Four years after I originally planned it (thanks, COVID), my friends and family and I were finally able to go on our huge, wonderful Western European tour.

6 countries
Ireland --> Northern Ireland --> Scotland --> England --> France --> Netherlands

5 family members
Olivia, Toren, Gregg, Susan, Jean

4 friends
Olivia, Toren, Chaston, Kaylee

3 weeks of travel
July 9 to July 28

2 legs of travel
First half with family, second half with friends

1 incredible adventure

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Dublin

Wednesday, 7/10

Airbnb: Modern apartment in Dublin City
Breakfast: Roly's Bistro

Attractions:
1. Book of Kells
2. Kilmainham Gaol Museum & Prison

Daily recap: Breakfast at Roly's Bistro was great! Very cute, lots off good food, friendly staff, and a closet to store our luggage during our meal. We dropped off our luggage at a corner store using Bounce luggage storage, which ended up working really well. Trinity College (which houses the Book of Kells) was a nice campus, with grass kept deliberately tall for the bees and butterflies. The Gaia art in the library was very striking and definitely a highlight of the trip for me. At Kilmainham, our tour guide Joanne was really great, personable and knowledgeable.

Thursday, 7/11

Attractions: Cliffs of Moher bus tour
1. Bunratty Castle
2. Cliffs of Moher

Daily recap: On this cold and rainy morning, we met up with tour guide Michael for a bus trip out of the city. First stop was Bunratty Castle and town, a cute little town with a cramped castle that was clearly built for defense instead of comfort. There were a ton of animals on the grounds, including wolfhounds (Jean and Toren's favorite part of the day), cows, goats, chickens, and peacocks. Another hour drive and we got to the Cliffs of Moher, which you get to via a ton of stairs or golf carts (that we were never actually able to get). The Cliffs had a nice visitor's center with a cafe, large gift shop, 4D movie, and an exhibition.

Friday, 7/12

Attractions: Blarney Castle bus tour
1. Blarney Castle
2. Cahir Castle

Daily recap: We went on our second bus tour from Dublin with James, who was more of a driver than a tour guide. Our first stop was Blarney Castle, where Dad, Toren, and I walked up the 128 steps to the Blarney Stone, which gets sanitized between visitors. We were there early enough that there wasn't much of a line, and kissing the stone wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be, considering you kiss it upside down and up so high. We walked through the extensive gardens, including the Poison Garden and Carnivorous Courtyard, and had lunch at their carriage house. A couple hours later, we arrived at Cahir Castle, which reinforced that we never want to live in a castle with all those narrow corridors and stairs, and took a quick tour with Mick.

Dublin to Belfast

Saturday, 7/13

Airbnb: Large family farmhouse in Antrim
Dinner: Shunters Chip Shop & Smokehouse
Train: Dublin Connolly to Belfast
Rental car: Hertz

Attractions:
1. Falcon Experience at Breckenhill
2. Antrim Castle & Gardens

Daily recap: We started the morning taking a train from Dublin to Newry then transferring to a bus to get to Belfast. One of the funniest parts of the entire trip was a train worker announcing the transfer, saying in a thick Irish accent, "Don't ye be running like a lunatic, there are plenty of busses," which also turned out to not quite be true. After picking up a rental car, we drove to Ballyclare for the FANTASTIC Falcon Experience! We saw four birds of prey: Albert the owl, Kieran the hawk, Pelgrim the bald eagle, and Viator the falcon. Albert and Pelgrim were extra special because they sometimes deliver rings down the aisle for weddings. Each bird showed off for us, posing and doing impressive tricks. HIGHLY recommend for anyone visiting the area. We closed out the day walking around Antrim Castle and Gardens.

Belfast to Inverness

Sunday, 7/14

Airbnb: 3 Bed Ground floor Apartment
Ferry: P&O from Larne to Cairnryan

Attraction: Blair Castle

Daily recap: We got up super early to take the ferry from Larne to Cairnryan then drove through Glasgow, which seemed surprisingly dirty, to Blair Castle, my dad's and my ancestral home. It was a fun house to walk through with good information and lovely decorations. We then drove to Inverness. Toren did a GREAT job driving these two days, staying fully on the left side of the road. He said he got used to it pretty quickly, except trying to use the stick shift with his right hand. The roads were of good quality, and he loved the countdown system with paint strips counting down changes along the road, like changes to the speed limit.

Monday, 7/15

Breakfast: Café de Paulo at the Victorian Market
Dinner: Café 1

Attractions: Inverness bus tour
     1. Loch Ness
     2. Wardlaw Mausoleum
     3. Robertson's Highland Cows
     4. Cawdor Castle
     5. Clava Cairns
     6. Culloden Battlefield

Daily recap: We spent this beautiful day with Billy, our private tour guide, who took us around the Inverness area. We started by visiting the BEAUTIFUL Loch Ness, which might have been my favorite part of the trip. We drove past the Urquhart Castle then stopped by the Wardlaw Mausoleum, where all the Frasiers (which comes from the French word for strawberry) are buried and Simon the Fox was supposed to be buried but somehow disappeared from. We stopped by Roberson's Highland Cows, another highlight of the trip, to see the hairy coos (what the Scottish called them, super cute!) and their alpaca and sheep friends. We rounded out the day with Cawdor Castle, the Clava Cairns, and Culloden Battlefield, which was a major highlight for Jean and Dad. We had my birthday dinner at Cafe 1, which was excellent.

Inverness to Edinburgh

Tuesday, 7/16

Airbnb: Luxury Nests
Train: Inverness to Edinburgh Waverley

Attractions:
     1. Greyfriars Kirkyard
     2. Edinburgh Castle
     3. Palace of Holyroodhouse

Daily recap: We took a train from Inverness to Edinburgh and spent the afternoon touristing around Greyfriars Kirkyard, which was supposedly the inspiration for some of the names in Harry Potter, Edinburgh Castle, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Holyroodhouse was a major hit with our group, with Mom appreciating the history and the wilderness surrounding the house, Dad liking that it's still actively used, and me appreciating that it's set up like a modern building, instead of the cramped castles we'd been seeing so far.

Edinburgh to London

Wednesday, 7/17

Hotel: St. Giles London
Dinner: Top Hat
Train: Edinburgh Haymarket to London Euston

Attraction: British Museum

Daily recap: We started the day taking another train from Edinburgh to London then rushed over to the British Museum before it closed for the day. We didn't have a ton of time to explore, but we were able to see the highlights, like the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon friezes. It's a cool museum, though the controversial history of the British Museum complicated our experience. We had nice dinner at the Top Hat, a fun Monopoly-themed restaurant.

Thursday, 7/18

Drinks: Olea Social

Attractions:
     1. Tower of London
     2. London Bridge
     3. St. Paul's Cathedral

Daily recap: While my parents went on a tour of the Cotswolds, Jean, Toren, and I spent the day immersed in history! We spent most of the morning at the Tower of London, which was a favorite of Jean's, where we enjoyed the buildings, ravens, and yeoman wardens. We then walked past London Bridge before going into St. Paul's Cathedral, where Toren and I walked up the 259 steps to the Whispering Gallery, an interesting experience but not necessarily worth it in our opinion.

Friday, 7/19

Dinner: Heliot Steakhouse

Attractions:
1. National Gallery
2. Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty's Theatre

Daily recap: My parents went on a WW2 tour while Jean, Toren, and I had a late start, mostly following the news about the technology outage and hoping Kaylee and Chaston would be able to make their flight from Berlin to meet us in London (spoiler: they didn't). Mom met up with us in the afternoon for a trip to the National Gallery. While it was a lovely gallery, we were glad the tickets were free because Toren and Jean hung out in the cafeteria, and Mom and I walked through the museum quickly. The evening was our big ticket item, going to see the Phantom of the Opera on the West End at His Majesty's Theatre! It wasn't my favorite show, though the rest of the group enjoyed it, but we could all agree that going to a theater without A/C in the middle of July was a very bad idea!

Saturday, 7/20

Breakfast: Crepe Coffee Chai
Lunch: Salt & Pepper
Dinner: Wildwood

Attractions:
1. Westminster Abbey
2. Camden Market

Daily recap: My parents went for a day trip to Cambridge while Toren, Jean, and I headed to Westminster Abbey, which was a favorite of Jean's. We spent the afternoon at Camden Market looking for souvenirs, which was an overwhelming but exciting experience! This was my parents' and Jean's last night with us in Europe, so we closed out the day with a celebratory dinner at Wildwood.

At this point, I asked everyone what their favorite parts of the trip had been:

Me: the Falcon Experience, the Tower of London menagerie, and the sheep and cows in the countryside
Toren: the Falcon Experience, most of the castles, all of Billy's tour, the British Museum, Westminster Abbey, the hairy coos, and the wolfhounds
Mom: the Falcon Experience, the bagpiper outside Blair Castle, and the Book of Kells
Dad: the war rooms on his WW2 tour and the Holyrood House
Jean: the hairy coos, Frasier churchyard, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Cahir Castle, and the Falcon Experience

Thanks for a great first leg of the trip!!

Sunday, 7/21

Attractions:
     1. Free Essential Westminster Sightseeing Tour
          a. Big Ben
          b. Trafalgar Square
          c. Westminster Abbey
          d. Palace of Westminster
          e. St James's Palace
          f. Buckingham Palace
          g. Horse Guards Parade
     2. Buckingham Palace

Daily recap: Due to the technology outage, Toren and I were on our own today! We joined a tour guide Lucy and a small group for a great free walking tour of the Westminster area, which included Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, and a police horse headbanging to the music of the changing of the guard ceremony. We rounded out the day with a tour of Buckingham Palace, a definite highlight of the trip for me due to its opulence (though surprisingly lackluster gardens). Then Kaylee and Chaston finally made it to London for a late dinner!

London to Paris

Monday, 7/22

Airbnb: Tiny Loft
Breakfast: Buns from Home
Dinner: Le Sanglier Bleu
Train: London St Pancras Int'l to Paris Gare du Nord

Attractions:
1. LONDON: Shakespeare's Globe Theater
2. PARIS: Moulin Rouge

Daily recap: Toren played tour guide to Kaylee and Chaston this morning, taking us along the same route as our tour the day before, then we headed to the Globe Theater for a tour with Paige the tour guide. We then hopped on the train to Paris! We were able to grab a quick dinner at Le Sanglier Bleu before heading to the Moulin Rouge, a trip highlight for all of us.

Tuesday, 7/23

Breakfast: Le Petit Pont
Dinner: Le Royal Bar

Attractions:
     1. Notre Dame
     2. Saint Eustache Church
     3. Saint-Germain L'Auxerrois Church
     4. Palais Garnier
     5. Arc du Triomphe
     6. Eiffel Tower

Daily recap: Tuesday was our "wander around Paris" day, trying to navigate around all of the restrictions put in place for the 2024 Olympics. It was frustrating, but we were able to see several churches, the GORGEOUS Palais Garnier opera house, the Arc du Triomphe (one of Chaston's favorite stops), and the Eiffel Tower (from a distance). We also tried some escargot!

Wednesday, 7/24

VERSAILLES DAY TRIP: Palace of Versailles

Daily recap: We decided to get out of Olympicsland and take a day trip to Versailles. It was super easy to get there via public transportation, and then we enjoyed the day at the palace, which was lovely and had amazing gardens, which were Toren's and Chaston's favorite part of our French adventure.

Paris to Amsterdam

Thursday, 7/25

Hotel: NL Hotel District
Train: Paris Gare du Nord to Amsterdam Centraal

Attraction: Verzetsmuseum

Daily recap: We were grateful to get out of Olympicsland Paris and get into the beautiful Amsterdam, which apparently has more canals than Venice and more bridges than Paris. All we had time for on this first day was a trip to the Verzetsmuseum, one of Kaylee's favorite stops, a resistance museum that tells individual stories of people resisting the Nazis during WWII. I thought it was an interesting concept, telling focusing on individual people's stories, though it didn't capture my attention fully.

Friday, 7/26

Breakfast: The Happy Pig Pancake Shop
Dinner: Moeders

Attractions:
     1. The Fault In Our Stars bench
     2. Royal Palace
     3. Alternative Tour Amsterdam
          a. National Monument
          b. Anne Frank House
          c. Jordaan neighborhood
     4. Anne Frank House

Daily recap: Friday was a particularly good day for us for food! We started off the day getting rolled pancakes from The Happy Pig then headed off to the Royal Palace, where we were treated to another good audio tour and a beautiful great hall. We spent the afternoon walking around the city on an Alternative Amsterdam tour with tour guide Luuk, who wanted to be a stand up comedian. We grabbed dinner at Moeders, a mother-themed restaurant that served us a great meal comprised of multiple Dutch stews and three different types of potatoes. We rounded out the day with a trip to the Anne Frank House, which was very well done and easy to maneuver despite the small space.

Saturday, 7/27

Breakfast: Original Pancake

Attractions:
     1. Van Gogh Museum
     2. Rude Bastards Tour
          a. Rembrandt House Museum
          b. Bloemenmarkt
          c. Dam Square
          d. Centraal Station
     3. Rijksmuseum

Daily recap: We stayed busy for our very last day in Europe! The day started out with a visit through the Van Gogh Museum, which we were able to get through pretty quickly, and then we grabbed traditional giant Dutch pancakes from Original Pancake. Then we went on the Rude Bastards walking tour with tour guide Maja, which was similar to the Alternative Amsterdam tour we did the day before (I wouldn't suggest doing both), but still a nice way to enjoy the beautiful day. We closed out the day with a trip to the Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands, which was lovely but a bit too big for how exhausted we were by this time!