Lori’s Trip to Scotland and Ireland

April 17, 2012 thru April 27, 2012

Part I

I left JFK International Airport in New York on Tuesday, April 17th around 5:30 pm to begin my trip to Scotland and Ireland. First leg of the trip was to Dublin, Ireland. I flew on Aer Lingus and it was a very good flight. We were on time, the plane was only about ¾ full and the staff was very pleasant. I sat in the exit row window seat with no one next to me and therefore had plenty of leg room. This more than made up for the slightly narrow seat. Plenty of food for dinner and it was very good. Headphones, pillow and blanket were all free of charge.

Flight took us over Cape Cod, Boston, Halifax, Newfoundland and Labrador. The flight attendants sold jewelry on the plane and I purchase a necklace and some bracelets for Sara. There were plenty of movie and television show choices on the plane but I didn’t watch anything. I listened to music, read my book and cat napped a bit. Orange juice was served slightly before landing.

We landed in Dublin about 5 am on Wednesday, April 18th and the airport was virtually empty except for the people from our flight. The wait to go thru customs and security was quite slow as they only had a few people working at such an early hour. I made my way to the gate for the flight to Glasgow, Scotland. There were only about a dozen people on my flight. We were transported by shuttle bus out to the small plane where we boarded by walking up a narrow flight of stairs at the rear of the plane. Flight time was about an hour and once again we were transported by shuttle bus to the terminal. After getting my bag, I took a shuttle bus to the main bus terminal where I boarded another bus for the 1 hour 45 minute ride to Kilkardy.

Upon arrival in Kirkcaldy, I desperately needed to use the public restroom inside the bus station but unfortunately there was a 30 pence charge to access the facilities. As I had not yet converted any US dollars to British pounds, I was stuck. I went into the tea room but she could not do a conversion. With her permission, I left my luggage behind and she directed me to a local bank where I withdrew 40 pounds from the ATM. I returned to the tea room, ordered a pot of tea and English muffin and she gave me the proper change for the restroom. After enjoying my tea, I tried to locate a pay phone to contact Colm but there were none in the bus station. In desperation, I borrowed one from a young woman working in the newspaper stand and called Colm. He arrived about ½ hour later – I have finally met my cousin!

Dreams Do Come True

By tomorrow this time, I will be in the air on my way to Burntisland, Scotland to meet my cousin Colm. My sixth cousin, once removed, whom I have never met before.

A brief history for you. I am an amateur genealogist and have enjoyed filling in more details and adding to the work done by my great Uncle Joe before he died. Uncle Joe verified that our Wilson ancestors came to America in 1777 from Ireland. Peter Wilson, my 5th great grandfather, came over with his parents and his brother George stayed in Ireland. Colm is a descendant of George. So - for the first time in 235 years, decsendants from teh two brothers will be meeting!! This is very exciting for me.

I will spend a few days in Scotland with Colm and his wife and then on Saturday morning we will fly to Letterkenny, Ireland and then drive over to Clonmany where I will spend the next week.

Going to Ireland has been the # 1 item on my bucket list for almost 30 years. I am so excited that this dream is finally coming true.

I plan on updating my thoughts, observations and photos of my trip over the next ten days. I hope you will have the chance to share my journey with me.