Northern Ireland wrapup

So it is thursday, I went to 2/3 of my classes for the day (9am didn't happen). This weekend is the October Bank holiday, so nobody will be here. Normally kids leave on Friday, but the mass exodus has already begun. I'm done 'till Tuesday, and loving it.

I'm fully recovered from last weekend's trip. Social Policy essay is in, SILS assignment is in, and I did pretty well on my econ exam (no lower than 85%, and I think 40% is passing. That translates roughly to 1/2 of the marks I need to pass my entire econ class. So it is all for the best, and I wouldn't have traded that trip for anything.

We started in Dublin at about 11, had a beer in The Temple Bar. We walked a little southwest to St. Patrick's Church... passing Christchurch along the way. Elena wanted to see it. The church isn't that impressive from the outside (Christchurch is amazing on the outside), but the interior was amazing. We even happened to be in there when a boys choir started a concert, so we got to hear the organ and how voices filled the church... in addition to seeing all of the stained glass and tattered flags. Well worth the price of admission.


We then struck out north on the M50. Thankfully, John was driving so I could just chill in the back. We sped up the coast, stopping to see a perfectly intact Norman castle, which was just kinda weird. It wasn’t like the ruins you see of castles at all. These walls were in perfect condition. Even now, it is awe-inspiring that people could really construct that sort of thing right on the edge of the coast (the water was beating against the walls).

We kept going north, making a stop in Armagh. Apparently, C.S. Lewis got his inspiration for Narnia from the adjacent forest. It was a little rainy to get out and walk around the forest, so we drove into town and made our way to a big church on the absolute highest point of the highest hill on town. I don’t remember being that impressed with a church… even in Italy. Aside from the flat screen tv’s that would show the people in back what was going on around the alter, everything was pretty old. There were paintings on the ceilings and archways still in amazing shape. Really cool to see something that old that you know is still in full use.

The next day, we wanted to hit the north coast of Northern Ireland, so we decided to stay in Belfast. We figured, “surely there is a place to stay in a big city.” What a shithole. There is construction everywhere, industrial buildings are everywhere. Nothing really “looks” nice. In our driving around trying to find places, we mistakenly drove into a neighborhood with about 4 other cars. This neighborhood was so bad that all 5 cars stopped. U turned in the middle of the road, and went back exactly the way we came in unison. I can say that I’ve been to Belfast, and I’m guess I’m happy for that, but I don’t need to go again. On the upside, I’ve now been in a bar that used to be a church the people seemed really nice. The B&B proprietor was also a lot of fun… slagging on us just as much as we were on each other. However, in the morning, we were all of one mind. “Get me the hell out of Belfast.”

The next day was amazing. We started by driving to Torr Head, which is the edge of Ireland closest to Scotland. The whole area is really hilly and the roads are none too good. But we made the best of it in our shitty rental. 100km/hr on roads where getting 2 cars to pass each other would have been a significant challenge. Two highlights: while driving up beside a beautiful hill that dropped to the ocean, John says, “Hey look… the ocean is sideways.” Funny to me since we were really at about a 45 degree angle. That was before we had to give the brakes a rest because they smelled like burning. They actually never smelled right for the rest of the weekend. The other highlight was fishtailing the car at 80km/hr+ on a road where passing would have been impossible. John can drive, and he made it fun. Adrenaline, baby.

Next was a rope bridge, the Giant’s Causeway, and some more castle ruins. Giant’s Causeway is really weird. The area isn’t too big, but the fact that it is completely natural is mind boggling. It is in the middle of F’ing nowhere, N. Ireland, but cool.

Oh, I forgot to mention that there is no more border b/t Ireland and N. Ireland anymore. We were 30 minutes in before we noticed a gas station with prices in sterling. We did, however, get stopped by the military/police for a license check in N. Ireland, which scared the shit out of all of us. No visible guns… the 3 neatly dressed cops in the middle of the intersection flagging everybody down. Unnerving.

After we got away from the tourist spots, it was time to head south. Through Bushmills. And what do you know, we made it JUST in time for the last tour of the distillery. The place wasn’t actually making whiskey, but the aroma was still in the air. And the best part is that I volunteered to taste several of their whiskeys at the end of the tour (basic Bushmills, Black Bush, and the 10 year Bushmills… as well as a scotch and American bourbon whiskey). The older, the better. Later I had a 12 year Bushmills taste, which definitely won being smooth. Black Bush has a lot of flavor, though. Anyway – as a result of this, I’m now a certified Irish Whiskey taster.

We ended up in Sligo for the night (thank goodness I knew a little bit of Irish geography, else we would have been in Galway for the night … showing up at 3am. The B&B was hard as hell to find… again going 100 on roads not meant to hold 2 cars (and with questionable paving). Walls on both sides. Thank goodness for that navigation system – it got us where we needed to go. We had a bit of trouble with one-ways in Sligo city, but the town was too small to really matter. And anyways, John would just roll down his window and say, “oh, no… it’s okay. This is just how I roll.” Proceed to slam the car in reverse, tear down the street backward until he could pull in somewhere to turn around.

The next day was dedicated to Galway (pretty town) and the Cliffs of Moher. We got to the cliffs at about 6 (sunset), and the office was closed. So we walked around the entrance building and up the paths to the cliffs. They actually didn’t want you to get too close to these cliffs, but everybody jumped the fences and walked to the edge. I was seriously at the edge taking pictures – slid on my stomach so that my hands could extend over the 700 foot drop to ocean. But to be honest, the cliffs on Inismore were just as impressive (maybe more so) and it was easier to get close. Plus the Aran Islands are just badass anyways. That is the 1 thing you should do if you have a day to spend in western Ireland.

Then we drove back in about 4 hours. Booking on the motorways at 130km/hr will get you from place to place in just the right amount of time.

I’m sure I’m leaving bits and pieces out, but I was trying to keep it short (1,200+ words isn’t really accomplishing that – that’s longer than any of my essays so far.. oh well).