Dirty Dublin ... Literally

After our week in Scotland, the airports reopened right on time, and we flew over to Dublin, Ireland. Russell and Fiona have friends that are trying to sell their flat in Dublin and were willing to rent it to use for the weekend. Really amazing place and in a great location! We were lucky to have so much room to ourselves ... a kitchen to make breakfast in the morning, a washer/dryer to finally do some laundry, and a couch and tv to veg out a bit. I even tried to get in some exercising with the resistance band I packed, which Kyle thought was hilarious. How else is a girl supposed to keep her figure with all that beer?!?!

I'll cut to the chase and say, if you don't like beer, don't bother going to Dublin. Most of our trip centered around brewery tours, pub tours and sampling good beers. Good thing I'm German and had no trouble keeping up!

Within 2 hours of landing in Dublin, we were off to the Guiness Brewery tour. The final stop of the tour is a "free" pint (after the $15 entry fee) at the Gravity Bar at the very top of the building - with 360 degree views of the city. Not exactly breath taking, given Dublin is a bit of a run down blue collar town ... but still a lovely spot to relax for the afternoon.

We stopped at the Jameson distillery, but given that they no longer distill at this location and the fact that we toured multiple distilleries in Scotland and could probably have given the tour, we settled on a drink and a swing through the giftshop. Take a look at the picture of Kyle sipping his whiskey for another "gift" we discovered in the background. How could you not feel a draft?!?!

We enjoyed a pint at The Brazenhead - the oldest pub in town. Looks like some fellow Clevelanders had done the same as there were police badges of Cleveland suburbs posted on the wall. Us Clevelanders sure do get around ... do you blame us?!?!

So, there you have it. The three big tourist events were all related to alcohol. But wait for it ... our favorite day was a rural pub tour. 9 hours, 6 pubs! I wasn't kidding about that beer thing.

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The Irish countryside was beautiful, the people were friendly, the pubs were cozy and the beer went down easy. Our tour guide, Shane, was fantastic! Kyle sparked up conversation with a local and in no time was playing a round of Irish pool. (same rules smaller table) We heard some live music, ate a good traditional meal, and even poured our own pint of Guinness (perfectly, I might add) behind the bar. Not to worry, mums, Shane dropped us off at the door to our flat and we safely tucked ourselves in for the night.

We had a nice time in Dublin, but we decided it was not our favorite city. It was quite dirty compared to Edinburgh (and most European cities I've visited, or even US cities for that matter) and very expensive. Even more so than London, we would soon learn. I think we just allotted too many days to the city. Had we chosen to rent a car and see the countryside, I think we would have been happier. But, we did have time to relax in our own apartment and get ready for our next adventure in London!

From Whisky to Gravestones?!?!

Euro Post #2. Scotland (non-wedding)

Kyle and I spent a total of about a week in Scotland ... a few days before and after the wedding. I was lucky enough to explore the country with my mom back in the fall of 2007 and was SO excited to revisit this beautiful place with Kyle.

I have to say, out of all the places I've traveled, Scotland is definitely one of my favorites. To the point that I'd skip seeing new places to revisit and continue exploring all that Scotland has to offer. That's saying a lot for me. Maybe this explains part of my attraction to Kyle as he has some Scottish blood. ;)

Both of our checked bags arrived in Scotland. What a relief! For those of you that don't know, Kyle's first trip to Europe was back in December of 2003 to visit me at the end of my study abroad program in Copenhagen. He arrived, but his bags didn't and boy was he pissed. While his temper has mellowed with age, I still didn't want to test the waters. To add to our luck, the Icelandic volcano hit the very next morning ... so we got in just in time. And while the airports were all shut down for a week, we were playing around in Scotland, so no interruptions for us!

Our amazing friends, Russell and Fiona, hosted us at their flat (apartment in British speak) for 5 days. Super sweet of them considering they had a wedding to prepare for! Here's a picture of their flat and our entire crew reunited. Us, Russell & Fiona and Liam & Bethan - it was the 6 of us that traveled to Florida together last May.

We toured Edinburgh (beautiful, friendly, clean city) for a couple days, enjoyed the wedding festivities for a couple days, a day of rest and recovery, then went to the eerily deserted airport to rent our car and tour whisky country up north. I had driven on the "wrong side of the road" before in Ireland for a week during my study abroad program and for 2 weeks with my mom, but you never get used to it. Similar to driving in the states, Kyle proved to be better on the windy, country roads and I could better handle the busy city driving.

We stayed at a fantastic B&B in Speyside, the heart of whisky country, in the northern Highlands of Scotland. Among several others, we toured the Glenfiddich distillery, one of Kyle's favorites. They were very generous with their samples (even more so since our tour guide was a Packer's fan!) but don't worry, I was the DD so Kyle was able to enjoy his whisky. You can see the "enjoyment" in his eyes.

Russell's Aunt Brenda and Uncle David, who sat at our table at the wedding, actually live 20 minutes from our B&B, so they met us at a local pub for a few drinks. Super nice of them to show us a little more local flavor ... we're talking about a one room pub that fit the bar, a fireplace, 8 people and one dog ... max. Now that's local flavor!

Here's the 82 year old bartender, Joe. Kinda looks like another cute little Grandpa Joe we know! He owns the place and used to run it with his wife before she passed away. He lives on the other side of the building and closes up shop whenever his last customer leaves.

Our last day in Scotland was spent driving to Ochiltree, just south of Glasgow, to visit the cemetary where Kyle's great-great-great-great grandfather was buried. His Grandma Mary traced their roots and visited Ochiltree back in 1995, just before she passed away. So, not only were we walking in the footsteps of his ancestors, but we were tracing his Grandmother's steps on the same journey. Very moving experience and gave us the itch to do more tracing of our roots. Singen, Germany, here we come! (That's the Mulhausen side of the family, if you couldn't guess)

Kyle is holding the picture of his Grandma Mary doing the same pose that he is doing. Very cool.





Thank you, Scotland. We promise to come back and visit again someday. I mean, technically, we are Scots ... and we've got the pictures to prove it!

A Guy, A Girl and Two Skirts

The moment you've all been waiting for ... our very own Kyle Petersen wearing a kilt!!! He wears it quite well, I might add. Must be his Scottish blood ...


[Plenty more where this came from ... I am charging $5 per copy if anyone wants official bribe material.] :)

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So, we are finally both back in the country and full of the most amazing memories and pictures, ever! We had an absolutely outstanding time in Europe ... but it is nice to be home.

We will do our best to give you a taste of our travels in several blogs over the next couple weeks. All I can tell you is that the pictures are amazing, but just don't do it justice - I recommend you all plan a trip to get over there someday. It's worth it. I might have a Coach bag (or two) and more shoes than I know what to do with, but the bulk of my money goes toward experiences, not material things. 10 years from now, will I look back and think, "Boy, did I love that black leather purse I carried around in 2010?" No ... but we will never forget the beautiful wedding in Scotland, all the people we met, friends we visited, places we saw and memories that we made on our European adventure of 2010.


I'm going to focus this posting on the wedding in Scotland. Again, the impetus for our trip was the wedding of our dear friends Russell and Fiona that we met on our honeymoon in Jamaica. We were honored to share their special day, but it also gave us the kick in the pants we needed to take a European vacation together ... and, to get Kyle in a kilt!


Here's Kyle getting fitted for his kilt the day before the wedding ... jeans and all. He was such a good sport about the whole thing. I think he was secretly excited to wear a skirt, but don't tell him I said that. :)

Rehearsal dinner the night before ... not a typical Scottish tradition, but Fiona grew up for a while in the states so they adopted a little American flavor. Kyle tried haggis for the first time! Father of the Bride is on the far right and the couple in the back middle are Russell's parents.

Here's the wedding location ... Dundas Castle. Just stunning, from the outside and inside.

Here we are at the top of the castle during our explorations when we arrived at the castle. We were like little kids running around to see everything. We stayed in the Buttercup Room, which was just "lovely." (After hearing this word so frequently in the UK, I've decided I need to use it more often. And "brilliant" is another adjective I'm bringing back to the states. Much more classy than "awesome" and "cool," don't you agree?)

Here's Kyle getting all suited up. Right down to the special tie of the shoe.

We had a short panic attack when we realized that they didn't show Kyle how to put the tie on and everyone else seemed to have a clip on. Cruel joke to give the American the old fashioned kind! We ran into their wedding coordinator who graciously helped us out. Check out his ear piece. This guy was no joke ... like the wedding planner, Franck, played by Martin Short in Father of the Bride - classic.

Kyle and the groom before the ceremony. Handsome couple.

The ceremony was held in the Auld Keep ... fitting 60 people, max. Braveheart was playing as we waited for the ceremony to begin ... gave me the chills.

The happy couple after they were officially announced as husband and wife!

One of the few differences between this celebration and most American weddings we have attended ... they cut the cake with a sword! I'm sure Kyle would have loved to do that back in Door County!

Our dinner table, following a fantastic cocktail hour. We sat with aunts, uncles and family friends. Everyone was so welcoming. Not more than 2 minutes after we sat down, Jock (the man to my left,) passed around a flask of whisky!

Here we are at the bar during the reception. Several more people arrived for the party and dancing in the evening. Do you see how many kilts I am surrounded by?!?! Lucky girl, I know.

The evening started with a live band playing traditional music, and Kyle and I got pulled up on the dance floor to learn several traditional group dance. But the later hours in the night were accompanied by all the classics we would hear back home ... here's Kyle and Russell rocking out to Journey.

And here's our customary photo with the happy couple that we like to get at all the weddings we attend. Good lookin' crew.

The celebration ended with a night cap in the library before retreating to our rooms. We were greeted with a tasty Scottish breakfast in the morning before leaving the castle. What an absolutely amazing celebration and unforgettable experience! We are so happy for our friends Russell and Fiona and grateful to them for inviting us to share their special day. We only wish we had met sooner so that they could have partied at our wedding in Wisconsin!