After give years of dreaming and planning and saving, the time has come to head off on my UK and Ireland adventure. This started off as a huge wishlist of "if resources were no issue" (budget, time)... but had to be whittled down based on priorities and what made sense with me wanting to travel with a mix of small group tours (max. 12) and me being left to my own devices.
My priorities, in approx. order:
Scotland - seeing the Highlands, Edinburgh, the Isle of Skye, the Kelpies, and getting to the Shetlands and see the Puffins (hence the name of the blog).
- My McDonald ancestry, my 3rd Great Grandparents were born in Scotland. My 3rd Great Grandfather, James Kenneth McDonald was born around 1805 in Armadale, Isle of Skye. He married Catherine Martin, born around 1818, from Loch Hourn.
- The Shetlands - there's a long and silly story about an experience I had with my dad while I was caring for him post-cardiac surgery during lockdown in 2020. We were watching Shetland, the TV series, and he was feeling the cold and I was way too hot with the fire blazing... Of course, the landscape of Shetland was bleak and cold and sparse. Dad and I turned to each other to comment on the environment... with very different comments! At the same time dad declared, "what a prick of a place! I would hate to be that cold!", I exclaimed "I would give anything to be there right now... somewhere cold and stark and isolated!". I had also been quietly looking up "how to get the the Shetlands"... of course, it was lockdown in the UK, so the usual ferry service wasn't running... but anyway. It is now! And six years later, with the help of a bit of inheritance (we lost dad in July 2024), I'm going.
Oh. And Puffins. I mean, come on... they're adorable!
Photo by Bob Brewer on Unsplash
Ireland - I also have Irish ancestry... and while I won't be getting to Tipperary (my 2nd Great Grandmother, Eliza Perry, was born there), I want to explore a little of what Ireland and Northern Ireland have to offer.
London - I'm only able to fit in a few days in London. I would love to spend more time in England, and also have managed to get to Wales, but alas... resources. My priorities for London are... museums, shows, Shakespeare (I have a ticket to Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare's Globe) and just soaking it all in.
Ok. So, for those who care... my next post will be my high-level itinerary. I hope to maintain the blog throughout the trip. Where I can, I'll add details for the daily activities, as much for my memory and benefit as it will be for anyone else.
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