There is only one word for Northern Ireland, STUNNING!!!!! I wanted to permanently roost there! Belfast was your typical big city, full of dirty streets and overpriced cafes. However, just a half hour's bus ride north will take you into stunning landscapes and scenes straight out of Tolkien's novels. Our first stop was the Giant's Causeway. I had never seen a place quite like it. There were many people, but thankfully the place is so large that it did not matter. It is said that giants of yore built it was a land bridge between Scotland and Ireland, but it was afterwards swallowed up by the sea. On a clear day, you can see the coast of Scotland from here. I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. We took many pictures there, shown below. After a brief lunch at the Giant's Causeway restaurant (which was good, yet expensive), we got back on the bus to the Carrick a Rede rope bridge. I was stunned by how blue the water was here! It was much more reminiscent of the Caribbean than one would think of Ireland! The hike to the bridge was abit long and cold, but it was well worth the effort. If you are afraid of heights, I would not suggest going across the bridge. It is very high up and usually windy. I am not afraid of heights, but I was still alittle scared going across. After making it back across the bridge, we went to their cafe for a quick coffee and hot chocolate to warm up before reboarding the bus to our next destination. Our next destination was the Dark Hedges from Game of Thrones. Honestly, if I were not a Game of Thrones fan, I still would have loved this, given that I adore trees. I have rarely seen more beautiful trees, and the fact that they were in the middle of nowhere was very appealing! It was then time to return to Belfast. Although Dan, Tootsie, and I were exhausted after a long day, I could not have been happier with our tour. We fell asleep the minute we got back to our hotel. I don't think we even ate dinner!
0 Comments
After a rather long bus ride from Dublin, we arrived at Belfast late in the evening. We only saw a small piece of Belfast that night, but at no time did we feel unsafe. It was about a 20 minute walk from the bus station to our hotel, the Ibis in the Queen's Quarter. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. The room was small, yet nice. We had a hard time figuring out how the lights work, but the hotel staff were quick to help us after a simple call. The bed was harder than I care for, but we were so exhausted at that point that we fell asleep almost immediately. The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel's buffet. It was very good, albeit alittle pricey. We took care to try everything, as, being Americans, we were unused to an Irish breakfast. Dan found he really loved black pudding (believe me, its not pudding) and rashers (a kind of ham, bacon sort of food). Tootsie didn't turn his nose up to the hot chocolate either. After breakfast, it was time to board our bus on Giant's Causeway and Game of Thrones tour!
Ireland was right out of a fairy tale. It was easily the most stunning, green place I've ever seen! From the moment we arrived, I was so happy, bordering on euphoric! This is the story of Dan, Tootsie, and I's travels through this amazing country! We will definitely be back! Dan, Tootsie, and I flew out of Baltimore (BWI) and had a short layover in Newark, NJ before making our way to Dublin, Ireland. It was a long, six and a half hour flight. When we got there, the customs line to get in Ireland was very long, and we did not even go during peak season! I'd say it took at least 45 minutes just to clear customs. When we were finally out, we let loose in Dublin. I am not a big fan of cities, being a country bumpkin, but Dublin was special! It had a friendly, clean vibe, especially for a city! The first thing we did was find a very tired Dan a coffee shop. It was also my first lesson in trip planning. Give yourself a day or two's rest before adventuring! But since I had learned that lesson after the fact, there were shenanigans to be had in Dublin before resting! We went to the National Archaeology Museum to see the gold cross commissioned by one of my 8x great grandfathers for the church. Of course, his name was on it so he could say, "Look at my wonderful donation to the church!" We also saw a poor man who was a bog mummy and many wondrous pieces of gold art made by the Celts. www.museum.ie/Archaeology After grabbing some breakfast, we set out to explore Dublin more. There was a particular church I wanted to see, because, according to my research, I had ancestors buried there. I got Dan, Tootsie, and I gloriously lost in Dublin, even with a GPS, but thankfully, the people of Ireland were kind. When we started to look even just a little lost, a young man came up and gave us directions. We didn't even have to ask! That does not happen in the U.S.! After following the man's directions, we came upon the Christ Church Cathedral, but sadly, none of the guides had ever heard of my ancestors being buried there. Of course, they were buried there in the 1100s (if they are there at all), so records may have been lost or destroyed. I suppose I will never know if they are there. It was a beautiful church though. After grabbing a quick lunch, we wandered through some shops along the funky part of town. Then, we boarded a bus to take us back to the airport terminal. We were plenty early, as our bus to Belfast wasn't set to leave for another hour or so. However, when we got there, we saw another bus to Belfast just about to leave! We were so tired that we elected to take that bus instead, so as to get to our hotel earlier. They graciously let us on early with our prebought ticket. Unfortunately for Dan, there was no restroom on the bus and no time to go before the bus left. It was an uncomfortable 2 and a half hour ride to Belfast for him! But more on Belfast next time!
|
Archives
September 2019
Categories |