Weekend in Northern Ireland and Dublin

This past weekend I spent traveling to Northern Ireland and Dublin. Being that it was so far away, we spent 2 nights away instead of just 1. Our first leg of the trip was a 30 min flight from Cork to Dublin. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was actually cheaper to fly than take the bus on this day and it got us there 100x faster. And since we were going all the way up to Northern Ireland, we needed any extra time we could get. Our plane left at 7:30 on Friday, so we had the taxi pick us up around 5:30, which entailed me walking 15 mins over to Danielle’s apartment.  I wasn’t really expecting this to be an eventful walk at 5 oclock in the morning, but little did I know that I would run into a fox in the middle of the city! At first I thought it was a cat, but then decided it was way to large for a cat. But the fox was not in the least bit scared of me and just kept continuing walking on the sidewalk right by me. I had to move into the street so it could pass me. If I had wanted to turn my back to it or if I didn’t think I would be late, I would have gotten out my camera to take a picture.  So I have no proof of this fox, but I promise you, it happened.

The flight was ok even though I was a little nervous to fly on this airline RyanAir, but it turned out to be just fine.  We then got on a bus to head up to Belfast which was about a 2.5 hours bus ride.  It was pretty miserable when we arrived in Belfast…very cold, dreary, and rainy.  We found our hostel which was only about a 10 min walk from the bus station. It was a really nice hostel which even had a café attached. We ate our packed lunches, and then we went on this Black Cab Tour. It was a tour that took us around and showed us different parts on Falls Road relating to the conflict between the Catholics and Protestants. We saw so many murals that were painted on buildings during this civil war and also got a chance to sign the Peace Wall.  If given the chance, I would actually like to take this tour again because I feel like I didn’t get much out of it the first time around. It was pouring rain, and I could never hear the cab driver over the rain and they were always directing their commentary towards one person and not projecting their voice to the group. So being cold and wet and not even being able to hear anything, I didn’t get a whole lot of the deal. I just kept thinking about getting back to the hostel and into warm, dry clothes.  I really didn’t know much about the conflict in Northern Ireland however and had no idea it was so violent there for so many years. Caitlin recapped afterwards for me what I should have learned on the tour! HaHa

There were 8 of us on this trip, so there were 4 of us in one room and 4 in the other.  After changing into dry, warm clothes, we all ended up taking a 3 hour nap!!! I guess we were all pretty tired from waking up at 4 am and traveling all day.  If I did nothing else on my birthday that day, that 3 hour nap was well worth it!  For those of you who maybe don’t know me as well, taking naps is one of my favorite things to do, and surprisingly I have only taken one other nap in Ireland since I have been here. You would think with all my free time, I would nap all the time, but I really don’t. So that 3 hour nap was sooo great!

We then ventured out to find a place to eat dinner and ended up going to a restaurant called Springsteen’s that was completely decked out in American décor! Pretty sad that that was the restaurant we chose, but it was large enough to accommodate a large group of people and was relatively cheap. We all shared a pitcher of Sex on the Beach and a pitcher of Fat Frog-not really sure what was in that drink but it was delicious! Since it was my birthday, I decided to splurge and ordered fajitas! And they were amazing! After dessert came out, Alanna and Margaret sang Happy Birthday to me…in Gaelic! They asked their teacher earlier in the week to teach it to them! They did a great job!

The next day was spent on a tour bus that took us to Dunluce Castle, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Giant’s Causeway, and Old Bushmills Distillery along the Antrium Coast which is a 20 mile stretch along the Northern coastal line of Ireland. I’m sure I have already said this previously, but my favorite thing about Ireland is how diverse it is. Everywhere I have been, it always looks like a completely different landscape and each one is so pretty in it’s own way. The Antrium Coast is definitely one of my favorites so far. It was absolutely gorgeous. 

Oh, and guess what?? I finally got to see a seal!!! I have been waiting to see one forever since I have been here, and I finally did on our tour. I couldn't always understand the tour guide, but I heard something that sounded like seal on the intercom of the bus, and I jumped out of my seat so fast to the other side of the bus to find it. He was the only seal just hanging out on a rock! I still would love to see a whole colony of seals, but I was definitely happy I saw one! 

Our first stop was at Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge which actually really wasn’t that scary. Although, my legs probably thought something different prior to walking across because they wouldn’t stop shaking. This rope bridge hangs 90 feet in the air  across a 65 foot opening between the mainland and a tiny island. This bridge was originally put into place by fisherman 200 years ago to get access to salmon nets that are caught during the summer months. It’s clearly not the original bridge that was first put into place, and it now mostly acts as a tourist attraction. Nonetheless, it offers great scenic views of the coast.

We then headed to Giant’s Causeway where we had 2.5 hours to each lunch and explore the area. Giant’s Causeway is a four mile long stretch along the coast line that is covered with hexagonal pillars that stick up at different heights. It was formed by volcanic eruptions more than 60 million years ago. The surface cooled rather quickly which caused the surface to crack into these hexagonal columns where some even look like steps leading into the sea. It is truly a unique geological landscape, and I wish we would have had more time to explore and walk around. This is now on my list of favorite things I have seen so far in Ireland. (There are only 3 World Heritage Sites in Ireland, with Giant’s Causeway being one of them. The other two are Newgrange Passage Tomb and Skellig Michael which I have also seen. Pretty cool that I can check all three of those off the list!)

Our next stop was the Old Bushmills Distillery . This is the world’s oldest distillery. We actually only stopped for like 20 minutes, so we didn’t get to do the tour or anything, so basically it was just a chance to drink as much whiskey as you wanted. Our tour guide told us the record was 5 whiskeys in 20 minutes. I didn’t get one, but I did try this old man’s Hot Totty which was hot whiskey with some cinnamon in it. I thought I would hate it, but it was actually pretty delicious!

Our last stop was a photo-op at Dunluce Castle. I am pretty much castled out, but this castle looked pretty neat because it is located right on the edge a cliff, so I’m a little bummed that we didn’t actually get to go in it.  After the castle, we headed back to Belfast and caught the next bus back to Dublin. The night we arrived in Dublin was the play-off game between Ireland and Italy for a spot in the World Cup. There was an additional 90,000 people in the city for this reason, so it was packed! I don’t really know the rules or follow sports much, but I guess Ireland and Italy tied which put Italy automatically into the World Cup, and I guess Ireland still has a shot in another playoff game (or something to that extent…)

We ended up being in an 8 bed room at the hostel which was nice so we all got to be together. We didn’t get into Dublin till after 11, so a couple of us went out, but the rest decided to just get to bed after the long day.  The following day was spent walking around Dublin and shopping. Honestly, one day is enough in Dublin. I don’t really think there is really too much to do in that city, and it’s not all that pretty.  I usually love cities, but Dublin is definitely not one of my favorites. Cork is much better J  We had lunch at the Hard Rock Café, and then ended our day at the Guinness Factory.  I was expecting to walk around an actual factory and see the beer being made, but maybe that’s really not how brewery tours work…I don’t really know-I had never been to one before. It basically felt like just a visitor center/museum where you walk around and read about the making of Guinness. So it ended up being sort of boring. The tour ends with your free pint of Guinness which most of us don’t even like. We got them anyway for picture purposes (haha), and then gave them away to other Guinness enthusiasts. I did give it another try, but I definitely do not like it!  The bar at the top where we got our free pints which was called Gravity Bar, did offer a 360 degree view of the city though which was pretty cool.

We left Dublin around 6 oclock and made it back to Cork around 9:30. It was a looooong weekend, but I’m glad we went. Northern Ireland is definitely worth a visit or two.

Enjoy the pictures!

on the black cab tour

Peace Wall between the Catholics and Protestants

me signing the wall

murals are painted all over this city with so many people's points of views

another mural

group pic on the tour 

at dinner-Lura (Danielle's visiting friend), Danielle, Kacie, and Keenie

other side of the table- Alanna, Margaret, me, and Caitlin

not great pictures cause they were out the bus window

here is the rope bridge we crossed over

closer look at the bridge 

Alanna and Margaret on the bridge- someone else got a picture of me with their camera crossing, so i'll post that later

looking down over the bridge 

I'm getting better at these shots...

Caitlin and I at the rope bridge 

cave maybe

Danielle at Giant's Causeway

isn't that just so cool?

Giant's Causeway

group pic at Giant's Causeway

Old Bushmills Distillery

Dunluce Castle 

Caitlin, Danielle, and Kacie in some garden in Dublin

at the Gravity bar in the Guinness Factory