Adventures in the North

Hi Everyone!

So, as promised, a post with pictures!

On Wednesday, I went up to the northern coast to see some of the natural beauty of this country. I took one of those one-day tours where they drop you off at various points and then tell you to be back by a certain time before you move on to the next sight. We had a bunch of 10-minute stops at castles, etc., but the main two sights were the Giant's Causeway, which is a World Heritage Sight, and Carrick-a-rede, which is where there's a famous rope bridge (no, thank you). So, as they guided me, I will guide you. I will save you from having to watch a DVD of Michael Flatley's (of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance fame) new show. Instead, listen to these songs by Kate Rusby, which is what I listened to most of the way (trying to drown out Michael Flatley):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyFc-pbcO94
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBAq1gHU7L0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HHLj8rKrZ8

The first few stops before the Giant's Causeway were rather insignificant, except for Carrickfergus Castle, which was the landing place of King William III of Orange (aka he ruled over Holland). He's a short little dude, and kind of looks like Captain Hook. I took a picture of him just for you, Mom.

We then took the most beautiful drive along the coast, and a little inland. The scenery was exactly what you imagine the Irish scenery to look like. It was, from minute-to-minute, gorgeously sunny and then grey and rainy, giving a full range of atmosphere (excuse the reflections off the bus windows).

Then we made it to the Giant's Causeway. After a cheap and kind of gross meal at the hotel, I went off on my own, walking along the road at the top of the cliffs, then down some stairs and around near the sea to take a look at the actual Causeway.

The most popular myth behind the Causeway is this: A giant from Ireland decided to build a causeway to Scotland so he could fight his Scottish counterpart. When the Scottish giant came across the causeway to fight, the Irish giant saw how huge he was and asked his wife to disguise him as a baby. When the Scottish giant saw how huge the baby was, he could only imagine how enormous it's dad would be, and he ran back to Scotland, tearing up the causeway behind him. Scotland really is not that far away -- you can see it from the coast.

What makes the Causeway so special is its strange rock formation -- columns of hexagonal rock next to each other that create stepping stones. They were created in real life not by giants, but by volcanic activity along the coast. They're really quite beautiful:
I have many more pictures, but Blogger's photo upload kind of sucks, so if you want to see more, just ask!

Then we went to that rope bridge. I am NOT a rope bridge fan, so I asked the bus driver if there was anything else to do in the area. He suggested that I take a walk on a path along the cliffs. I think that was the main highight of the afternoon -- I was all alone on this tremendously beautiful path, with green fields to the left and the sea to the right.

There were cows:
Proof I was with the cows (not a great picture of me or the cows, but you needed proof):

As I walked back, it started to rain. So it rains almost every day here, but it's a nice rain, very gentle. So if you have a rain coat and a fleece and good walking shoes (like I did), you're totally fine, and it actually enhances the experience. And, because it was sunny AND raining, I saw a huge full arc rainbow going off into the sea. SO beautiful (by the way, that may be Scotland in the background, though also possibly not):

And then we headed back to bonny Belfast. Whewf. OK, I'm off to the library. Need to catch up on those emails!

Hope you're all well, and have a great weekend!

Sarah