walls. 
I’m sharing a room with three other people, none of whom wake up as early as I do, so while I can take care of everything else quietly in the bathroom, drying my hair isn’t an option unless I want three extremely grumpy traveling companions!
All of this has prompted me to come up with a personal rating system for places I stay and blog about!
The lobby and main areas in 
Crystal blue waters and sandy beaches weren’t exactly what I was expecting during our recent travels to the Emerald Isle, but it’s exactly what we found! In fact Ireland has many beautiful beaches although the water is bit on the chilly side. Salthill Promenade overlooking Galway Bay came highly recommended, so after dropping off 8 days worth of laundry at a nearby laundromat we set off for the beach!
The Promenade also known as the Prom is 2 km long and lined with bars, restaurants and hotels. During the summer months their is an amusement park. It’s a popular destination with both locals and tourists alike.
We wandered up and down the Prom and really enjoyed the walk. About midway we came upon a giant high dive where we stopped to watch some kids jumping into the 59 degree water! Brrr! Those were some brave kids!
We only had one day in Galway and spent most of it at Salthill, but we did find time to explore the main part of town. Parking our rental car was no trouble at all and we wandered up and down the pedestrian only Quay Street poking in and out of the various shops. Our lunch at 
While our ultimate destination that final day was Belfast, Northern Ireland, my list of sights in the Republic of Ireland was only partially checked off and with only hours left difficult choices had to be made. One such place was Newgrange, a 5000 year old monolithic passage tomb, which conveniently happened to be on our way to Belfast, this meant the castles in Athlone and Trim got only passing glances during true pitstops. Normally I would never pass up a chance to visit a castle let alone two, but the idea of seeing and stepping inside a place older than the pyramids was just too tempting to pass up!
Newgrange is a prehistoric monument which is located in the Boyne River Valley about an hour or so outside of Dublin. I won’t go into too much history as I think the 
If you plan to visit Newgrange here are few things to keep in mind:
All that aside, Newgrange was fantastic! The visitor center had a really nice exhibition as well as a movie, a cafe and a very decent gift shop. That was a good thing too because the first available tour was at 4:45 pm and we arrived at 2:30 pm. Access to the monument is via a bus which leaves directly from the visitor center.
We weren’t sure what to expect at 
Leaving Limerick with plenty of daylight to spare we set off for the Cliffs of Moher and crossed our fingers in the hopes that the skies would be clear by the time we arrived. Believe it or not, these magnificent cliffs which rise vertically almost 700 feet straight out of the sea and stretch for 5 miles are not the tallest cliffs in Ireland, however, they are the most famous and a definite must see if you’re visiting the West Coast of the Emerald Isle.
Lucky for us the skies were clear when we arrived although it was very windy! The weather is never boring in Ireland! The views from the cliff top walkways near the visitor center were breathtaking, but judging by the silly antics of the boys I could tell they were over it within just a few minutes. It had already been a long day and in hindsight visiting at the end of an already full day was probably not the best idea.
Not having a car meant no trip to the Dingle Peninsula, which although disappointing, turned out to be more than okay as we spent a lovely day wandering in the Killarney National Park. Located just across the road from downtown Killarney and about one block from our hotel it was just steps away. No car needed! As I mentioned the weather can be quite unpredictable and we experienced just about every kind of weather during our walk in the park. We were well prepared with rain gear and the boys loved walking into the wind and rain! The park path twisted and turned through forest and meadow and along the way we saw cows, deer and ducks, and at the end a castle!
