A Tale of Three Lands: Our European Odyssey through Ireland, Scotland, and Belgium

Our Europe vacation, was an exhilarating adventure filled with remarkable destinations and incredible experiences. We booked a long two week trip to visit Ireland, Scotland, and Belgium. We choose Ireland because Cody wanted so badly to take me there so I could see why he loved the country so much (he was so, so right), plus if Nebraska is gonna play in a football game in Dublin, we couldn’t not go. Scotland was next because we both have an affinity for golf and wanted to explore St Andrews and Edinburgh (thank you Rick Steves). Last but not least was Belgium because our dear friends shared their experience in Brugge and told it was truly one of the most romantic places they’ve ever been (considering they lived in Hawaii, San Diego, and have an amazing travel history we knew we had to check it out) and they were also, so perfectly right. 

Ireland

Arriving on August 23rd in Shannon, Ireland, we were picked up by private transportation and made our way to our cozy accommodation, Menlo Park Hotel in Galway. Although check-in starts at 3:00 PM, we can't wait to explore the city, so we left our luggage at the front desk and headed to The Spanish Quarter to start exploring - and get my first Guinness at Cody's favorite bar, The Quays.

On August 24th, we embarked on the Cliffs of Moher Day Tour, meeting at Kinlay House in Galway City. Our bus driver had saved us front row seats and we truly had the best spot on the bus! We bussed from Galway through small towns, stopped along the way to visit The Burren and a few other historic stops. We ate lunch at a small pub, giving me my first taste of Guinness Stew and Bulhmers cider. Once we got to the Cliffs, we arrived to a cool afternoon and had about 3 hours to explore on our own. As we wound along the Cliffs, a rainstorm rolled through and was one of the most beautiful storms. We watched as the Aran Islands left and came back into view. What a beautiful way to spend an afternoon. There is truly nothing like the fresh coastal air. 

After our Cliffs bus tour, we wandered back through Galway and found a set of new friends at O'Connell's Bar (where Ed Sheeran filmed a portion of his Galway Girl music video) and hung out there in their outdoor seating area before making our way through the Latin Quarter, specifically The Quays in search of live Irish music. We were happy to find our live music and spent the rest of the night with friends. 

The next day (after sleeping in, and enjoying our traditional Irish breakfast at Menlo Park Hotel) we made our way over to Salthill in Galway. We cruised along the coast, ate lunch at The Galleon Restaurant. It was a rainy, cool day perfect for tasting their seafood pasta and their shephards pie. Once we were full, we wandered more of the area and waited until O’Connors Pub was open. Before we got to O’Connors, we found, R.M.McCabes and spent a good portion of our afternoon in their basement seating area - staged as a library. Between espresso martinis, Bulhmers cider, and obviously a Guinness or two, we decided this was one of our favorite stops. We ended the night in Salthill at O’Connors and if you’re looking for a textbook definition of an old-world Irish pub, this is it! We sat next to a woodburning fireplace, sipping our drinks, and chatting with two older women who inspired me to travel more with my best friends as I age. When I say, I didn’t want the night to end, I couldn’t mean it more. It was the perfect way to end our stay in Galway.  

Up next, we ventured by train from Galway to Dublin. Lucky for us, our new friends we met earlier in the week in Galway were also on the train and showed us the ropes of rail travel. It was a great way to spend a few hours, getting to see the countryside and spend time talking about all our experiences so far. Once in Dublin, we got a ride to our next hotel, The Fleet Street Hotel. They kindly allow early luggage drop-off, so we started exploring the vibrant city immediately. We made it just in time to join the Husker Pep Rally before the game the next day! It was so fun, then we walked down Grafton Street and of course, I found a gelato shop to satisfy my sweet tooth. We walked through Temple Bar, which is where our hotel was located. We were in the heart of the city and next to all the activity surrounding the game. We found a quiet bar off the main street, VAT House Bar, that had delectable fish and chips and a plethora of whisky tasting options to choose from – which we did. We spent the rest of the night exploring Temple Bar (including the iconic Temple Bar) and indulged in room service as we wrapped up the night! 

The following day, August 27th, we're excited for a special event – a game close to our hearts. We started the day, again with a traditional Irish breakfast from the hotel, then made our way to Aviva Stadium for kickoff. The POS system failed so many Husker fans got to enjoy Guinness and Bulmhers for free. After the game, we headed back to VAT House and met new friends and I even learned what a Baby Guinness was. Minus the loss on the field, it was a fantastic day. 

As August 28th arrived, we had the opportunity to leisurely explore Dublin. We made our way to Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Each tour of the cathedrals was totally worth it. Christ Church had more to see and the audio tour was perfectly paced for us to explore. We got souvenirs and postcards, spent some time writing them and finding a post office to send them out. We found another wonderful bar to listen to live music and a late lunch and my first taste of bangers and mash. Another amazing, amazing day. 

Scotland

Before we headed to Scotland on August 29th, we snuck in the first morning tour at Trinity College to see the Book of Kells all before our afternoon flight to Aberdeen, Scotland. Once we got to Aberdeen, we took a bus to the train station and grabbed an afternoon bite to eat at ASK Italian. We hopped on our train and traveled to St. Andrews, it was about a two-hour train ride, that included fun people watching and beautiful views. We got to St. Andrews just after 8pm local time, checked into our amazing room at The Rusaks, and wandered around the hotel before calling it a night!  

Taking in the splendors of St. Andrews on August 30th, we were excited for a day of leisure including an enthralling walking tour of The Old Course. We had an amazing breakfast at the hotel and headed across the street which is also the 18th green and the 1st tee box of the Old Course. The tour was amazing, our guide was funny, and educational, and getting to learn about all the facts of the Old Course was beyond worth the price of the tour. We got to cross the Swilican Bridge, just like many golf greats have, and even snapped a few pictures - which we 100% used as our Christmas card! 

After our tour, we headed over to another iconic spot for lunch, The 19th Hole at The Dunvegan. The food was great but the ambiance of the restaurant was unbeatable. Seeing all the pictures of golf greats, celebrities, and icons made the drinks and food even better. After lunch, we went through the Golf Museum at The R&A. We wandered around the Old Course, stopped into a few shops (got a few tips for tours the next day) watched a few more groups finish up at the 18th green, and headed back to the hotel. We got back to The Rusaks, cleaned up, and got ready for our dinner reservation at the Road Hole Restaurant at The Old Course Hotel. The food was impeccable, the view literally took your breath away and to top off the night, we were able to walk the Old Course back to our hotel as if we were strolling through a regular park. We had to commemorate the occasion with a stop at The Road Hole Bunker and another stop at the Swilican Bridge. Before heading to our room, we went to One Under Bar for a nightcap at the hotel bar. We literally got to watch golf highlights while sitting across the street from the home of golf. It was the perfect end to a golf-filled day.

The next day, we walked around town, explored the college campus, and ended up at St Andrews Castle. We did another audio-guided tour and truly had the best time exploring the castle ruins, looking at the coastline, and learning about Scottish history. We continued our journey over to St Andrews Cathedral cemetery to explore and find the grave sites of Old and Young Tom Morris. The old cathedral grounds were again, awe-inspiring to walk through and just sit and take it all in. Cody kept exploring the grounds and I found a lovely bench and was able to sit and take in all that we had experienced over the last 10 days. Did I get a bit teary-eyed? Maybe but who’s to know when you’re in an old cemetery? After the Cathedral, we walked through downtown St Andrews, got ourselves some lunch including cheap wine, and had a little picnic in the town square that truly resembled Duloc from Shrek in the best ways (aka the cobblestone streets and flags all about). To say St Andrews now holds a special place in my heart would be an understatement. What an amazing place. Later in the afternoon, a private driver picked us up and whisked us to Edinburgh, where we checked in at Jury's Inn Edinburgh. Our driver gave us great tips on what to prioritize and see since we had just one day and no real plan to explore the city! 

Exploring Edinburgh was again, another amazing adventure. We bought a cheap $20 hop-on-hop-off bus tour ticket for the day and explored all the major stops at our leisure. The first pick-up point was just steps from our hotel and took us all over the city, including Old and New Edinburgh. Our first stop was at Calton Hill where we got to explore and walk around then hopped back on at the next stop to listen to the audio tour until we hopped off to catch our 12pm reservation at Edinburgh Castle. We (okay me) misread the map/route and we got off 2 stops early because I thought it would be quicker than riding the bus up to The Castle. Key term there was "up". We literally sprinted up through an old cemetery and up a bridge and through a parking garage, watched 2 of our guide busses pass us as we trekked up the side of the road up the hill to the castle entrance. We made it, at like 12:30, but no one cared we were thirty minutes late and it worked out even better for us because we got front-row seats for the One O’clock Gun. I grabbed beers from the Red Coat Cafe and we posted up until the ceremony was over. If you’ve seen Mary Poppins (and I hope you have) this was a much more professional routine, but honestly so fun to see where the inspiration came from! Once our eardrums quit ringing, we plugged in our audio guides and spent the next few hours exploring the castle. The last stop on our tour was Mary Queen of Scots house and the Crown Jewels. That was so cool to see in person!! 

After our tour at the castle, we descended all the steps down Cold Town House which is one of the coolest breweries I’ll ever be at. The beer was great, the food equally as good, but the coolest part was the rooftop seating that looked directly up at The Castle. It was so so cool. We wrapped up the day taking the bus tour back through town and stopped at a Holyrood Castle which was closing by the time we got there, but we were worn out and happy with what we could peak in from the gates. Room service was the winner for supper and we got ready for our next day flight to Belgium. 

Belgium

We spent most of our day traveling and flew into Brussels and had a private driver drive us out to Brugge. It was about a 2-hour drive from the city out to Brugge and we got to our hotel for a late check in and immediately headed out to find some supper. Our hotel, Hotel Aragron was located just off the city square so it was an easy stroll into the city center for supper. We found a restaurant that was still serving food and the menu looked perfect. One thing that's underrated in European travel is that most restaurants have their menus listed outside so you know what to expect. I had delicious pasta with a vodka sauce and Cody had a Monte Cristo sandwich. I topped off my meal with a Belgian beer flight which was so good! 

The next day, we took a literal page from Rick Steve’s book and rented bikes to explore the town. We saw the windmills, stopped first at the Basillica of Holy Blood, then headed around town including a fancy chocolate shop called Chocolatier Dumon, got postcards and stamps to send back to our family, and even found Oliviers Chocolate Shop and Bar, which is a chocolatier and bar so when you ordered a drink, you got a perfectly paired chocolate. We even ditched our bikes and took a boat tour where we learned about the history of Brugge, including some facts about their oldest brewery that faced the town square so that’s where we headed for lunch! We did more biking around town and turned in our bikes just before the evening rush, cleaned up at the hotel and headed out for our last meal on our honeymoon. We picked Bistro Brugis and got to sit outside, right down the street from Oliveiers so we were on somewhat familiar grounds. Supper was delicious, the drinks were amazing and it was the perfect, perfect ending to our honeymoon. We even made it back to our room in time to catch the Husker game that night! We packed up, went to bed, and got ready for our early morning cab ride back to the city. We traveled for the next 16 hours and ended up back to Omaha Sunday night, with all day Monday free for Labor Day. 

Until we go again

Our Europe vacation was truly an adventure of a lifetime. From the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher in Ireland to the historic streets of St. Andrews in Scotland, and the charming canals of Brugge in Belgium, we experienced remarkable destinations and created unforgettable memories. Each country offered its own unique charms and experiences, from exploring the vibrant cities to indulging in traditional cuisine and immersing ourselves in the local culture. Our trip was filled with incredible moments and we are grateful for the opportunity to have visited these remarkable places.

If you're looking for a diverse and exhilarating vacation, we highly recommend considering a trip to Ireland, Scotland, and Belgium. Whether you're a golf enthusiast, a lover of history and architecture, or simply seeking romantic getaways, these destinations offer something for everyone. So why not start planning your own European adventure and create memories that will last a lifetime?