As mentioned in my previous post, I really have a thing for exploring castle ruins!
Dragon Pics 🐉
If you like dragons, I’ve posted pics of dragon items spotted during this trip on my Dragonsinn.net website (est. 1999).
I can’t possibly list every single thing I did or every single photo I took…so here are some highlights.
Part 1: Ireland
I spent a week with my mum and sister in Ireland (Dublin and Cork), and a week by myself after that in Scotland.
My mum had been thinking of visiting Ireland for quite some time—we just took our own sweet time planning it.
Highlights
At a relative’s recommendation, we went to Bewley’s Cafe several times.
“For nearly 100 years, Bewley’s Café on bustling Grafton Street has been Dublin’s favourite place for award-winning coffee, delicious food and timeless charm.”
Amazing scones and tea!!
We also visited:
- the Guinness Storehouse (where the top floor is the Gravity Bar where you can get a free pint of Guinness, with a tour ticket)
- a William Butler Yeats free exhibition at the National Library (it had nice tarot and occult / Golden Dawn / occult items on display)
- Charles Fort (a big, well-preserved, star-shaped structure of the late 17th century)
- Glendalough, Co. Wicklow (known for its magnificent scenery and being home to a 6th century important monastic site in Ireland)
- Blarney Castle 🏰, where I—
- possibly had mild histoplasmosis from exploring a damp section in a small, dark cave at the entrance… (it was still fun)
- went all the way up to kiss the Blarney Stone (you have to lie down and kiss it upside down)
- M&S at Dunne Stores (very nice; I miss it a lot)
Some Photos
Selection of photos:
- Pics 1-2: Wicklow/Glendalough
- Pics 3-12: Blarney Castle
- Check out the Druid Stones!!
- Small cave at Blarney Castle entrance
- Mysterious black cat running around as I was leaving the wooded, pagan section
Part 2: Scotland
I spent most of my week in Glasgow, with a half-day train trip to Edinburgh 🏰
Unfortunately, I didn’t know that there’d be two separate tickets (for the to-and-return trip on ScotRail). So I had to re-purchase a return ticket 🥲
I’m happy that I visited the two oldest buildings in Glasgow.
One of them was Glasgow Cathedral and the other was Crookston Castle.
Highlights
- Glasgow Cathedral (built in the 1100s), and necropolis (a Victorian garden cemetery full of wonderful architecture and sculptures)
- The Hunterian Museum (university museum and Scotland’s oldest public museum)
- Edinburgh Castle (I’ll have to make my way back here as I was there for a short time, and only saw the entrance!)
- Crookston Castle (built in 1400s; here’s a SUPERB collection of photos and historical details, by Arjayempee on Flickr)
- Meow Cat Cafe (there were a few super cute British shorthairs)
Crookstone Castle was in a very residential area. I had looked on Google Maps the night before and I thought I had memorized the directions.
I still needed to ask a couple of locals along the way about how to actually get to the place. Thankfully, they were very friendly and helpful.
Another highlight was Meow Cat Cafe which was within walking distance from my hotel.
I believe I walked 10 miles that one day. According to my watch, I took 22,000 steps!
Reflections & Realizations
I like not being overly reliant on a GPS. If you’re too reliant on it, you can miss out on landmarks you would otherwise be noticing.
I’ve seen a couple of interesting articles or studies about this:
- Don’t always depend on GPS. Your sense of direction will thank you (NPR.org)
- Over-Reliance on GPS Could See Us Lose Our Sense of Navigation (Science Alert)
So that’s the main summary of the trip.
I felt very much at peace, very happy, and very much at home wandering around these places I explored.
It was my first time visiting both Ireland and Scotland and I’m hoping it won’t be the last.
I’d definitely like to explore more caves or castle ruins in future.
If you have any upcoming travel trips, feel free to let me know about that. I always love hearing about people’s travel plans or stories!
Jess Chua 
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