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| Giant's Causeway |
The journey from Doolin to Belfast was probably the most complex part of the entire trip going from Doolin to Galway, Galway to Dublin Airport, and Dublin Airport to Belfast, taking about eight hours. We made it though! It was a long day of sitting, but what was interesting was that upon entering Northern Ireland there was an explosion of Union Jacks so you knew you were no longer in the Republic of Ireland but rather Northern Ireland, still part of the UK. Even some curbs in Belfast were painted red, white, and blue.
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| Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge |
The next day we bought tickets for a coach tour that would show us the North coast: Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, Giant's Causeway, and Bushmills Distillery. We drove there along the Causeway Coast and the scenery was stunning. It was such a nice day we were able to see Scotland across the sea. I personally am not a fan of tour buses because you are confined to a schedule which makes the whole trip feel rushed, but we did see a lot. The rope bridge was fun to cross, very bouncy, and I feel like there should be more rope bridges in the world, not necessarily as high, but just to add more spring to a person's step. Giant's Causeway is just a very strange area and makes you wonder how it's a natural phenomenon. Hexagonal columns just don't seem like they would be naturally occurring. The stop at Bushmills Distillery was just a stop at the gift shop. We got back to Belfast and saw City Hall and other such places.
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| Titanic dry dock |
Thursday we walked to the Titanic Quarter where we went to the Titanic Museum, and I thought it was really well put together and very informative. So, this thought occurred to me: Why is Belfast so proud of a ship associated with such tragedy? The answer is that nothing was wrong with the Titanic when it was built - it's the fact that an Englishman was captain that was the problem... There are shirts that say "Titanic: Built by Irishmen, Sunk by an Englishman." So that's that. After the museum we went to the Titanic dock and pump house, which is literally located in the boonies. Seriously, it's in the middle of nowhere. An industrial wasteland. From the pictures at the museum though it looked to be a happening place back in the day. In all, the dry dock was neat to see because you start to realize just how massive this ship was.
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| Irish Sea |
We took a bus to Dublin after lunch in Belfast, via Dublin airport again. On the way to Dublin immigration stopped the bus to check everyone's IDs and passports - so always have your passport on you when you are traveling I suppose. You never know what will happen.
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| Beacon of Hope sculpture in Belfast |
In Dublin we went on the Historic Walking Tour, which I thought was a waste, personally. It seemed as though we were just walking to random slummy areas lacking any direct historical significance, forcing the "historical" aspect of the tour. At Trinity College I saw the Book of Kells, which had a completely overpriced admission fee of 9 euros, but it was interesting to see as the one page on display was very ornate. Yep, nine euros for one page and a bunch of background info. The library at the top though was exactly what you would expect a classic old library to be like. We visited the Dublin Botanic Gardens at some point, and they were nice. Very fragrant as well. Kind of a sketchy walk to get there, but there were interesting plants, and the size completely dwarfs DC's botanical garden. We did visit the Guinness Storehouse and did that tour where we learned that Guinness is composed of water, barley, and hops. I think it must be the hops I don't like. The Guinness Storehouse was also a very fragrant place. It was poorly designed though with regards to sign and text placement, and how they funneled people from section to section.
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| Ha'penny Bridge |
Sunday was the day of departure so I went with OBS to the airport where she got on her plane for the US and I took a bus to the Dublin port area where I boarded my ferry, the
Jonathan Swift (author of
Gulliver's Travels) which would take me to Holyhead in Wales.
The journey from Doolin to Belfast was probably the most complex part of the entire trip going from Doolin to Galway, Galway to Dublin Airport, and Dublin Airport to Belfast, taking about eight hours. We made it though! It was a long day of sitting, but what was interesting was that upon entering Northern Ireland there was an explosion of Union Jacks so you knew you were no longer in the Republic of Ireland but rather Northern Ireland, still part of the UK. Even some curbs in Belfast were painted red, white, and blue.
In Dublin we went on the Historic Walking Tour, which I thought was a waste, personally. It seemed as though we were just walking to random slummy areas lacking any direct historical significance, forcing the "historical" aspect of the tour. At Trinity College I saw the Book of Kells, which had a completely overpriced admission fee of 9 euros, but it was interesting to see as the one page on display was very ornate. Yep, nine euros for one page and a bunch of background info. The library at the top though was exactly what you would expect a classic old library to be like. We visited the Dublin Botanic Gardens at some point, and they were nice. Very fragrant as well. Kind of a sketchy walk to get there, but there were interesting plants, and the size completely dwarfs DC's botanical garden. We did visit the Guinness Storehouse and did that tour where we learned that Guinness is composed of water, barley, and hops. I think it must be the hops I don't like. The Guinness Storehouse was also a very fragrant place. It was poorly designed though with regards to sign and text placement, and how they funneled people from section to section.
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