Restless Explorer

When travelling to Aruba, there are a few main areas to stay in.  There’s Palm Beach, Arashi Beach, Oranjestad and Eagle Beach.  Palm Beach and Arashi are expensive, Oranjestad is nice, but I’d rather be on a beach. Then there’s Eagle Beach, a top 10 beach in the world, with more affordable low rise hotels.  It was a no brainer.  We found Eagle Aruba Resort for a good price of $250 CAD a night.  It was on sale and I thought the hotels.com sale would last forever… turns out it didn’t.  The price went up to about $350 a night, so instead I booked with my Aventura Points and saved about $800.  It was totally worth it.

I’ve always heard of Aruba and the phrase " One Happy Island" and heard about pristine beaches, Flamingos and have always thought that it was some far way and lavish destination.  So, I thought Aruba would be luxurious and super expensive; so it was never really crossed my mind as a future travel destination.  But when we decided to go somewhere for my wife’s 40th birthday, which is in November, we had to think outside of the box since most Caribbean destinations are prone to hurricanes.  That is when I found out, being so far south, and just above Venezuela, Aruba is outside of the Hurricane Belt.  I got down to planning and realized that flights and hotels weren’t too expensive.  So, I attached my 3 personal days from work to the weekend and the Remembrance Day holiday, and we booked a trip to Aruba!

We only had 3 nights in Dublin, but wanted to devote one of those days to exploring outside of the city.  We debated about going to the Cliffs of Moher, but since we were already in the Isle of Skye in Scotland, we realized it’d be better to add something a bit different;  instead we booked a day trip to Northern Ireland.  We got to add another “country” to our vacation and got to see several unique places.  We booked through Viator, which is nice because for each booking you earn dollars to use on your account in the future, and the tour operator was Irish Day Tours.  The tour included a lot of things (Belfast, with the option of a Black Cab Tour, the Dark Hedges, some viewpoints of the Atlantic and of course, The Giants Causeway), our daughter was free, and it only cost us $120 per adult, making it very affordable.

Everyone knows that Guinness is synonymous with Ireland, so when in Guinness you definitely need to sip a few pints of it.  Back home, I’ve never been a fan of Guinness but in Ireland it tastes much better.  I think the shelf life isn’t as good, also Guinness is one that needs to be flowing through the taps frequently, which it is in Ireland. So from being fresh to being pumped through fresh taps, Guinness tastes smooth and great and was something I really enjoyed drinking. But not only do you need to taste some Guinness, when in Dublin going to the Guinness Storehouse is essential.

Dublin was our last leg of our European vacation, and I was hot and cold on it, I was excited about some things, but not as excited as I was as I was to visit London, York or the Isle of Skye in Scotland.  Dublin didn’t seem to have as many things to do; but I was kind of excited for a more chill few days to end our trip.  We stayed for 3 nights and stayed at The Hendrick Smithfield which was located in a good location outside of Temple Bar.

Our last leg of our UK and Ireland trip was Ireland.  Hotels were ridiculously expensive in Scotland, and they looked pricey in Ireland, albeit not quite as bad.  Little did I know, in addition to being the busy summer season, while we were there, the American College football game was going on, as well as a big concert.  So, this led to even higher prices.  But it was the last leg of our trip, we only had 3 nights in Ireland and wanted to be close to the action, so we decided to splurge.  We came across The Hendrick Smithfield.  We paid about $330 CAD a room, which was similar to what we paid in Scotland, but The Hendrick was much nicer.  Based on the circumstances and looking at other prices, the price was decent.

The food in Scotland was good, but after coming from London, there weren’t many British dishes we hadn’t tried, and despite being a diverse country too, the diversity and size of Scotland doesn’t compare to London so there are fewer options.  But there was one dish I hadn’t tried that I wanted to and that was Haggis.  For those who don’t know, Haggis is minced sheep pluck (heart, lungs and liver) with onions and oatmeal, spiced up and drizzled with Whiskey sauce.  Sounds delicious, right? I was nervous to try it but knew that it was a must eat in Scotland.

When traveling to Scotland—and particularly Edinburgh—we knew we had to visit somewhere in the Highlands. It was either Loch Ness and Inverness or the Isle of Skye. We have plenty of lakes (or lochs) in Canada, so we elected to visit the Isle of Skye.

When looking at hotels for our trip to Scotland this past August, I was shocked by the prices.  If we wanted to stay anywhere near Old Town or New Town it was going to cost us $600 CAD plus a night for a budget hotel.  I started panicking… how was I going to afford this?  So, I started looking a bit further from the city center, prices still didn’t look great. Then someone suggested looking at the Travelodge.  I visited their website and came across the Travelodge Cameron Toll.  It was a bit further from the city center, but wasn’t too far.  It was a budget hotel but had a restaurant, a bar and the ratings for cleanliness were good.  We ended up paying about $320 CAD a night… believe me that was a good price for August in Edinburgh, during Fringe Festival.

When planning our UK and Ireland trip, I was the least excited for Scotland; kilts, haggis and gloomy weather?   But my presumptions and expectations were wrong, Edinburgh was my favorite city on the trip and one of my favorite cities I’ve travelled to.  What’s so special about Edinburgh you may ask?  All you need to do is look up some pictures and you’ll understand.  A visit to Edinburgh is like a visit to the past.  Medieval architecture everywhere with flower pots and flags lining the building façades, cobblestone streets, castles and gothic churches litter Edinburgh’s landscape.  One stroll through Old Town and along the Royal Mile and you’ll be amazed.

When we were in York we met some friends for dinner.  We wanted British food in the heart of York and they recommend The Star Inn.  The chef is a Michelin Star chef, and the other Star Inn in Harome has earned a Michelin Star.  In York the restaurant does not have a star but has excellent ratings and has won several awards.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a history fanatic, particularly violent and exciting history like the Vikings.  So, when we decided to go to York, I know there’d be a lot of interesting stuff to see and learn, especially after watching Vikings Valhalla and some of The Last Kingdom.  After researching, I discovered the JORVIK Viking Center; so closer to the time of our trip I looked to book tickets, and then found out you could add on two other experiences for only a few extra pounds.  This is called the Pastport which includes all three experiences.