Back in the Kingdom of Fife

We began our day in Dumfries and Galloway......and ended in The Kingdom of Fife.  Sounds like quite a transition, don't you think?

Actually, I was told that the term, "Kingdom of Fife" refers to the fact that the area was once rich in many natural resources.  It is the only "Kingdom" by name left in Scotland.

But let me begin by sharing just how awesome my last-minute B&B find was in the little town off of the Irish Sea. 

The "Old Shop" was built in the mid-1840's and once stood as exactly that.....a shop.
There were signs of a pier leading out to the water, and I read that this place was actually a big port of emigration to the United States and even as far as Australia.  That might explain the 10 or 12 houses in a row, and the presence of a pub, which were not to be seen anywhere nearby on our travels to this place. 

Here's a photo of "The Old Shop".  Our room was the one on the left on the top.

 And here is the view from our window.

Imagine just how awesome it would have looked if the day had been clear!

This shows the view down the street, although the mist is hiding a very large mountain in the distance. 

And here's a view from the beach.

There was this really cute "hide" where you could sit and look out at the beach without having to stand in the wind and the rain.   It had a comfy sofa and two chairs inside, with a large window for viewing.  What a terrific idea!

Yep!  I'd say that this was a pretty good find.....that's for sure.  Actually, it's too bad that we couldn't stay a bit longer just to take in the beauty of the sea.

But we never did see the amazing view because we were off early to New Abbey where we attended 9:30 Mass at St. Mary's.

Marty and I really enjoy attending Mass in these small town churches because the parishioners are always eager to invite us to a little social with coffee and cookies after Mass where they enjoy conversing with us and asking us about our adventures.  And today was no different.  

Of course, I was flattered when one woman told me that I looked "stunning"!   Then she went on to tell me that I looked very "American".  Hmmmm......wonder what gave me away? 

After our chat, we headed over to Sweetheart Abbey, just a few blocks away.  It was certainly easy to spot.

This is another Cistercian monastery founded by Lady Devorgilla in 1273.  When Lady Devorgilla's husband died in 1268, she had his heart cut out and embalmed in a box that she carried with her for 20 years.  When she died, she was laid to rest in this abbey, "clutching the box to her bosom".  As a result, the monks named the abbey Sweetheart Abbey to commemorate her true love.  

In the graveyard there stands a very interesting gravestone that I thought  my genealogy friends might find very interesting

The family tree continues on the other side. Imagine coming to find your roots and stumbling upon something like this!  So many questions answered in one spot.  Amazing!

We took a "wee" walk before heading off to our next destination:  Caerlaverock Castle.

Ok, I can hear it now......"Not ANOTHER castle!"  

But, honest, this one is really unique.  Not so much in its history (although it is linked with Robert the Bruce on the trail), but because of its shape.

It's kind of hard to tell from the photo, but the castle is shaped like a triangle, and is surrounded on all three sides by a moat.  It was built in the 13th century and invaded by Edward I during his attempt to lay siege to Scotland's throne.  The castle was renovated in the 16th century, but fell to the hands of the Protestants since the owners, the Maxwell family, were devout Catholics and the castle actually had a church on the grounds.  It has been left as ruins since.  

From here, we drove to Dumfries where we decided to take a short walking tour through the town.  This town also has ties to Robert the Bruce as well as to Robert Burns, the National Poet who died here. 

We began at the Midsteeple, which was built in 1708.

Wish I had some insight into the emblem on the building.

But, alas, I could not find anything to explain what looks like an angelic Norseman, standing on a boat,  holding up his belt while clutching a staff.  I'm certainly up for suggestions if you have any.

Here you see the Devorgilla Bridge, built in 1432, the very first bridge over the River Nith.   

No worries....the bridge is for pedestrians only. 

Here you see Greyfriars Church  with a commemorative statue to Robert Burns.

I was amazed by the reflection in the still water of the River Nith further upstream.

Here stands the Hole I' The Wa' Inn with a photo of Robert Burns.

I'm not sure of the historical significance, but the name sounds pretty cool...don't you think?

Walking along the trail, we spotted the Robert the Bruce Tavern.  

To my knowledge there is no historical significance, except that the people following the trail might want to stop in for some wee refreshment.  

Just around the corner, there is a plaque on one of the buildings that is near the Greyfriars Church.

The Greyfriars Abbey once stood where there is a convenience store now. 

The plaque commemorates the slaying of Red Comyn by Robert the Bruce.  He had invited Comyn to the chapel for a meeting, and they had left their swords outside.   A fight broke out near the main altar, and Robert the Bruce slayed Comyn there.  Although the event was a pivotal one leading to Scottish independence, I found the course of events to be rather disturbing, particularly since it occurred in the abbey church.

At this point, we decided that it was time to head off towards Cupar where we would be staying the night.  It was 180 miles to our destination.  Scotland has a few large roads, but most of our travels would be along the smaller routes.

The sign along the road gave an indication of what we could expect.

I don't know about you, but I find the "snow forecast" sign to be rather amusing.  It really doesn't tell you much, but, then again, I suppose that it does tell you what you need to know.

Not far from Dumfries we discovered that quite a bit of the white stuff had fallen, and the roads were quite icy.  It was some tricky driving for awhile, but once we made it a bit further north, the roads were clear, and easily maneuvered. 

We found our B&B easily enough, and walked to a local restaurant which is located in the building of the town Gaol from past days.  Our entertainment for the evening was watching a young man, about 16 years of age, attempt to eat a 3 1/2 pound hamburger, complete with the trimmings.  The challenge was to consume the entire meal, (complete with cole slaw and chips) in 45 minutes time....then you could get the meal for free.

Ok.....so it's obvious that we are easily entertained.

By the way....he ended up paying for the meal and taking home a "doggy bag".  So much for that challenge.  And, no......neither of us have any intention of going back to try it ourselves.

Following the Robert the Bruce Trail

Here we are, in Southern Scotland, and what an excellent opportunity to pursue the travels of the Scottish hero, Robert the Bruce.  If you recall, his name is memorialized around the tower of Dunfermline Abbey:  Robert Bruce The King, for all to see for quite a distance.

 Once we returned on the ferry, we headed to then nearest information center and picked up the brochure that outlined the travels of this famous man along the southern coast of Scotland.

When we embarked from Larne, skies were pouring, and the mountain that we had traveled down to the harbor was covered in snow.  Luckily, we were cozy at the Harbour Inn before it accumulated.

We made the ride across the Irish Sea once again without incident, but it did pour the entire trip.  And, it didn't look much more promising on the Scotland side, but we didn't let that keep us from exploring.

I'll bet that you're not too surprised by that revelation.

Before we actually began the Robert the Bruce Trail, we decided to stop at Castle Kennedy to see the snowdrops, a delicate white flower that covers many of the gardens, but only blooms in February and March.

The castle is ruins, but stands on 750 acres brimming with all kinds of plants, and quite a number of different species of birds.  

We weren't too surprised to see quail in the fields. 

But I didn't expect to count as many as a dozen strutting along one of the fields.  They are really beautiful animals, but they do make quite a racket in search of their friends. 

And, of course, Scottish castle grounds wouldn't be complete without their sheep, although this one had some pretty fierce-looking creatures.

Can you believe those horns?

The walk was certainly not disappointing, as we spotted lots of the snow white petals along the trail.

The views along the walk were quite lovely.

But there was much more than just snowdrops to admire.  I can't even imagine how beautiful these rhododendrons must look in full bloom.

I took the picture with Marty standing next to them so that you could see how huge they were.

There are apparently 300 different varieties of snow drops, but we were told that you couldn't really tell the difference unless you got down on the ground and looked up at the petals.

Marty took the easier approach (especially since the ground was extremely muddy), and we checked out two of the flowers in different spots of the walk.

So, we  can attest for their being at least two different types of snow drops. And, considering that we noticed that some of the clusters had darker leaves, I'd say that we saw a few varieties, but 300?  Hmmmm..... I'll just have to take their word for that.

We managed to finish the walk just before the rain began pouring again....perfect timing!

So, it was time to follow the trail......only backwards, since we were traveling in the opposite direction.

First stop  Glenluce Abbey.

This abbey stands in the midst of a  farm, surrounded by a stone wall and sheep grazing in the fields.

It was founded around 1192 by Cistercian monks.  Robert the Bruce had rested at this place on his final journey through this area.

Marty got the sheep a bit riled up when he stopped the car to snap a quick photo of this cutie by the road. 

I can tell you for certain that the mama was not happy with him, and I heard her bleat, "get BAAAACK!" as the wee ones went scurrying back to mama.

We traveled along the coast line, admiring the beauty, and stopped at Carsluith Castle for a peek, as it literally stood right next to the road.

The castle was still open, so we climbed to the top to admire the snowy view.

And the view out over the water. This is the very southern part of Scotland, so what you see in the distance is England.

The weather was turning even colder, so we didn't stay too long before hopping in the car to continue along the way.

We finally drove into Kirkcudbright, the site of Maclellan castle.  It was actually built in 1264 by Alexander III.

The castle stands a stone's throw from the bay, and it was invaded in 1300 by King Edward I of England.  He arrived with a fleet of 60 ships,and 6000 men, the biggest fleet ever seen in Scotland.  

The scenery in the town was quite lovely, with the crocuses just beginning to bloom.

And, as usual, there were some interesting sights along the road.

It was getting late, so we opted to take the quickest route to our B&B to assure that we could find it while it was still light.

I was a bit concerned about what awaited me, because I had only booked the place in the morning.  I spent many hours into the night trying to find a place that had a vacancy (that looked decent but not too pricey), and finally went to bed after no success with the internet continuing to frustrate me.

It was obvious that this place was pretty remote, and it only had 2 tripadvisor reviews, but they looked good....I was desperate, and I figured that as long as we had a warm bed, we'd be fine.

The little village never showed up on Marty's GPS, but we have an atlas that we use for traveling to help us out.  We drove by one little village (of about 3 houses) after another....past lots of sheep.  

I  never saw a pub or a store for that matter, and was wondering just what we would be having for dinner.  We hadn't eaten since breakfast and we were hungry!

We made a right according to the instructions that we had found online, and our GPS told us that we had reached our destination right in the middle of sheep grazing.  I joked to Marty that it looked like lamb would be on the dinner menu, and we continued until we could go no further as the bay was directly in front of us.

We turned right, drove about 50 yds, and found the sign for the B&B along a row of white houses.

We were greeted by the most delightful woman named Susan, and she showed me upstairs to our wonderful room that looks right over the bay.  Everything is pristine, and she and her husband welcomed us enthusiastically. Now......how lucky was that?

And, to our delight....there was a pub about 2 minutes walk up the road.  You just can't beat that!

The place was packed, and I can see why, since there isn't anything around for miles.

I can't tell you how relieved I was, and Marty was as happy as a clam.  Off course, their were several beers on tap to choose from.

Fish on the wall.

Rods on the ceiling.

And some interesting clientele.

But the best part of the evening was enjoying a delightful meal by a cozy fire.

What a pleasant surprise!

Dodging the Raindrops in Donegal

Yesterday the weather was just as predictably unpredictable.....so typical of Ireland (and Scotland as well).  But that didn't keep us from venturing out in the morning.

After a fabulous breakfast at the Ard na Breathe B&B, we put on our boots, gloves, and scarves.....donned our coats, made certain to grab the umbrellas...and headed by foot into Donegal.

Once we stepped out the door of the B&B, I couldn't help but chuckle at the curious sheep.

Obviously, we must have been some entertainment for them, as one by one they popped up their heads for a stare-down.

We went on our merry way, however, and headed to the information center in search of an historic walking tour that I had found online, but had no way to print.  The friendly woman there was surprised to hear of such a walk, and she took down the web address to check it out.  (A lot of help that was too us.)

Since it was pouring down rain anyway, a long walk really did seem out of the question.  I was already drenched, and we hadn't even begun our tour!

We walked to the end of the harbor where we viewed the spot where the Harvey emigrants would have embarked for their journey to America in the 1890's.

The Atlantic ocean is in the distance.

Along the coast at this point stands the ruins of a Franciscan Friary that had been built in 1474 and had been endowed by Nuala O'Conner and Nuala O'Brien, wives of O'Donnell Chieftains.

It was here that four Franciscan monks wrote the History of Ireland from 1632 to 1636.  The documents covered the history of Ireland from its beginning to 1618.  

We walked into town towards Donegal Castle.  When we walked into the entrance, the proprietor told us that we were in luck, because he was not charging visitors to tour the castle that day.  There had been an event the night before, and the staff was still cleaning up, putting away chairs, etc., and they hoped that we could overlook that as we toured the castle.

Let me just say that we didn't see one chair or anything out of place on our tour, but we weren't complaining about the "freebie"!

The history behind the castle was fascinating, and we enjoyed walking through the grand hall and the manor house.

On the way out, when we went to thank the proprietor, we were introduced to Paddy Meehan, a former mayor of the town of Donegal.  This is when we learned that the "event" that had taken place the night before was actually a concert commemorating James McKay Rorty, an Irishman from the town, who had been killed in the battle of Gettysburg.  It turns out that Paddy will be in the US in June, with the intention of touring the battlefield.  Of course, Marty couldn't help but pass along a few interesting tips about the place, having been there numerous times himself.  Kind of funny to be discussing the American Civil War with an Irishman, but apparently many emigrants lost their lives in the Civil War shortly after leaving the country for America.

Walking around Donegal Town can be quite a challenge as there are no crosswalks and the drivers are not too eager to let anybody cross the street.  This road sign actually describes things quite well.

Doesn't it look the the car is out to hit the running man?  I suppose that this must be fair warning to be cautious.  In any event, never walk too close to the edge of the sidewalk!

Today we decided to stop off and visit Annie once again before making our way back to Larne.  We are scheduled to take the ferry back to Scotland on Saturday.  She was thrilled to see us and to hear all of the excitement of the previous evening.  Annie looked so much better than yesterday!

I had taken the photo of the three of us to the local pharmacy and had a print made for her.  The girl behind the counter looked at the photo and explained, "I know that woman!  She's such a dear soul".  I explained the happenings of the day before, and the young lady became so excited and she said, "Why not buy a wee frame to put the photo in for Annie?"

Now, was that a great idea, or what?  She found a wonderful frame that said "Family" on the top, and the photo fit inside perfectly.  Then this young girl wrapped the frame in some pretty paper for us.  (Really.....can you beat this hospitality?)

When Annie opened the gift, she looked at the photo and said, "I look terrible!"  Now, that brought a laugh out of me.  Imagine being nearly 92 years old and worrying about how you look!  But, she popped it up on the table, smiling.....and I knew that she was thrilled with it.

We once again chatted through visiting hours, and when it was time to leave, I looked out the window and saw this

Isn't that just lovely?

It was time to leave, and we both hugged Annie.  Then, she looked at us with her big eyes and said, 

"So, when are you coming back?"  What a hoot!

It was time to head to Larne, but we had decided to drive north to the Giant's Causeway.  (This has no connection with the New York sport's teams).  But, we never actually did figure out what it was supposed to be, because we showed up 10 minutes prior to the Visitor center closing.

But, we did manage to capture a few photos of the shoreline.

Beautiful, don't you think?

By this point the sun was nearly setting, and we still had quite a drive ahead of us, so we began the journey to Larne.  The last 10 minutes of the drive snow was falling.  And, the lady who owns the B&B told me that we are actually heading into snow when we get to Scotland tomorrow.  Now, how lucky is that?

It looks like we're leaving Ireland just prior to all of the St. Patrick's Day festivities. And believe you me, there were plenty of places gearing up for the big event.  Shamrocks abound!  And Donegal was bursting with anticipation.  We'll have to see if the same enthusiasm greets us in Scotland.

Let me just share a few photos of the place here in Larne.  Once again, we can see the boat in the harbor.

The place is right near the harbor, so getting to the ferry should be fairly easy.

But let me just say that the decor here is quite a bit different than the elegant place where we stayed in Donegal.

Want an example?

Ok, here goes......

Isn't it what you've always wanted?