plants watered…check……new clothes and shoes..check……new poncho for rain..check…..Margo drinking Baily’s, getting loopy and packing my bag…check! I can pack my own bag but if she wants to do it so she can get to Scotland that much faster then so be it.

I have to say I’m surprised.  The clothes and extra pair of shoes that I set out to take on the trip actually fit into my carry on with the first try.  =)  Added bonus is that I’m well under the 40 lbs limit for the airline.  My bag weighed in at 14 lbs.    I have room to buy some stuff and bring it home with me.  =)

I’m starting to get excited and a little nervous now.   This weekend I do a trial packing to make sure I can get everything I want in the carry on and still keep it under the carry on weight.  I think I’ll be fine but we have to try once before it is time for the final packing.

So, I think I have completely driven my husband nuts with talk of this vacation.  In my defense, I have wanted to go to Scotland and Ireland for quite some time.  I am so excited that I’m finally getting to go.  I’m told that my dad’s, dad’s side of the family comes from Scotland somewhere.  We’re still trying to figure that one out.   =)

Normally I wouldn’t consider doing an organized tour, because you are like cattle being led around, but this is our first time out of the country and he didn’t want to try and drive on the wrong side of the road the first time out.  And I really can’t say I blame him.  The other alternative was for me to drive and if you know my husband, I’m sure you can hear him say “I don’t want to die on this trip.” LOLOL.  I guess you can’t blame him for that either.

Below is the itinerary for the trip we are taking.  I’ve edited the more boring aspects of  “we drive south, go to the coast, etc” out of it.  There are a lot of really neat things that we get to see and of course, some not so really neat things.  But I guess you have to take the good with the bad if you’re going to do a vacation like this.

Saturday – Day 1:  Overnight flight to Glasgow

Sunday – Day 2:  Glasgow City Tour
Take a couch tour to see attractions of Glasgow, including:
Red sandstone Victorian buildings, Parks, Glasgow Cathedral
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

Monday – Day 3:  Loch Lomond Cruise & Inveraray Castle
Take short cruise on Loch Lomond.
Guided tour around Inverary Castle.
Cross the Rannoch Moor.  Drive through Glen Coe to Ballachulish on the coast.

Tuesday – Day 4:  Isle of Skye & Clan Donald Centre
Take the “Road to the Isles.”  Stop at Glenfinnan Monument.
Ferry to Isle of Skye, visit Clan Donald Centre.  Stop at Eilean Donan Castle.
View Urquhart Castle ruins.

Wednesday – Day 5:  Sheepdog Trials & Culloden Battlefield
Visit Leault Farm, Culloden Moor and tour Visitor Centre.
Walk around the battlefield where, on 16th April 1746, British Government forces defeated the army or Prince Charles Edward Stuart.

Thursday – Day 6:  Glenfiddich Whisky Distillery & Royal Deeside
Tour the Glenfiddich Distillery.
Near Banchory stop at the Falls of Feugh, a charming tea shop to sample afternoon tea
with delicious freshly-baked scones and enjoy a talk on Highland life.

Friday – Day 7:  Glamis Castle & St. Andrews or St. Andrews & Coast of Fife
Here is where the tour brochure and the itinerary we got when we booked the tour differ.  One thing is the same though. We will be going to St. Andrews, “The home of Golf.”  Visiting the famous Royal and Ancient Clubhouse and the Old Course as well as the British Golf Museum.
The rest I’ll let you know later.

Saturday – Day 8:  Edinburgh Castle & City Tour
Tour Edinburgh City, both old and new.  Tour Edinburgh Castle.

Sunday – Day 9:  Belfast Tour & Dublin
Drive through part of the Scottish borders and along the coast.
At Cairnryan take a ferry ride to Lorne, just outside Belfast.
Tour Belfast’s city center, the Harland and Wolff shipyards, where the Titanic was built.

Monday – Day 10:  Viking Dublin & Burlington Cabaret
Enjoy the morning at leisure or take an independent open-top bus tour and visit Guinness or Jameson.
Tour central Dublin to see Trinity College, where the Book of Kells is housed; Dail Eireann, seat of government; and rows of elegant Georgian houses.
Take a guided tour through Dublin Castle’s elegant state apartments.

Tuesday – Day 11:  Blarney Castle & Killarney
Stop the Rock of Cashel.  Visit Blarney Castle and kiss the famous “Stone of Eloquence.”
Visit the Blarney Woollen Mills. Drive into the mountainous scenery of county Kerry to Killarney.

Wednesday – Day 12:  Ring of Kerry & Skellig Experience
Take the Ring of Kerry drive.
Cross to Valencia Island by bridge to visit the Skellig Experience which describes
austere monastic life on the nearby island.
Stop at Moll’s Gap before returning to Killarney

Thursday – Day 13:  Cliffs of Moher & Bunratty Castle Banquet
Take a ferry across the River Shannon Estuary and view the Cliffs of Moher.
Medieval style feast at Bunratty Castle.

Friday – Day 14:  Dublin Extension Via Galway
Drive along Galway Bay to Spiddal and across the boglands of Connemara.
Enjoy tea and scones at the Connemara Marble Factory.
Take a tour around Galway before traveling back to Dublin.

Saturday – Day 15:  Depart from Dublin Airport