UK & Ireland 2022

After losing most of our ‘year off for travel’ in 2020 to the pandemic, we hoped to resume those plans in pieces. After our planned southeast Asian leg, nine weeks in Europe had been next on the agenda, beginning with about four weeks in the Ireland and the UK. We managed to do three weeks in the summer of 2022 instead. It was about two and a half years coming, but we finally got back a little of what COVID stole from us in 2020.

London

Overwhelming at times, there is simply so much to do in this city of 32 Burroughs and 9 million people, that even in six days you feel like you’ve barely scratched the surface. I could see how it might be a bit much to live it on a daily basis, but as a first time visitor, I loved every minute we were there.

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Cambridge & York

This post covers a day trip we took to Cambridge from London, and two nights in York after we left London, in late July 2022. The former is quaint and the latter, fortified and both were awesome stops. Walking the York Walls, in particular, was a highlight of the stays.

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Edinburgh & Aviemore

The word that comes to mind when thinking about Edinburgh is simply rock. As in, the overriding and dominant thing you’re aware of when you spend most of a stay in and around the city centre. The big rock high above city with Edinburgh Castle perched upon it defines the Scottish capital.

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Dublin

two pints of Guinness Stout as nitro foam settles, at Guinness Storehouse rooftop bar

We were originally going to spend a couple weeks in Ireland in spring 2020 to start nine weeks in Europe, but best laid plans and all that … As such, four nights in Dublin would have to suffice as our introduction to the Emerald Isle.

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Galway

Galway just managed to hit the sweet spot of small-town feel and the variety of a city. Irish people are unfailingly friendly, at least in my limited experience, and once you add beachy areas (yes, beach) like Salthill, the intense beauty of the Cliffs of Moher and more lovely, walkable car-free streets in the city centre, you get an Irish charm here few places can match.

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