Time is drawing near for the trip, and I am checking in here to report the final plans.  Have the rental van sorted in Glasgow Scotland.  Arnold Clark is our rental company, and while it seemed expensive (even more-so than Ireland....but I was warned that would be the case!) it will be with "0" deductable costing just 50GBP extra.  They will send a shuttle to pick us up at the train station and deliver us to the car rental agency, after we meet Betty, and  call them .  We are getting the 7 passenger van, and they assured me that 3 adults will fit in the 2nd row, and then all the luggage will go in the 3rd row with the seats folded down.  We'll see....

Have booked and paid for 5 tickets on the Jacobite steam train....of Harry Potter fame....from Ft. William to Mallig and return....will eat up most of day # 2 in Scotland, but friends who spent 2 months in Scotland after retirement said it was a real "wow" experience!

Some kind soul, who may wish to remain anonymous, sent me a 2-pack of UK Tesco sim cards...so I will need to just activate one of them and top up with minutes,  once we cross into Northern Ireland,  on the  bus ride from Dub to Belfast.

Have the day sorted in Belfast, with the help of Bobby W, a regular helpful chap on TA.  He will gather us at the bus station in Belfast, (hopefully at 1:30PM after we catch the 9:20 bus at DUB),, drop us at the Premier Inn in Belfast to deposit the luggage, take us to White's Pub for lunch, then give us a Black Taxi Tour at 1:15, and then drop us at the Titanic Experience at 3:15, already booked. He  also will arrange our transportation back to the ferry terminal at "0" dark thirty (6:30AM) the next morning.  

So the saga begins!  Since we will have an iPhone (which I have now learned how to access my email on--Yay!) and can find free wifi access, (with my free wifi app)  I (MAY) report in a few times during the 2 weeks....but....no quarantees!

Dan

 

I see I'm not the only one making a trip to Ireland and Scotland here in in late October. My flight leaves Boston this Thursday for Shannon and my wife and I will spend a few days in Westport, Co. Mayo and Kinnitty Castle in Co. Offaly. Then we're taking a direct flight from Shannon to Edinburgh and after some time in Edinburgh we drive up into the highlands and then onto Isle of Skye. I can't wait. It's looks like the weather's not going to be too bad at least at the beginning of the trip.

Thanks Michele!

I'm glad to see your website and forum are still going strong. It's been around 6 years since I've posted on here I think.

Cheers.

Mark

Stirling rates as one of if not my all time favourite Castle see if you have time for the Wallace memorial,

Posting from Edinburgh. Stirling castle was another "wow" experience!!! Way to much castle....way to little time. It's turning out to be like our 1st trip to Ireland.....scratch the surface a little....and plan to return someday! Next: Mon in Glasgow, Tues in Edinburgh, & Wed we fly to Ireland! We found a cafe 2 blocks from our 3-bedroom apt. and am having a full Scottish Fry-Up breakfast----for dinner! Life is tough! Dan

Posting from Sligo tonight. Settled into "Shoot The Crows" for the 10PM session. The group "No Crows" is suppose to play tonight but others may join in as this is the kick-off night for "Sligo Live" music festival running thru Sun. Gonna be a fun night! Dan

Live session from Sligo on Sunday.

http://www.livetrad.com/

Glad you got over here safe Dan that last step down the stairs into Knock can be a doosy,,

That is a class group you were hearing in Sontas! You must be refering to Ciaran. The Carlin family as a whole is a phenom in Derry! Then again, the entire group has unbelievable talent!

Be careful at the Giant's Causeway Dan. It is easy to stumble on the "steps". They are for giant's after all!

Better to be stuck in Dublin than NY! Enjoy a few extra days in Ireland.

I knew you were kidding.  More chances for pints and music. 

We are having fun stuck in Dublin. Aer Lingus has put us up for 3 nights but had to move out of the Premier &into the Carlton. They are also feeding us 3 meals/day!

Bought the 3 day freedom pass which provides transportation downtown, any city bus route, AND HOHO (green bus).

We spent all day down town seeing the sights we missed during our 1 1/2 stay in Dublin back in March of 2011.

Since none of us had a serious deadline to get home, it is basically an extra 3 days of Ireland vacation pd for by Aer Lingus! Of course, we have to keep up our spirits from tilt to time with a pint or 2 of the black stuff!

Got about half of the items crossed off my "Dublin Bucket List" today, so will hit it again in the morning.

It's good to hear that Boston is open. We do have a tight connection in Atlanta (45min) and sure hope we dont't get stuck over night in Atlanta.

Like wise I'll be starting a trip report soon

Dan

Bags will be checked thru to PHX. Looked at a diagram of Atlanta airport on my Iphone and now know what to expect. If the flight is not late and we hurry we should be ok.
Dan

Safe journey Dan. Hope you make the connection.