Blog Posts

I turned in my DP documentation on November 5th, got it back on the 10th for some revisions, turned it back in on the 12th, and later that night - it passed!!  So I'll be putting up the documentation here. :)

I'm updating/fixing/adding more images to the photo album for the trip so I needed to remove the links to the current pages (as they will be gone in minutes)

I'll post updates when the new album is up and ready :)

This morning was an early departure from Orkney.  Our wonderful hostess packed us breakfast bags so we wouldn't go without breakfast.  It was raining when we left, but the sunrise was quite nice.

The crossing itself was quite rough this time.  Not sure how often I'd like to do that.

After breakfast, we headed straight away to Maeshowe.  They book the tours of the tomb, so we could have been out of luck.

Of course, we were not.  We got there at 9:45, just in time for the 10:00 tour :D

Again.  All I can say is amazing.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to take pics inside the tomb.  But seeing the original carvings made by the Norse invaders and even being able to touch them..   I'm just speechless.

(I know.  Its taken me a bit to get this written.  I've been swamped :P)

Our first full day in Orkney.  Breakfast in the morning was wonderful!  We headed out to a little overcast and some sprinkles.

This day is one that both Brad and I have been waiting for - our tour of the Balevnie distillery.

Oh.   My.  Gods.

A story for you.  Back in March at the Whiskies of the World expo in SF, Brad and I spoke with the Glenfiddich ambassador and mentioned that we were planning to go on their tour.  He started to shake his head, telling us to speak with the Balvenie ambassador about their tour and that THAT tour was the one we should take.

Left Edinburgh this morning after breakfast.  A bit on the rainy side, but still nice.

Before leaving for my trip, my job decided to not pay me my full wages.  Well, this caused me quite a bit of concern, as I still needed to save up some funds.  I prayed to my Gods asking that if they at least got me a full paycheck until September, I'd give them a full bottle of Stag's Breath as an offering.  Now, some of you may know just how bloody hard it is to get in the US as it is not exported at all.  So I knew that I was going to have to order one.

We left Kenmare quite early this morning (7:30).  Neil and Noreen were wonderful and got up early to get us an early breakfast.

If anyone is thinking about a trip to Ireland and Kenmare, I  recommend staying at Virginia's Guesthouse very strongly.  Neil and Noreen are just wonderful people and the room I had was fabulous!  Pics taken, but still need to upload.  Perhaps tonight.

The drive to Dublin was nice, got to see more of the country.  The flight to Edinburgh - well - all I can say is 'interesting'.  Yes, in the 'may your life be interesting' way.

Today was a day with absolutely no goals.

Started the day going by the local Stone Circle.  It was beautifully tended and maintained.  You can tell just by the feel of them, that they are truly well tended.  There was a very large holly tree that had evidence of wishes or offerings still attached to the branches.  I placed one of my offering coins under the center stone - there was a very small well/hole underneath it that was just perfect.

The drive into Killarney to meet up with our tour was nice - saw some fabulous vistas, views and lots of waterfalls (both large and small).  We got to the meetup location and had to wait just a bit - we got there very early.

After a short bus ride to Ross Castle, we took to the boats.   While a bit on the damp side (we even got rained on a couple times), the trip was great!  There were two 'tricky' sections where the boat was trying to go up-river and the current was being troublesome.