Scotland, Ireland, Iceland...Oh My!

Apologizes for the delay in blogging since my trip to Europe.  I've been occupied in Sydney's sweat shop making 5,243 Hello Kitty Popsicle stick friends for the birthday party of my favorite 2 year old (more on this to come).  Shea and I headed to Europe a week before graduation and decided on three places: Scotland, Ireland, and Iceland.  It was an intense itinerary but we had to squeeze it all in so he could get back to school without missing too much.  We started in Scotland.  After a debacle with customs and Shea losing his luggage, we were finally able to see some of Edinburgh.  Highlights include the Edinburgh castle, underground tour, best Indian food ever, and the Rosslyn Chapel.

Next we headed to Ireland.  We rented a car and headed east to the Cliffs of Moher.  We stopped in Limerick, home of Frank McCourt.  Then we headed to north through Belfast to the Great Causeway.  It was breathtaking but also freezing cold. 

 

 After Ireland, we headed to Iceland where neither of us had been. We were not prepared for how beautiful or cold it would be.  Iceland looks like what I imagine the moon to look like--actually they film a lot of sci fi movies there.  And also probably where they filmed the actually landing on the moon;).  I don't know if I've ever been that cold but we withstood the cold to see the Northern Lights (a life goal of mine) and the Golden Circle.  We choose restaurants based on location to the hotel--we could not be outside for more than five minutes without freezing!  The Northern lights were cool but a little underwhelming.  The Golden Circle included one of the oldest geysers in the world, the beautiful water falls Gullfoss, and a national park where you can actually see the earth splitting apart.  Lava fills in the holes so it doesn't actually continuously move apart.  Iceland amazed me and I want to go back now for some summer hiking so that I don't get more frostbite.

 

 

 Europe was hit but a cold front right as we were arriving--perfect timing.  Seriously, even though you can't tell by the pictures I did change clothes every day!  Shea and I were both so sick which wasn't helped by the fact that we were jet lagged and exhausted from having to catch multiple 5 am flights; however we had so much fun. I love spending time with my brother.  He is the best conversationalist and we had unlimited time to have deep, intense conversations.  Plus he gave up his spring break to be dragged around Europe!