Before we left on this trip, we sat down and decided what we wanted to do and where. Both Belfast and Dublin have zoos and botanical gardens, and Em decided she would rather see the ones in Dublin. So, we only did one day in Belfast, so I could see my Titanic stuff. But, we also wanted to see the murals in the sectarian neighborhoods. We were too tired yesterday to do it, so we decided to do it on our way out of Belfast this morning, on our way up to the Antrim Coast.
First, we went to Falls Rd, the major Catholic/Republican neighborhood
Then, we went to Shankill Rd, the major Protestant/Loyalist neighborhood
On our way out of town, we saw one of the peace walls, which are tall, fortified walls between parts of the neighborhoods. There has been talk of removing them, but it seems the people who live near them want to keep them.
On our way out of town, we saw lots more sectarian murals and flags.
Apart from the religious aspects, Belfast still reminds me of Baltimore
We passed Greencastle (There is a town names Greencastle not far from our MD house)
We saw another rainbow
We saw the sea (and the nasty storm clouds above us)
We saw a castle ruin on the side of the road
We got to Giant's Causeway, our first destination, at about 9:45. According to the guidebook, the visitor's center didn't open until 10. Visiting the causeway is free, but you have to pay for the visitor's center. We didn't need the visitor's center. But, things have changed. We had originally pulled into Parking 3, but after looking at the sign, we decided to drive to Parking 1, since it was closer to the entrance of the trails. You have to pay for Parking 1, and you have to pay to access the rocks from there, too. But, at least the center was open, and since we all had to use the restroom, we just decided to pay.
Then it was time for the walk. Rick Steves recommended taking the trail at the top of the cliffs and coming down by the Shepherd's Steps. So, we did. It was windy as all get out. According to the audio guide, it's the windiest place in Ireland.
Along the way, we saw the path from Parking 3. Had we stayed there, we could have gotten in for free. Ah, well, no bathrooms there. Plus, we would have had to walk back up the cliffs to get back to the car. No, thanks!
So, the legend of The Giant's Causeway is that the giant Finn McCool built it to get to Scotland, so he wouldn't have to get his feet wet. He also had a house here. A music lover, he had an organ
Coming from the Shepherd's Steps, you come up on the Causeway from the back
This is Finn's shoe
This place is so amazing, we just spent a lot of time taking pictures.
Then, it started pouring, so we caught the little bus back up to the visitor's center
We were originally going to go to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, too, but since it was pouring, Em decided it wasn't safe. So, we had some lunch and went straight to Max's pick of the day - the Bushmills Distillery.
No pictures allowed in the tour, but we got one at the tasting at the end. Since one of the whiskies was technically mine, I stuck my fingers in them and gave them a taste. One tasted like bananas, and the other tasted like spicy bananas. Both were vile.
Bushmills is apparently a very Loyalist town
Since we didn't go to the bridge, and it was now a nice day, we went to see Dunluce Castle. It survived several raids in the 1600s, and then half of it fell into the sea during dinner one night.We didn't care to pay to go in (there's not much to see), but we got an excellent view from the road.
We drove by Coleraine, where Max's family came from a few hundred years ago, but there's nothing there to see
I just like the word "foodstuffs"
I read a thing that said the Sperrin Mountains were one of National Geographic's 101 most scenic drives in the world, and since it was another way to get back to Dublin, that's what we did. It wasn't as pretty as some of the drives we've been on, but it was quite pretty.
One of the things we decided to see was the An Creagan Visitor's Centre (and yes, my spelling was corrected on that) that tells about the Irish bogs. I knew that Ireland had bogs, but I didn't realize they cover most of the island. We went on a little bog walk. We jumped on part of the bog and made the whole area move. It was fun.
It was also cool because I had wondered why there were vast expanses of heather on parts of the island. Turns out, that's bog!
Not long after that, we crossed back into Ireland from Northern Ireland. The only indication was a sign saying that speed limits would be in km/h from now on instead of mph.
We had missed the sign telling us when we got into Northern Ireland on Monday, so Max kindly turned around, so I could have that sign, too.
.
Then we turned back around and headed towards Dublin. Our GPS was not happy .
Have you seen the movie "Circle of Friends"? In it, she says she's "beef to the heels like a Mullingar heifer." I didn't know what she was talking about until I was plannig this trip and saw a town called Mullingar. This sign is doubly cool, because it has Kells, of Book of Kells fame.
We went to the Hill of Tara, but it was closed when we got there. :( So, we just went on to Dublin to drop off the car at the airport.
When we got to the rental car place, we were going to have the shuttle take us back to the airport proper, so we could take the Dublin Coach to the hotel. The rental car guy said that it actually went to the LUAS (light rail) station across the freeway, and that it was much easier to get a cab. He said it would probably be about 25€, as opposed to the 15€ it would cost with the bus. Plus, we didn't know the schedule for the bus. So, OK, cab it was. We got to the hotel, and it was 40€! Crikey! I wasn't happy about that. Ah, well. We got checked in and we're good. Tomorrow, we start exploring Dublin!
Emma says - Driving through the Belfast neighborhoods freaked me out. I thought we were going to be killed. Giant's Causeway was really fun. All of the cool hexagons were there, and we got to climb on them. I loved the foam, too. I sat in the car while Mom and Dad went into Bushmills. Dunluce Castle was pretty. The bog visitor's center was cool, I didn't know much about bogs before. It was fun to jump on it and make it all move.
First, we went to Falls Rd, the major Catholic/Republican neighborhood
Then, we went to Shankill Rd, the major Protestant/Loyalist neighborhood
On our way out of town, we saw one of the peace walls, which are tall, fortified walls between parts of the neighborhoods. There has been talk of removing them, but it seems the people who live near them want to keep them.
 |
| What used to be (or maybe still is?) a gate between the neighborhoods |
 |
| The wall is covered with murals, too. |
On our way out of town, we saw lots more sectarian murals and flags.
Apart from the religious aspects, Belfast still reminds me of Baltimore
We passed Greencastle (There is a town names Greencastle not far from our MD house)
We saw another rainbow
We saw the sea (and the nasty storm clouds above us)
We saw a castle ruin on the side of the road
We got to Giant's Causeway, our first destination, at about 9:45. According to the guidebook, the visitor's center didn't open until 10. Visiting the causeway is free, but you have to pay for the visitor's center. We didn't need the visitor's center. But, things have changed. We had originally pulled into Parking 3, but after looking at the sign, we decided to drive to Parking 1, since it was closer to the entrance of the trails. You have to pay for Parking 1, and you have to pay to access the rocks from there, too. But, at least the center was open, and since we all had to use the restroom, we just decided to pay.
Then it was time for the walk. Rick Steves recommended taking the trail at the top of the cliffs and coming down by the Shepherd's Steps. So, we did. It was windy as all get out. According to the audio guide, it's the windiest place in Ireland.
Along the way, we saw the path from Parking 3. Had we stayed there, we could have gotten in for free. Ah, well, no bathrooms there. Plus, we would have had to walk back up the cliffs to get back to the car. No, thanks!
So, the legend of The Giant's Causeway is that the giant Finn McCool built it to get to Scotland, so he wouldn't have to get his feet wet. He also had a house here. A music lover, he had an organ
Coming from the Shepherd's Steps, you come up on the Causeway from the back
This is Finn's shoe
This place is so amazing, we just spent a lot of time taking pictures.
 |
| There was so much sea foam. The waves kept washing up under the foam, making it pulsate |
 |
| Emma being mopey Harry Potter |
 |
| Even the sea in Ireland has a good head. |
Then, it started pouring, so we caught the little bus back up to the visitor's center
We were originally going to go to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, too, but since it was pouring, Em decided it wasn't safe. So, we had some lunch and went straight to Max's pick of the day - the Bushmills Distillery.
No pictures allowed in the tour, but we got one at the tasting at the end. Since one of the whiskies was technically mine, I stuck my fingers in them and gave them a taste. One tasted like bananas, and the other tasted like spicy bananas. Both were vile.
Bushmills is apparently a very Loyalist town
Since we didn't go to the bridge, and it was now a nice day, we went to see Dunluce Castle. It survived several raids in the 1600s, and then half of it fell into the sea during dinner one night.We didn't care to pay to go in (there's not much to see), but we got an excellent view from the road.
We drove by Coleraine, where Max's family came from a few hundred years ago, but there's nothing there to see
I just like the word "foodstuffs"
I read a thing that said the Sperrin Mountains were one of National Geographic's 101 most scenic drives in the world, and since it was another way to get back to Dublin, that's what we did. It wasn't as pretty as some of the drives we've been on, but it was quite pretty.
One of the things we decided to see was the An Creagan Visitor's Centre (and yes, my spelling was corrected on that) that tells about the Irish bogs. I knew that Ireland had bogs, but I didn't realize they cover most of the island. We went on a little bog walk. We jumped on part of the bog and made the whole area move. It was fun.
It was also cool because I had wondered why there were vast expanses of heather on parts of the island. Turns out, that's bog!
Not long after that, we crossed back into Ireland from Northern Ireland. The only indication was a sign saying that speed limits would be in km/h from now on instead of mph.
We had missed the sign telling us when we got into Northern Ireland on Monday, so Max kindly turned around, so I could have that sign, too.
Then we turned back around and headed towards Dublin. Our GPS was not happy .
Have you seen the movie "Circle of Friends"? In it, she says she's "beef to the heels like a Mullingar heifer." I didn't know what she was talking about until I was plannig this trip and saw a town called Mullingar. This sign is doubly cool, because it has Kells, of Book of Kells fame.
We went to the Hill of Tara, but it was closed when we got there. :( So, we just went on to Dublin to drop off the car at the airport.
 |
| A Mario star! |
When we got to the rental car place, we were going to have the shuttle take us back to the airport proper, so we could take the Dublin Coach to the hotel. The rental car guy said that it actually went to the LUAS (light rail) station across the freeway, and that it was much easier to get a cab. He said it would probably be about 25€, as opposed to the 15€ it would cost with the bus. Plus, we didn't know the schedule for the bus. So, OK, cab it was. We got to the hotel, and it was 40€! Crikey! I wasn't happy about that. Ah, well. We got checked in and we're good. Tomorrow, we start exploring Dublin!
Emma says - Driving through the Belfast neighborhoods freaked me out. I thought we were going to be killed. Giant's Causeway was really fun. All of the cool hexagons were there, and we got to climb on them. I loved the foam, too. I sat in the car while Mom and Dad went into Bushmills. Dunluce Castle was pretty. The bog visitor's center was cool, I didn't know much about bogs before. It was fun to jump on it and make it all move.
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