IRELAND TRIP - Day 8....Going Home

Today is the day we fly home.

Hayden doesn't want to leave.

"Couldn't we just stay longer?"

"Don't you miss the family, aren't you ready to sleep in your own bed?"

"Nope."

It is hard to leave such a fun trip.

We really had such a fun time together, I love hanging out with this teenager!

We did a 'driving tour' of Zurich on our way to the airport.

It really is such a beautiful city.

I came here as a child, when my family lived in Germany, but have no real memories of Zurich itself from that time, only of a boat ride on the lake (and the loss of a certain favorite doll).

An overview of our travels in the past 8 days.

Once in the airport, we got Hayden a wheelchair, and checked out the Duty-Free shopping.

He found this Nutella jar that was as big as his head.

We thought of Ronan, and how much he would of LOVED to own that!

We flew home on Swiss Air, and they let us pre-board and get all settled in for the long flight back to NYC!

While I loved our trip, and had so much fun, and loved all the places we got to visit....it sure does feel good to land back in the USA!

There's something to be said for familiarity.

The Brooklyn Bridge, NYC

We still had a 3 hour drive to get home to Maryland, and we were greeted by 6 people who were very excited to see us!

Ireland Trip - Day 7..... Switzerland!!

When I first booked our trip, I knew we had a lay-over in Zurich, Switzerland, BUT I didn't realize that it was a 23 hour lay-over! Luckily I noticed well before we left, with plenty of time to make hotel reservations. We thought this would be a fun little 'add-on' to our trip!

The original plan was to have a nice walking tour of Zurich, maybe go for a boat ride on Lake Zurich, and visit the Lindt Chocolate Factory.

But, again the fractured ankle altered plans a bit.

We just rolled with it, I mean, we were in Switzerland, right? 

Life was still good!

New plan...rent a car, and drive an hour and a half south to Bern to see the LDS Temple there.

I kept going back and forth with this plan. We had such little time in Switzerland, did I really want to spend 3 hours of it in a car?? 

But, as Hayden pointed out, when would we get the chance to get the Swiss Temple on our temple wall again?? It's not like we find ourselves in Switzerland every day.

Our 'Temple Wall' is a wall in our kitchen that we hang a photo of every temple we have been to.

This is what it started as in 2011... 

And now in 2014...

We decided to drive down to the temple!

We met a nice couple in front of the temple who took our photo together!

We had to stop and get a bratwurst and schnitzel while in Switzerland!

On the drive back to Zurich, we took our time and drove through some villages.

Hayden had the camera, and just snapped photos as we went along.

I loved this part of the trip.

Driving through small towns in Europe is so fun!

We made it back to Zurich in the evening.

And enjoyed a quick drive around while going to our hotel.

Ready for a good nights rest....our last night away.

IRELAND DAY 6....SCOTLAND!

Our wonderful hostess in Dublin prepared an easy breakfast for us to take with us to the airport the next morning, as we had a 6:30am flight to Edinburgh!

This guys was super excited to spend the day in Scotland!

Plans had to be slightly modified do to the ankle injury, but we still had a great time exploring Edinburgh! 

The castle was first on our list of places to see.

We took a taxi from the airport to the castle, only to find out that we were too early...they weren't open yet. So, the taxi driver dropped us off just down the street so we could find a hot chocolate while we waited for the castle to open.

We ended up finding a shop selling haggis for breakfast, and Hayden decided to try it.

Haggis is not on my list of breakfast foods, so I did not join him.

We then hobbled up the street with Hayden and his crutches to tour the castle.

On our way through the castle gates, someone noticed Hayden on his crutches, and asked if we would like assistance, including a ride up to the top of the castle. We graciously accepted. Furthermore, when I went to buy the tickets, they didn't charge me for my ticket, as I was his 'Care giver'. They also gave us free headsets to listen to the self-guided tour with.

We were driven to up the castle (something I didn't know was even possible before), and given special access at every turn. Everyone there was really so very helpful.

Some views of Edinburgh from the castle.

Hayden in front of Mons Meg.

We have a photo of him sitting inside the barrel of the gun as a one year old.

He was very excited to get back there and see this huge gun (although he didn't want to attempt climbing back in it).

After maneuvering the cobblestones, and narrow passageways in the castle on crutches, Hayden was pretty tuckered out. His hands mainly, were screaming with soreness from the crutches. 

So, we found our friendly driver, who took us back down to the castle entrance.

And then another driver was kind enough to drive us down the Royal Mile a bit.

We decided to hop on a tourist bus to see the city, since walking on foot no longer fit into our plan.

Here's a few of the sites we saw along the way...

A man in a kilt, playing the bagpipes is a must in Scotland, right?

The backside of Edinburgh Castle.

We were blessed again on this trip, when we decided it was time to head back to the airport.

As luck would have it, our sight-seeing bus stopped directly across from the commuter train that went to the airport! But, as we tried to purchase tickets from the machines (no actual person selling them), it would not accept my card! AND you could NOT purchase with cash (which I actually had).  Thankfully, a man came up behind us to purchase his ticket, and when he noticed that we couldn't get a ticket, he offered to buy our tickets with his card, and we just paid him our cash. I was so grateful for this act after a long day of sight-seeing, and worrying if we would make it back to the airport in time for our flight.  

We made it with plenty of time actually, and flew back to Dublin with no problems.

And crashed into our beds that night.

IRELAND DAY 5

When we got up that morning, the man at the front desk of the hotel pointed us in the direction of the nearest hospital so we could get Hayden's food checked out.

It was still pretty swollen, and he couldn't put weight on it.

X-ray showed a fracture, and they fitted him for a boot cast, gave us some crutches and off we went. 

We were in and out of there in 1 hour!

Way to go NHS!

(And it was free of charge-something that wouldn't of happened in the US for sure. In fact, once we returned from our trip and had his ankle checked out by an orthopedic in Maryland, we got a bill for the boot cast and crutches that we walked in their office with! Gotta love that. Of course we called and refused to pay them!)

Although starting later than planned, we headed off for the days events.

First up, The Titanic Museum in Belfast!

(Photo via Google Images)

This was a big thing on Hayden's must-see list!

He has been interested in the Titanic for years.

When we lived in England, we took him to the dock in Southampton were the she sail from, and years later visited the cemetery in Nova Scotia, Canada were the victims were buried.

He has 2 grave rubbings from Nova Scotia hanging on his bedroom wall, as well as a mural he is painting of the NYC skyline (which is where the Titanic was headed).

So, to come full circle, to were the ship was built in Belfast was a big deal for him!

Luckily the museum had a wheelchair that Hayden could use while we were there.

Although, his arms were pretty tired at the end.

(I kept trying to push him in the chair, but he refused-teenage stubbornness.)

Unfortunately I didn't really take many photos in the museum. It was an amazing place. SO MUCH information and things to see. SO many great exibhits. And even a little ride as well to watch the building of the giant ship.

If your interested, THIS blog had some good photos of the museum.

Despite the pain in his ankle, and decreased mobility, Hayden remained positive and enjoyed the adventure we were on!

(Heading to a pub in Dublin for dinner)

We had planned to make it down to Dublin earlier in the day, but that just didn't happen with our hospital trip, and slower movement.

So, we missed visiting Trinity College in Dublin, but were blessed with an amazing B&B Host!

We felt it was truly a blessing that this B&B was 1 level, and Hayden wouldn't have to navigate up and down any stairs!

And our hostess was THE NICEST WOMAN EVER!

She completely took care of us, and I would stay there again in a heartbeat!

We had a relaxing evening, and headed to bed early, as we had a 6:30am flight to Scotland the next morning!

IRELAND - DAY 4

Wow, it's only been 4 days since we've been in Ireland, and we've gone 700 miles around the island so far. Definitely a lot of driving on this trip! But, we've gotten to see so many wonderful things.

Its Sunday now, and so we got up and left Donegal, and drove to the nearest LDS church, which was in LondonDerry (or, as the Irish told us-Derry).

We had a bit of a hard time finding the building. The GPS wasn't taking us there, so Hayden took over as navigator, and after a lovely view of the city....we finally found it!

We enjoyed a wonderful service, and had so much fun talking with the members there.

They gave us a few tips as well, and then sent us on our way.

We made our sandwiches in the car, and set of to explore in the UK!

It was kind of fun entering Northern Ireland...certain things brought back so many memories for me living in the UK in England 10 years ago.

Hayden was a little disappointed that there was no 'border' to pass through, no sign welcoming us to the UK, just a normal road where one minute you were in Ireland, and the next in the UK.

Just a change in road signs, like going from Kilometers to Miles.

We went straight to the Giants Causeway!

It was a beautiful walk down to the Causeway, and we had headsets where we could listen to all the history and information about the place on the way down.

We took a photo of this couple on this little rocky hill that jutted out over the ocean, and then they offered to take a photo of us.

I'm terrified of heights, and this quick photo was enough for me!

In an effort to get down quickly, I suggested we take this route...

It ended up being steeper than I had anticipated, and Hayden snapped this photo while he was teasing me for being afraid of heights, yet coming down the most precarious way.

Finally made it to the Causeway!

The Giant's Causeway has been on Brian's bucket list for some time now. He was very disappointed that we never made it there while living in England. So, he asked us to pause for a moment longer while there and think of him.

We did.

It is so incredible to me how these rocks were formed in such se-metrical shapes!

We enjoyed our time at the Giant's Causeway.

And I enjoyed listening to the legend of how they were formed and destroyed by the Giants of Ireland and Scotland.

After the Causeway, we decided to head over to a rope bridge we had heard about.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope bridge!

With my fear of heights, this was just beyond my ability to agree to do!

But, that way I could be the photographer and document Hayden, right?!

Kind of crazy if you ask me!

This bridge is still used today by the fishermen to get over to the small island, and set sail in their boats.

Hayden waving to me once he made it onto the island!

This is were the fishermen's boats are launched from the island...

It's a beautiful little spot.

Every now and then I feel like I need to document that I too was actually on this vacation!

I enjoyed my view while waiting for Hayden to come back over the bridge.

And our walk back to the car along the coast was just beautiful!

In some spots it looked like we were in a tropical area.

Of course, the photos do not do it justice.

This is a small island way out, that I zoomed in with my camera lens, because we thought we saw some sort of structure on the island, and were curious as to what would be out there.

Never really found out.

It was Armed Forces Day in the UK, and Hayden enjoyed all the flags and such that were flying that day.

Here is where our trip takes a bit of a turn...

Dunluce Castle.

It was evening, and we knew the castle would be closed, but thought we'd just go and see if we could get a photo of it.

We found that while the main ruins of the castle were closed, there were some stairs that led down to the base of the castle that you could walk around, so we decided to check it out.

Beautiful views along the coast. 

Such a great spot for a castle!

Here's were things changed...

Hayden wanted to climb up this hill, and see the views of the ocean on the other side.

I said, "I don't think you should do that. I don't think your allowed up there, and it's steep-not a good idea."

"Mom! It will be fine, I'll be quick.", as he started up the hill.

I snapped this photo of him, the said, "You should get down, I'm going to the car to look at the map."

Well, he came down....running. Then decided to jump off as well.

And hurt his ankle in the process.

AND fell into a patch of Stinging Nettle (a cousin to poison ivy).

He then had to walk up all these stairs to get to the car...

I was in the car plotting out our route to our hotel, we he opens the door, sits down (breathing heavily), and says he hurt his ankle.

"Is is broken?"

"I don't know."

"Is it swollen? Can you move it?"

"It's not swollen, but hurts to move."

"Well, if its not swollen, then it's probably just sprained. You'll be fine. Guess you shouldn't of gone up that hill, huh?"

By the time we make it to Belfast, and get out at our hotel, he says he can't stand on the ankle.

Once in the room, I take a look at it, and realize that it is indeed swollen!

We soak it in a cold bath (due to the lack of ice at the hotel), and give him some ibuprofen.

Luckily the hotel offered pizza delivery, as he was not in a state to go out for dinner. 

So, we hung out in the room, eating pizza and watching TV before falling asleep.

Quite an exciting day.