Are you ready for Part 2 of magical moments from my Rick Steves’ tours as promised in my last post? I know I promised it to you quickly when I concluded Part 1, but I guess I had a lot to say still, and it's taken me longer to write this than I originally thought. My apologies. I'll just do a quick recap and then off we’ll go. Rick Steve is my travel guru. 😊 He writes travel books about Europe and has a travel show that airs on PBS. The library carries both the travel guides and DVDs of his travel shows. And he is founder of the Rick Steves’ Europe travel company that organizes and leads energetic tours throughout Europe. Rick knows Europe.
And I’ve been lucky enough to travel on five of his tours with my daughter, Laura. Together, we’ve visited Greece, Sicily, Ireland, France, and Scotland. I think it goes without saying that I am a big fan of the tours his company runs. And, my favorite thing about his tours? The magical moments we experience on said tours.
For me, magical moments are created by the talented travel guides who lead each tour. These are the awesome, unexpected occurrences that happen on tours. These are the memories that are so special, they are highlights of tours that are pretty amazing from start to finish anyway.
I covered the magical moments from Greece and Sicily in my last post, and now, we are off to Ireland. We traveled on the “Best of Ireland in 14 Days Tour” in August, 2013. We flew in and out of Dublin. We spent nights in Kinsale, Dingle, Galway, Westport, and then up to Northern Ireland where we stayed in Portrush.
I simply loved Ireland. The landscape of the country is breathtakingly beautiful: the Cliffs of Moher, the rocky moonscape of the Burren, the bizarre basalt columns of the Giant's Causeway. Everything as green as can be. The people of Ireland charmed me. Their accents are thick, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t catch everything they’d say, but their warmth was unmistakable. I was really taken with Ireland. If for some strange reason I had to move out of the US, I’d chose Ireland. I hope, at the very least, to get back there one day.
Our tour guide for this trip was Stephen. He was a character, to put it mildly. I’d say he’s the most outgoing of all the guides we’ve traveled with. And, as an added bonus, he’d sing Irish tunes to us from time to time and had a pretty good voice.
😊
As I just mentioned, I simply loved Ireland and everything about it. There were many moments and sites that were very memorable and wonderful. But, on this one day, we got two great surprises from Stephen, and the whole day simply stands out to me as the best and most magical of them all.
We were midway through the trip, traveling from Galway to Westport, driving through the Connemara region, enjoying the beautiful Irish countryside. We pulled into the small, charming town of Cong. This little burg’s claim to fame is that the movie The Quiet Man, starring Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne, was filmed there in 1951. Stephen told us he wanted us to see the town, but we didn’t have time to stop. So, we made a quick loop through Cong and then headed out, passing by the Ashford Castle. We oohed and aahed as we passed by its gates, wishing we were going in.
Stephen had been filling us in on the background the castle, which is today a five-star luxury hotel set on a 350-acre estate. It was originally built in 1228. It was owned by the Guinness family, of beer fame, from 1852 – 1939. Many improvements have been made over the centuries including adding a French style chateau and two Victorian style extensions. Pierce Brosnan got married there, etc.
And then, our bus looped around again, and this time through we turned down the grand entrance of Ashford Castle and proceeded up the driveway. Surprise number one, we got to go in!
It was lovely inside. Filled with antiques, it was warm and welcoming with lots of wood paneling, crystal, and unique details. We got to look around for a while and were then ushered into a large sitting room where we were offered either an Irish coffee or tea. And a biscuit. I learned to drink tea on my trip to Ireland, and so I went with the tea. It was a little too early in the day for me to be drinking a beverage spiked with whiskey. 😊
Just sitting there, chatting away and drinking tea, soaking it all in was a pretty fabulous experience/surprise unto itself. And yet, little did I know that my very favorite part of the whole trip was about to take place…
Stephen said there was a little more to the surprise, so he rounded us up and led us outdoors. We walked up the road a short bit where we came to their School of Falconry. That’s right, a falconry school, the oldest in Ireland, where you can learn the ancient form of falconry. Wow.
First, we learned about the care and keeping of the birds, including how the “flying weight” of each bird must be tracked to the quarter ounce. If they are even just a hair too heavy, they struggle to fly and hunt.
Then, we got to take one of the hawks – Inca – out hunting. We went out to a large, cleared field in the woods for hunting. We were each given the chance to don the thick leather glove to catch and then release Inca. And then we each got to do it again! We cheated a little, because we were given a small piece of raw chicken to entice her to land. Which she did. Breathtaking, to have a real hawk land on my arm. And then I raised my glove arm up, swung it gently out, and off she flew. Why, I never!!
I just really had a ton of fun and enjoyed this unique experience. Laura, not so much. She is a tad bit afraid of birds, and so she opted out of participating. But she took lots of great pictures and chronicled this event for us. I love the shot she got of Inca and me, having a moment, looking into each other’s eyes. Well, I was looking into hers’ at least. 😊 When I rank my all-time magical tour moments, this one is probably at the top. What a time we had at Ashford Castle. Truly magical.
Stephen and I practicing the art of falconry. 😊
Our Ireland tour group photo, Dublin.
And now we fast forward to spring, 2016, and our trip to France. Bon jour, Virginie, our tour guide for this trip. This tour is officially called, “Paris & the Heart of France in 11 Days.” This time we began and ended in Paris, naturally. And then we traveled to Bourges, the Loire Valley, Mont St-Michel, Normandy, Giverny and numerous points in between. The impetus of this trip for me was visiting the World War II beaches of Normandy, and that we did. But we also got to see many other wonderful sights in France. Including two that I’ll call magical.
Let’s fast forward a little bit more to our visit to Mont St-Michel, a tiny island just off the northern coast between Brittany and Normandy. That is, it’s an island when the tide is in. But when the tide is out, you can walk or drive the very short distance to the mount. You can, in fact, walk around the entire mount when the tide is out. But the sandbanks that surround it can be dangerous, so it’s an adventure that should only be under taken with an experienced guide.
Mont St-Michel is a medieval walled town, topped by a Gothic-style Benedictine abbey dedicated to the Archangel Michael. Legend has it that the first sanctuary was built in the year 708 after the archangel appeared to Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, three times in dreams asking him to build a sanctuary in his name. The present abbey was built upon this foundation between the 11th and 16th centuries. Mont St-Michel was one of the first monuments to be classified as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1979.
Today, Mont St-Michel is not just a church on a rock, but a whole medieval city, one of the few places in France to have preserved intact its medieval walls and defenses. You can walk the ramparts on the lowest level and circle the island. Getting about the town itself involves lots of steps as you climb and climb to the different levels. Something I discovered personally as I experienced my first magical moment of this trip.
Normally, on a Rick Steves’ tour, all tour members stay at the same hotel. From time to time, we may be split between two bed & breakfasts. But this tiny town only had small “hotels” with no more than 5 or 6 rooms, and so we had to be doled out between them.
We set out as in a parade, rolling our bags along, as we moved from hotel to hotel, dropping a group of travelers at each. Virginie had pre-assigned us to the different hotels, and as we got to each one, she’d call out a few names and those folks would peel off and go inside. Our names not called yet, Laura and I just kept rolling. And walking and climbing, up and up, higher and higher. When we were down to just three sets of travelers, Virginie apologized to those of us left, for making us walk so far, but said it would really be worth it. And on we went.
When we got to our rooms, we were definitely closer to the abbey at the top than the ramparts of ground level. Check out this photo I found on the Internet. I was able to locate the building where we stayed at and circled it in green. It’s the two-story building just to the left of the tree. Our room was on the bottom floor of the building.
Virginie was right, our room was worth the trek it took to get us there. We had a lovely balcony and a spectacular view. We could see the town down below us, and we could see out to sea and the mainland beyond. Rick Steves' tour guides all try to parse out the really special rooms on tours, so that everyone gets a chance to experience at least one. But we did not realize it was our turn for the primo hotel room. And I think this one had to be one of the all-time best and walking out onto its balcony that first time was a magical moment. We were blown away, both by the view and at our luck for being on the receiving end.
And when we looked up, we saw our fellow tour members out on their balcony.
And yes, that's the Abbey behind them.
Ah, the Abbey all lit up at night.
The magic continued in the morning when the sun came up and it was right out our window. We had both gotten up early in order to watch the sun rise. Laura watched from our balcony, but I got a different perspective. I climbed the steps up to the abbey to join the 7 a.m. prayers with the nuns, monks, and priests at the monastery. Virginie had told us that if we were at the gates, when the nuns open them at about 6:55, you can go in and join their prayers. I didn’t want to be late and miss prayers, so I went up early. And as I waited for the gates of the abbey to open, the sun came up. It was beautiful; a sunrise to remember for sure.
This is Laura's sunrise view from our balcony.
And this is mine from the Abbey, 6:48 a.m.
We actually went back up to the abbey later in the day with our tour group. A local guide met us up there and showed us through the abbey, filling us in on its history as we walked. We also got to explore the crypts below that had been built to stabilize and support the abbey. It takes a lot of engineering to build a huge church on top of a rock. 😊
The cloisters of the Abbey.
If you’d like to read more about Mont St-Michel, I’m including a link here to a nice article I found on the Rick Steves’ Tours website that explains it well.
My second magic moment of the France trip took place when we were back in Paris. I already shared this moment with you in my June 20 post, “Europe's Top 100 Masterpieces: Art for the Traveler,” so I won’t bore you with too many details.
It was the last night of our tour, and we had just shared our final group meal together. It was a good meal, at a lovely restaurant, but Virginie still had one more trick up her sleeve. She told us she wanted to show us something and took us for a short walk into a nearby park. When we had all gathered together, she asked us to turn around, and there was the Arc de Triomphe, all lit up and in its glory. The view of the Arc was amazing! While the nighttime photo doesn’t do it justice, I can assure you that this unexpected view of the Arc de Triomphe, all lit up, was a wonderful, magical moment.
Quick note on our group photo taken at Notre Dame cathedral. The picture was taken in a cute, little park near the cathedral. The park is off the beaten path and might get passed up by many on their way to view the cathedral. But Virginie knew it had great views of Notre Dame, and so she steered us in there for our group photo and to take full length pictures of the cathedral. As with the night time viewing of the Arc de Triomphe, she helped us to get all the best views whenever possible.
That’s Virginie in the middle, as we’ve gathered to play the name game. It’s a silly game but it really helps us to remember the names of all our fellow travelers. We play it every tour. 😉
As with our trip to Ireland, Laura also chronicled this trip for the website contest Rick Steves holds each year. She won second prize this time. Here’s the link if you want to read more about it: https://lagrai.wixsite.com/graigalsinfrance
And that brings us to my most recent Rick Steves’ tour in September 2018, “Scotland in 10 Days.” (It’s now a 14-day tour. Maybe I should go back and do it again?!?) We were led on this tour by Helen. Now Helen was definitely the oldest of any tour guide I’ve experienced to date, and I’ll admit, I was a bit worried at the beginning that she might not have the same effervescence of the others. I was very wrong. She kept us on our toes and could outwalk any of us. She was a delight! And I just loved this jaunty plaid blazer she often wore.
This tour got off to a rough start, and it was all my own fault. On the first afternoon of every tour, we gather for a meet and greet and an introduction by the guide of how the tour will run and what to expect. Then, we’re off for a walking tour of the neighborhood and our first group dinner.
We’re walking the neighborhood and it was sprinkling ever so lightly. Helen had already proven me wrong and was leading the way, walking rather briskly. I don’t really know what happened, but I tripped and fell flat on my face! As I’m getting up, Helen asked me if anything hurt, and all I could answer was, “Just my pride.” How embarrassing to have just met a brand-new group of people and then to faceplant on the sidewalk. Oh yeah, and I did break the frames to my glasses. And ended up with a shiner that lasted half the trip.
It was a rough start, but fortunately I was able to get new frames the next day, and I was back in business. From that point on, the tour was back on track for me, and I was able to enjoy it all, fully sighted. I learned a couple of important lessons from my fall: always pack a spare pair of eye glasses and pick up your feet while walking. 😉
Scotland was a lot like Ireland for me in that everywhere we went the scenery was beautiful and their people were so charming. I loved this trip and everything about it. It felt a little like we were in pursuit of all things Outlander: we visited Culross Palace where scenes from the TV show were filmed; we saw huge old boulders at the Clava Cairns like the one Clare travels through; and we spent time on the battlefields of Culloden, where we were reminded to be respectful as many real people died on this hallowed ground, not Jamie Fraser. We explored lovely St. Andrews where Prince William and Kate Middleton went to university, and golf’s oldest and most iconic course is. We saw bag pipers, a sheep farm, and hairy coos. And sailed the beautiful Loch Ness, but, alas, had no Nessie sightings. 😊
But one day stands out as being thee best, and that whole experience was my magical moment for this trip. And strangely enough, this all came about because of a last-minute change in plans due to bad weather…
We started our day in the scenic coastal town of Oban. It’s known as the “Gateway to the Isles” as from there you can catch a ferry ride to isles such as Kerrera, Lismore, Mull, and Iona. The Isle of Iona was our destination today, via Mull. Iona is considered to be the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland, and we were headed over to visit the 800-year-old abbey, where monks created the Book of Kells.
To get to the Isle of Iona, we had to take a 46-minute ferry from Oban to Craignure, Mull, then an hour-long bus ride to Fionnphort – the port on the west coast of Mull – and then another short ferry ride to Iona.
As we waited to board the ferry to Craignure, Helen was getting updates on the weather. It was pretty windy & rainy and she warned us there was a chance we could get all the way to Fionnphort and find that the final leg of our journey, the ferry ride to Iona, would be canceled. It can be a rough ride crossing the North Sea to Iona if the weather conditions are not right, and they don’t take chances if they’re not.
Fortunately, the 45-minute ferry ride from Oban to Craignure was on a large boat and the ride was smooth. And thankfully I did not get sea sick. Once on land at Craignure, we headed straight to the bus waiting to drive us to Fionnphort. We boarded that bus, hoping for the best.
Our bus driver, Rich, was a great driver, on many levels. First of all, he handled the narrow roads we traveled on deftly. The road across Mull is what they call “single track,” meaning one single lane for people traveling in both directions. So, he had to be alert and watch for on-coming traffic. There are regular passing places to allow you to pull over and let oncoming traffic pass. I’m not really sure how they decided who has to pull over to let the other pass. 😊
Rich also had personality plus! He’s an animated storyteller who loved sharing all about his Isle of Mull with us. There was spectacular scenery all around, and he pointed out a couple of spots that had been used as locations in films. He told stories about life on Mull, population 2,990, give or take. And he shared about the wildlife that inhabits the isle and surrounding waters, including white-tailed eagles, whales, porpoises, dolphins and harry coos. He kept a running commentary the whole trip, and was very funny and entertaining.
And then we pulled into Fionnphort and got the bad news: the ferry would not be going to Iona because of the churning seas. One boat had just crossed back over from Iona, but they had to shut it down as the wind was picking up. There went our visit to Iona.
Helen was ready for this abrupt change in plans. She’d been making calls while we were on the road, lining up a “Plan B” just in case the ferry wasn’t running. She gave us some time to take pictures at this very picturesque port, grab a little snack, and then back on the bus we climbed, ready for a new adventure.
That is Iona in the background of the middle picture. So close and yet so far!
We headed to the Ardalanish Farm and Isle of Mull Weavers. Ardalanish is a working farm. As well as breeding the sheep for wool, the sheep and cattle are reared for meat. The estate covers about 1500 acres of wild and farm land which provide food and lodgings for 60 to 70 head of cattle and 300 head of sheep. Some horses can also be found enjoying the grass about the farm. (Thanks to the Ardalanish Farm website for this description. Check them out at: ardalanish.com )
When new owners took over the farm in 2011, they decided they wanted to try weaving wool from their sheep themselves, rather than sending it away as had been previously done. They formed a collaboration with Bob, the Master Weaver, who was in the process of retiring from his own Isle of Mull Weavers business and selling off machinery. Bob was brought on board, his machinery put back to use and the Ardalanish Isle of Mull Weavers was born.
We were lucky in that they were able to squeeze us in for a demonstration of the weaving process. These looms are quite large and noisy, and we had to wear head phones to protect our ears when they turned them on. One of Bob’s looms dates from the 1920s and the other is from the 1950s. Their business has become so successful, that besides using their own “home grown” wool, they now buy wool from across the Highlands & Islands of Scotland.
After the weaving demonstration we had time to visit their gift shop and snap a few pictures. I love local gift shops where you can buy real souvenirs that reflect where you’re visiting and not just kitschy stuff like keychains and magnets. (Although from time-to-time, I have been known to buy the folks back home a keychain or magnet or two. 😉)
Back on the bus, our next stop was Duart Castle, ancestral home of the Clan Maclean. Built 800 years ago, the castle was in ruins before being restored in 1911. Today it is one of the last surviving privately owned Clan Castles in Scotland. It’s been featured in several Hollywood films, most recently in 1999 for the Sean Connery/Catherine Zeta Jones film, “Entrapment.”
Duart Castle is perched on the high end of a crag at the end of a peninsula, jutting out into the Sound of Mull. A perfect spot for a castle, for those inside, to keep an eye on warring clans who might attack. The views here are spectacular! We took our pictures outside and then went in to tour the castle itself.
So much history is on display here including an exhibit that tells of the many Chiefs of the Clan through the years. We wondered through room after room and tried to take in as much as we could. But, with a history that includes, “Centuries of battles pitting Catholics against Protestants and the Scottish against the English in rivalries that still resonate,” we could only try.
I found the above quote in an interesting article from the New York Times. If you’d like to read more about what it takes to maintain a crumbling 14-century castle, featuring the current lord, Sir Lachlan Hector Charles Maclean of Duart and Morvern, here’s the link to the article:
Scotland group photo at the Clava Cairns near Inverness
Duart Castle was our last stop on Mull, and we finished our day back in Oban. I guess I’ve kind of babbled on about the Isle of Mull and may have strayed from my main point. Which is this, what was a bad circumstance (the canceling of our visit to the Isle of Iona) turned into a magical moment when tour guide, Helen, saved the day and took us down another path of adventure in Scotland. Great job, Helen! I would have loved to visit Iona, but “Plan B” was stellar!
And that is the last of my magical moments from my Rick Steves’ tours. Laura and I were supposed to travel to the Adriatic coastline – Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina – this past April, but, well, we all know what happened there with Covid. Fingers-crossed, we will be able to take this trip in the not-too-far distant future. But for now, I will stay home and stay safe.
Today, I will leave you with a picture of a couple of harry coos. 😉 I’ve referenced them twice in this post, and in case you’re wondering what they are, here you go. Hairy coos are what they call their Highland cows, a Scottish breed of rustic cattle. We saw them where ever we traveled in Scotland, and I think they are adorable. Don’t you agree?!?
Take care. Be well. Stay safe.
OK, one more thing. Old buildings and pretty flowers. All from the camera of Laura.
Do you recognize the locations? I tossed in a few others from our trips to mix it up.
They are left to right, top to bottom: the Abbey at Mont St-Michel, Ashford Castle,
a church in St. Andrews, Notre Dame, Stirling Castle and Edinburgh Castle.
Thank you to Laura for all her great pictures. 😊