44 Our Anniversary Trip to Scotland and Ireland to Fish, Stay at a Castle, and Explore

Our Scotland/Ireland Adventure!

Day 1: Flew to Edinburgh, rented a car and stayed at an Air BnB (hotel) near Falkirk, Scotland. It had a pub attached so we ate there. Nothing fancy.

Day 2: We drove to Inverness by way of Stonehaven so we could see the Dunnottar Castle. On our way to Alcaig, Scotland we stopped at Gannets https://www.gannetslaurencekirk.co.uk/ We highly recommend eating here. Amazing people and food!

Day 3: Today we fished with You Fish Scotland https://youfishscotland.com/

Day 4: We left the Inverness area and drove to Oban. We stopped at Loch Ness on the way and saw Urquhart castle and stopped at the Drum Farm Gallery Gift Shop. I love getting artisan type items when I travel, and we got a couple great pottery pieces here for our kitchen. Then we went to the Barcaldine castle where we had a reservation for the Caithness Room. Love, love, loved it. https://barcaldinecastle.co.uk/ 

Day 5: We headed to take a trip with West Coast Railways on the Jacobite Train. More commonly known as Hogwarts Express.

Day 6: After shed hunting and mud larking, we drove to Cromlix where our next Air BnB was located.

Day 7: We drove to a little farm near Balquidder to meet up with Darren and make our very own silver rings. It was the highlight of our trip. Unfortunately, we did a poor job of filming and have only a pic of the rings. https://www.darrenrice.co.uk/product/silver-ring-making-workshop-in-scotland/

Day 8: We went to see an old library and had a tour and saw some amazing first editions. 

Day 9:Flew to Cork, Ireland. We met with Glenda Powell with the Blackwater Salmon Fishery. We spent the morning fishing for Atlantic Salmon, and I caught my first and only salmon of the trip. Nancy was learning how to 2 hand cast with Glenda and they had a great day. Highly recommended! Book with Glenda, you will have a ball. https://blackwatersalmonfishery.com/ 

We booked an Air BnB on the southern coast of Ireland near Clonakilty. It was spectacular.

Day 10: Started out heading to Cork to fish again on the river Blackwater. Then we headed back to Clonakilty and hiked and fished along the cliffs where we could. 

Day 11: We did a bit of shopping and we both would like to come back to Ireland again. We didn’t spend enough time here. 

Day 12: Flew back to Edinburgh and stayed in a tiny house in the countryside near Perth. It was so pretty and quiet. A fantastic little spot. We did a little antiquing and Nancy got to feed some highland cows (coos). It was wonderful.

Day 13: We decided to do a touristy thing and went to the National Wallace Memorial. We are very glad we did. 

Day 14:  Always sad going home but it was also great. This trip we decided that more than 7 days is too long for us. 

If you have a chance to go you should! I loved our trip. 

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 Original episode artwork created by Scott Simkins.

Music Courtesy of Unicorn Heads and used with Permission:

Sunshine on Sand; Performed by Unicorn Heads