Day 1: Jessi’s Version

Okay, so a few years ago I had the unique privilege of touring the lovely country of Ireland with my mom, sister, and Aunt Cindy. Prior to that trip, my mom had visited the country with her sisters and even got a tattoo! (First one in her life, mind you. The start of the Trinity sisters). When she came back, it was Ireland this, Ireland that, let’s go eat here because it’s Irish yada yada yada. She totally fell in love with the country and embraced our Irish roots. She. Was. Obsessed. SMH. Fast foward to 2015 and it was MY turn to go. And guess what? It was love at first sight. I even got a tattoo and joined the Trinity Sisters! (Actually, I got two) What happened when I returned? It was Ireland this, and Ireland that, and let’s go eat here because they have Irish food. Let’s make our own Irish breakfast, and yes my family had to eat black pudding. (I didn’t tell them what was in it lol). I. Was. Obsessed. How could you not fall in love with such a beautiful place, rich with culture and history? I would live there if I could!

Now, it’s 2018 and I had been wanting to go to Scotland for some time. After some hard work, some good things happened in my life and my ‘reward’ was this trip. It didn’t hurt that I fell in love with the show Outlander, set in Scotland, and it’s landscape and backdrop. Two days here and I can tell you, Scotland is giving Ireland a run for its money.

After our 5ish hour long flight from JFK, we landed in Glasgow at 11ish am (around 6am back home). We picked up our rental car and SQUEEZED all six of us into it AND our luggage. I squeezed myself in the back because I broke the rules and brought an extra bag.

After we got on the road, we started making our way toward Finnich Glenn or The Devil’s Pulpit (which, to all you Outlander fans, is the Liar’s Spring where Dougal takes Claire to find out if she’s telling the truth about not being a spy. It was a bit tricky to get to though. We parked at the intersection where it told us to go and had to climb a fence. I would definitely recommend a good pair of walking shoes or hiking boots. The sign clearly state Caution, risk of death. We first began following the path to the left of the ravine because that was where we could see

other people walking. I think maybe they were as lost as we were? We got to the edge of the ravine, which was a long way down, where we could see people playing in the water, but definitely not a safe way down. Then, our group turned around and climbed the barbed wire fence still searching for a way to the spring. We followed several paths that seemed to be well worn thinking they’d lead the way, but to no avail. Everyone was about to give up and then I asked Google "How do you get down to the Devil’s Pulpit?" Good ol’ Google! Someone showed us the way! If you park at that intersection, follow the road down past the bridge and there is a spot that you can climb over. Then you follow the spring down a ways until you see a set of stone stairs. You can’t miss it! This is the part that needs good shoes. I do NOT recommend sandals

!

We braved the steps, very slowly as we let others come back up. As our party reached its destination and took in the view before us, I was in awe of the majestic beauty of this place. The moss-covered stone towered over us on all sides as the little spring bubbled past. I could imagine fairies floating among us. It was magical. We took off our shoes and waded in the cool water around the corner to see the waterfall that we could so clearly hear, but not see. Several locals swam in the chilly waters, so it was kind of crowded. Though the place was not as quiet as we’d have liked, it was no less a magnificent sight. Anyone visiting near Sterling, Glasgow, Edinburgh, it’s definitely worth the trip, and hike.
 

After that, we heading to our B&B, located in Denny, because jet-lag was finally catching up with us. Everyone wanted to unload the car, especially me, and get some dinner. Our first place was a dud, because they weren’t serving food that day. I’m not quite sure why, because I couldn’t understand the accent and felt bad asking her to repeat herself. So, we went on to search for another place. An older centleman saw us standing outside a bar and came out to bring us inside and when we got in they seemed so excited we were there and even shook our hands. However, it was smoky and they didn’t serve food. So we were on a hunt again. Another gentleman gave us advice, but we didn’t seem to understand each other and he even asked if we spoke English. He told us to go to the Zebra Crossing, which I stupidly thought was the name of a restaurant, Google explained otherwise. He meant for us to go down to the crosswalk. Another woman told us to go down to the Bread Gin, however, I totally messed that one up and looking at the map thought she meant the Beijing (which I did NOT want to eat). There was no Bread Gin. We were driving by and realized that she meant the Bridge Inn, so we stopped. If I were walking down the street and saw this little restaurant, with its sign not even readable and falling apart, I would have kept moving. However, my pregnant cousin was hungry and was not letting us get away with at least checking it out. LOL. I’m glad, though, because when you step inside, it was clearly redone at some point and was quite nice. What a relief! The gentleman who took our order was adorable and recommended the Steak Pie, so five of us ordered the steak pie. Haha! We had appetizers, on top of that! It was WAY TOO MUCH food, but it was delicious! I would definitely recommend going to eat there.

After that, we heading back to our B&B and most of us went straight to bed. It was strange though, because it was 10 o’clock and it was still daylight out. I almost put my eye mask on, but was waiting to FaceTime my family. It was a long day, and we didn’t see a lot, but what we did see, Finnich Glen, will forever be one of my favorite spots on earth! And that was just DAY 1! Day 2 had even more in store!