Hey Gang – I know some of you don’t really care what we did on our awesome holiday, but some of you do so here is the summary of our two weeks of awesomeness.
On the way down from Ben Nevis
Basically we were in Edinburgh for a few days, then off to the Scottish Highlands for three days of awesome hikes, then over to the Isle of Skye, a stop in St. Andrews on our way back to Edinburgh where we flew to Belfast for two days, then hopped a train to Dublin for two days before jumping on a ferry to Holyhead in Wales and then a train ride into London Euston Station.
Highlights of the trip:
- Hiking Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in the UK & Ireland) – challenging hike, but so great. This was one of my goals for 2012.
- Spending time in Edinburgh – it still has all its medieval character (AND Starbucks).
- We went on a great tour of the Shankhill and Falls road areas of Belfast where The Troubles were focused for so many years. It was great to learn more about the conflict and to see how the people are really working on moving past it.
-
Notting Hill, London, UK (yep, the place from the movie)
I achieved another one of my goals for 2012, but this one was a lot easier than climbing the mountain – I had a pint (half pint actually) of Guinness at the bar in the hotel that Bono and The Edge own in Dublin (the Clarence Hotel). To be honest, the bar was pretty disappointing – I don’t know how to describe it. We all know the formula for a great pub – low light, dark panel, some splashes of deep red somewhere and of course some Irish music. This one had none of that – not much character to speak of at all actually. That is okay, I can imagine that the boys have bigger things to worry about than their bar at the Clarence.
- London was awesome – lots of work on the rail stations, tube stations, etc as they get ready for the Olympic games this summer. The highlight was walking through Hyde Park – beautiful!
- Getting to spend all day with Paul each day.
What I missed about home…
-
Outside the mecca of all things beer.
my bed
- eating vegetables with my meals (other than potatoes)
- keeping up with the athletes I train at the Revolution Studio and all of you of course – I felt out of touch
Paul and I saved up for about 4-years to afford this trip, but I have to thank you as well. I spend a lot of time each week providing free content on this site to build a relationship with my readers. I create the best off-ice training programs available online with the intention that many of you will sooner or later purchase them and this is how I learn part of my living. So thank you very much to those of you who have helped to build such an awesome community, that I can actually earn some freedom to do a trip like this with Paul. And thank you for being so awesome to work with (and for), that I actually was looking forward to getting home and getting back on track with my videos, blog posts and product creation. I think that says a lot.
Cheers,
M
PS – if any of you are planning a vacation to any of the places I have mentioned, please let me know and I would be happy to let you know about the places we stayed (mostly hostels) and any other tips that may help.