We headed out for Vienna, from Dresden on 6/17, but stopped in Prague for the day. This is the second time Wade and I have been here and the first for Keely. There are a lot of hidden gems and we will probably make another trip. We did a free walking tour (tip of choice at the end). Ian took us on a route we didn’t go on the first time. We learned a little more this time too. My absolute favorite it the astronomical clock. To think, people created this intricate clock over 600 years ago. It’s more impressive that it is spot on (when it’s not daylight savings time).

When you watch the hourly chiming, there is a lot going on.

Did you see the skeleton ringing the bell? Did you see him nodding his head? Did you see the figures on either side of the skeleton shaking their head no? Did you see all the “relics” appearing in the doors that open? Did you see and hear the rooster at the end?

We also learned about “Stumble Stones”. They are a profound way to remember people that were forever changed by the Holocaust.

After the tour, we headed to the Lego museum. No, Legos weren’t developed in Prague. The Danish have that claim. However, a Czech man holds the world record for most Legos. He has opened a museum in Prague. There were A LOT of Legos. Keely was in HEAVEN!

After we had a tasty Czech dinner and headed to Vienna. Our hotel is on the Danube. Did I play The Beautiful Blue Danube Waltz by Strauss when we got in our room at midnight? Sure did!

The next day we headed off to Bratislava. There was a Marie Antoinette exhibit at the castle. Marie Antoinette’s mother, who was a Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Bohemia spent time there and Marie Antoinette’s sister had lived in the castle as well. We explored Bratislava, but our Bolt driver insisted that Budapest was where we really should be going. So, that rolled around in our head while enjoying Bratislava.

After much discussion, we decided to visit Budapest the next day (6/19). I mean, it was only a 2.5 hour train ride…..and they had a cat cafe. So, off to Budapest we went! Budapest was a lovely city that is steeped in history. We did find it kinda funny that in order to quell some protest over a communist monument, they installed a Ronald Regan and George Bush Sr statue.

Budapest also has an extremely sobering monument to those taken by the Holocaust. At one point, they could no longer put Jews on the trains to send them to camps. Instead, they marched them to the river, had them disrobe, shot them and let the river carry them away.

We started 6/20 in Vienna at Mozart’s apartment. However, you can’t take pictures inside soooooo….yeah. We then meandered over to Hofburg Palace. Hofburg is the second largest palace in the world by interior square feet. The Louvre in Paris is the largest.

We headed in to see the Crown Jewels and got more than we anticipated. The collection held at Hofburg is enormous.

After the Crown Jewels, we wandered around Vienna a bit more before finally heading off to Munich.

It is very clear why Ireland is dubbed the Emeral Isle. The countryside is lush and green. It is quite beautiful. We arrived in Dublin in the morning, dropped our stuff at the hotel and went to explore. Food came first. I FINALLY got my cottage pie and it was worth the wait.

Then we headed out to the Jameson Distillery. Part of your tour is a free drink to start the tour and tastings at the end. Jameson and ginger ale….delicious!

After Jameson we headed over to Guinness. I know it’s super touristy, but it’s super worth it. It was really cool to hear how both Jameson and Guinness focused on making sure their employees were taken care of.

The next day we took our tour over to The Cliffs of Moher and Galway. I was soooooo excited for The Cliffs of Insanity……sorry Princess Bride reference. However, the fog had other plans. We still enjoyed our time there and Keely was able to get a necklace made with her name. (She can NEVER find anything in any store with her name. She was holding out hope that Ireland would come through since Keely is Irish. Nope. Custom made for the win!)

Galway was adorable!!! I’m so glad we got a chance to go. I just love the Irish Claddaugh symbol and learned that the claddaugh has its origins from near Galway. Our tour guide did a short walking tour and I just fell in love with Galway even more. Wade liked it, but was meh. Keely and I thought it was so charming.

Our last full day in Dublin, we did the hop on/hop off tour during the day. Then we went to Celtic Knights for dinner and a show. It was so much fun!

All in all we had a wonderful trip! We are happy to be home though.

Listen, if you don’t have Scotland on your list of places to visit. You should add it. Like seriously. It was beautiful and the people were so friendly. If you like old architecture like myself it is a treasure trove. We started with exploring Glasgow and Edinburgh. On the way from Glasgow to Edinburgh, we stopped at the Scotland Owl Centre. The flying show was informative and cool. The King and Queen were in Edinburgh while we were there. Sadly, they didn’t invite us to dinner.

Then we went to the Highlands. Our focus was Cawdor Castle and Loch Ness. We found out about Fort George and decided to start there. We were able to see dolphins from the fort too so that was really cool!

Then we headed over to Cawdor Castle. The whole Shakespeare connection drew us there, but feeling like I was living in the Secret Garden was a bonus. It’s also really cool that the owner still lives in the castle for most of the year. Wade really wanted to see Highland cows and we made that happen too.

Then we headed to Urquhart Castle. Cool castle on a cool Loch, win/win! FYI, most of the sheep on the hillsides were naked, but I did finally find some fully dressed.

Oh! We found the Loch Ness monster too! scariest thing I’ve ever seen.

Even with the wind, the cold, and the rain, I’d go back to Scotland again and again. Don’t be sleeping on this amazing place! We will definitely be going back to explore more.

So, I get why people love Paris. I also get why people aren’t the biggest fans of it. We enjoyed the history and the architecture. The food was great. We didn’t really encounter anyone that lived up to the stereotype of “Rude French”. People weren’t rude, just weren’t necessarily ready to go out of their way to help either. We definitely enjoyed sitting under the Eiffel Tower as it twinkled and Versailles. Personally, I loved Saint-Sulpice and The Arc De Triomphe. Keely finally found the joy in crepes. Keely loved Paris. Wade could never go back and be fine. If I were to go back, I would stay in the Versailles area.

London. We were in London 3 1/2 days and there just wasn’t enough time, even for surface level things. There is soooooo much in London we want to go back to. Keely of course could stay in West End and go to every show possible. The shows we did see (Starlight Express, Hadestown, and Great Gatsby) were amazing!!

Keely and I did an evening Jack the Ripper tour. It was really quite informative. We didn’t just learn about the murders. We learned more about the women and what life was like at that time. We also learned where the term “hungover” came from and why the Whitechapel area was called Whitechapel. We also learned about the impact of the London Wall and why the tops of parking posts are different colors.

We took a day to head over to Stonehenge. Listen, it was not as big as the movies sometimes portray, but it was definitely impressive.

We left London on Wednesday to head north. We stopped in Nottingham on our way up. We stopped for Robin Hood, but got much more! Did you know Nottingham was the lace capital of the UK for a long time? Well, now you do! You’re welcome.