When my daughter, Olivia, began Irish dancing classes in 2013, I didn't know a thing about Irish dancing, have no Irish ancestry and no connection to Ireland whatsoever! But my husband and I had lived in St Andrews, Scotland for two years back in the 80s and did take some Scottish country dance classes (we were terrible at it). Reading up on Irish dancing I learned there was an entire competitive angle to it. So I told Olivia, in jest, at the beginning of her taking classes, "If you practice really, really hard, and get really good, the World Championships are in Scotland in 2016!" She looked at me like I was crazy. Perhaps I was at the time...

Well, she did it. She qualified for Worlds at our regionals back in November, and we traveled to Scotland in March for the championships! I thought I would share with you some of the highlights of our trip.

We spent the first few days in Glasgow, visiting the Cathedral, the Necropolis (large old cemetery on top of a hill behind the Cathedral), walking down Buchanan Street, and practicing before competition day in the Royal Concert Hall

Olivia on the World stage! Photo by Feis Photos

Photography and video is forbidden at all dance competitions, and as a photographer, this rule is particularly irksome! But fortunately at events such as Nationals and Worlds, there is an official photographer who does take action shots of the dancers.

View of Arthur's Seat from the castle Ruined Holyrood Abbey, behind the Palace--lovely old stonework

There's also a ruined castle, which hasn't fared well over the centuries, but has a really cool tunnel under the castle as well as fantastic views of the North Sea. The bishop of the Cathedral once lived here.

But don't drive your car into the water!