coast

Scotland

As we had done in our earlier travel in Europe, we rented a car to get to our house sit in central England in order to have the freedom to explore. It also enabled us to explore other parts of the country after the house sit was complete. We drove north to visit Scotland, both Glasgow on the west side and Edinburgh to the east.

We found the people to be friendly and outgoing. When we first arrived at the street where our AirBnB was located, a man noticed us looking around and asked if he could help us find anything. We were approached by another local the next morning while having breakfast at a nearby café; she just wanted to chat for a few minutes.

We also found a similar sentiment to what I mentioned in an earlier post: the Scottish and the English are not on what you might call the best of terms. One of the museums we visited proudly displayed the following excerpt from the Declaration of Arbroath from 1320: “As long as only one hundred of us remain alive we will never on any conditions be brought under English rule. For we fight not for glory, nor for riches, nor for honours, but for freedom alone, which no good man gives up except with his life.”

We stayed in a working-class neighborhood in tenement housing. I had heard the word “tenement” before, but didn’t actually know what it meant. As I understand it now, it is an apartment building, maybe three or four stories tall, where a common front door leads to several units inside. The tenements in the neighborhood we stayed in were around 110-140 years old. There was a train within walking distance that made for an easy trip into Edinburgh.

Tenement houses

We had our rental car, but we decided leave the car parked at the AirBnB and to take the train into the city instead of driving, dealing with potential traffic congestion, and finding and paying for parking. As it turned out, we were very happy about this decision. We didn’t know about it beforehand, but the Scottish Communist Party held a major rally, which blocked many of the main roads for several hours. Tour buses, taxis – everyone was stuck in traffic. We were so happy to have arrived by train and to be exploring on foot. I have to throw in one political comment about this rally – I found it ironic that a major rallying cry by these Communist Party protesters was for freedom!

Glad we don’t need to drive down there!
Scotland for Freedom!

We did discover a little of the Scottish sense of humor during our visit. The tour guide on the hop on hop off bus explained that in most countries’ judicial systems, a defendant on trial will be found either “Guilty” or “Not guilty”. Scotland has another option – “Not proven”, or in other words, “We know you did it, we just can’t prove it”, also referred to as “getting off Scot free”. The photo below contains another example. Instead of using the official name of this bridge, locals refer to it as the “squinty bridge” because it doesn’t cross the river perpendicularly, but at an angle.

The “squinty” bridge

House Sit in Loughborough, England

After traveling on our own in Ireland, we took a flight to the central part of England and settled into another house sit. This time we had just one dog. We enjoyed walking him around the neighborhood and meeting locals. We were able to leave him alone for a few hours per day and explore some of central England.

Our first stop was Leicester, birthplace of King Richard III. As an American, one of the surprising things we run into frequently in Europe is places or objects that are many centuries old. This is less common in the US and even less so in the western US where I have spent most of my years.

This hall was used as the town hall for over 300 years. The wood paneling and carvings date from the year 1637!
A torture device on display at the town hall compound

Next we visited Nottingham, of Robin Hood fame. Most of the original castle was demolished long ago, but some walls remain along with a later-built mansion that now serves as a museum. Unfortunately for us, the museum had closed a month earlier for a multi-year renovation.

Robin Hood
Nottingham Castle

Back near our house sit in Loughborough we came across this sign on an apartment for rent. What is the difference between “Coming soon” and “Coming soon-ish”?

“coming soon-ish”

A Few Stops in Ireland

After finishing up our house sit in Howth, we toured other parts of Ireland on our own, including taking guided bus tours of Connemara and the Burren/Moher areas. Here are some of the things we learned.

Britain taxed light, i.e., windows, so people looked for ways to minimize the tax. Split doors were installed because a split door allowed in light but was not taxed as window. In the photo below of the Bank of Ireland you can see that they completely bricked in the windows to avoid the tax.

The Bank of Ireland – no windows

I apologize for the poor quality of the following photo, taken from the bus, but I included it because it illustrates several things: note how the traditional cottage has small windows and a split door due to the light tax. It also has a thatched roof, which is becoming less and less common. Thatched roofs are expensive to install (the equivalent of over $30,000 US) and insurance is high due to flammability of the roof.

Thatched-roof house in Ireland

Everywhere we visited in Ireland and later Scotland, we noted that the people spoke with animosity about the British. Likewise, the British spoke disparagingly about the Irish and Scottish. Undoubtedly, the history runs deep. Here is a small example of the history and ongoing attitude of the Irish toward the British. Below is a photo of what are called “famine walls” – labor intensive walls made from thousands of stones. These were part of a governmental make-work program by the British to keep out-of-work Irish people busy and provide some income during famine. The walls didn’t have any other purpose, for example, they didn’t divide one property from another.

Famine wall going up the hillside

The Burren is a rocky area on the coast of Ireland, scraped bare by ancient glaciers. The tour guide summed up the Burren as follows – There’s water, but not enough to drown a man; there’s wood, but not enough to hang a man; there’s soil, but not enough to bury him.

Blackhead lighthouse in the Burren area; the only square lighthouse in Ireland

Finally, I have to mention that we stayed in a wonderful bed and breakfast, Clooniff House, in Galway. The proprietress and her husband were so friendly and accommodating, she cooked up a great, traditional breakfast for us each morning, and she gave us great tips and assistance with our tour reservations.

The Cliffs of Moher, made famous by the Princess Bride movie

House Sitting in Ireland

After leaving Prague, we drove back toward Copenhagen, passing briefly through Zurich, Switzerland, and again through Germany. Then we flew to Dublin, Ireland, for the first of our European house sits.

The actual location was in Howth, Ireland, a small fishing community across the bay from Dublin. For this sit we had one cat and two dogs to look after. We were there for eight days, and the weather was amazing, with just one day of rain.

Fishing boats in Howth marina
The view toward Dublin from our house sit
Our duties on this house sit were to walk the dogs along the coast once or twice per day. Here we are walking toward the lighthouse.
In our spare time we were able to visit Howth Castle and of course go out for some local fish and chips.