Today, my husband K, daughter J and I had to get up insanely early- 5:15. It's because, back home, we signed up for a bus trip with Finn McCool Tours to the last piece of the United Kingdom- Northern Ireland. I never particularly wanted to go there, but the Giant's Causeway is worth seeing and K and J convinced me that we might as well choose the tour that stops in Belfast. Sigh. Fine. It completes the UK constituent part capitals.
We quickly dressed and ate the muffins we'd bought last night. We'd asked the desk to order a taxi for us for 6:10. At 6, they called to say it was here. We got the rest of our things together and hurried down into a cloudy, grey morning of 59°. We were in the cab at 6:06.
He had us to the meeting point on Hugh Lane at 6:10. I paid him €12,20 and we got out to wait with others in the chilly air. In that air, the buses seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to arrive. But, at 6:25, we were on the one for Giant's Causeway and Belfast, as others headed to buses for other tours.
At 6:41, we were on our way and I was able to start collecting photos of Dublin's famous doors.
Brian was our driver and we'd soon learn he was from Belfast. Noel, the guide, was actually South African. He told us that Dublin means "black pool" in Gaelic, because the River Liffey is dark.
At 7:49, we were already in Northern Ireland, when I took this photo from the Ring of Gullion AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).
I dozed for a while and when I awoke, we were making a pit stop and had the chance to buy food for lunch. J and I hurried off and made a beeline for the rest rooms first. When J and I came out, K was working on food. He'd been thwarted by the line in one area and was now looking at getting pre-made sandwiches. We picked three plus drinks. I stayed in line to pay the Ł14.26 (back in the land of the pound), while K went to the rest room. We all were on the bus by 8:42, three minutes early. We'd save the food for later.
We went onward at 8:47, and just 15 minutes later, Noel was pointing out the mountainside, where you could see the giant Finn McCool's face looking skyward. Finn was a legendary figure and one of his feats was creating the Giant's Causeway. And, of course, the tour company is named for him.
At 10:08, we got to see Finn McCool again, this time in the side of a cliff (his nose is quite obvious) and then his foot down at the waterline.
At 10:10, we stopped for a photo op at Magheracross viewpoint. First off, off in the hazy distance, we could see Scotland.
Then, to our far left was a promontory that was Ireland, not Northern Ireland. Three countries in one viewpoint
Farther along the coast to the east, we could see the ruins of the medieval Dunluce Castle. What a view they'd had!
We all piled back in the bus and drove a couple of minutes down the road to see the castle from another angle, arriving at 10:22. Can't imagine how they built it right on the edge of the cliff.
At 10:30, we were on the road again and were soon passing through Bushmills. The town wanted everyone to know they were loyalists and hung the Union Jack prominently. Evidently, that's a thing up here in Northern Ireland.
We arrived at the upper part of the park around 10:40. There was an expensive museum that Noel did not recommend. He pointed out an inn, where there was a restroom. I couldn't help notice the very British phone booth and mailbox.
We walked through a large tunnel to reach the access road to the causeway. The only vehicles allowed on the causeway were the buses that ferried people up and down. We decided to walk down and started our trek about 10:52. I knew I would not be walking back up.
We had such lovely views on the way down. I was interested to notice that the water did not crash upon the shore the way it usually does in rough areas. There wasn't even much in the way of waves.
We were at the bottom just after 11 and we reached the first area where people were about 8 minutes later. The chimneys in question on the side of this bench were up on the cliff at the far side of the bay. They were not smoking. They are just below the second step (counting the top as a step) in this photo.
The are was just so beautiful in a rugged way, but the sun was also having fun.
Looking back from whence we'd come made it look a lot longer than it had been.
Thanks to my photo program, I can keep the privacy of folks who were there by removing them from the photos. Otherwise, you'd see quite a crowd.
The formation had an interesting natural break that was called the Giant's Gate. This let you get from one side to the other without climbing. The columns were much taller here.
We were closer to the chimneys here, but did not have enough time to hike out to them.
We went back through the gate to the other side. I decided I just had to walk out on the path that the rocks made here along the wall of columns. J was in charge of photographing me out there and I had my phone for photos, when safe. I'll admit that as I went along hugging the wall, I did question the wisdom of it. I have a bad knee and my feet have been giving me trouble. But, I knew that if I didn't do this, I'd regret it forever. I fully intended to walk all the way out to the point. However, I soon came to a spot where there was a break in the path. I'd have to climb down to a point that would be impossible for me to climb back up from due to the depth to the rocks. But, I'd gotten pretty far and I was the only one of us to do it. The lady in pink in the first picture was beyond the break. The fourth is the break
I knew going out on this formation was not a good idea with the limited time we had.
At 11:45, we were finished looking around. K decided he needed to stretch his legs and headed up the hill. J and I got in what turned out to be a sizable line relative to the size of the mini bus that came. However, they were not as far apart as we'd been told and we were on one at 11:55. J paid the Ł2 fare. It took the bus two minutes to fill and only 3 to get to the top. As we got off at noon, K was just finishing his climb.
We took advantage of the restroom on the outside of the inn before getting on the bus. I also got a photo of sheep grazing nearby.
We were on the bus at 12:19 and it left soon after. And, just 14 minutes later, we wee at White Park Bay Viewpoint. It really was a lovely view and the water is the Atlantic, according to a sign that tells you what you are looking at. Noel told us that Game of Thrones had used the rocks down on the beach for something. We were very surprised to see cattle down on the beach.
It was only about a 5 minute stop. Then, we were on our way and driving through the town of Ballycastle. Houses here were much smaller than at home.
The road went incredibly close to the coast and I had quite the view down into Ballintoy Harbor.
Our next stop was at 12:43 at the viewpoint at Portaneevey. From here, we had a view of the rope bridge discussed below. I was glad we were way up there and no one could try to convince me to cross that bridge.
We also had a nice view of Rathlin Island, as well as one down the coast. The latter struck me as lovely and vaguely wild.
When we turned to go back to the bus, we saw that on the hillside above all the buses there were sheep just peacefully grazing. So Ireland, the island that is.
James Stuart built Gracehill House in c.1775 and named it after his wife, Grace Lynd. The house was originally surrounded by a large estate which has recently been developed into a golf course and popular restaurant. The former entrance to the estate is now a public road lined with beech trees and is a popular tourist attraction known as ‘the Dark Hedges’.
The estate has a royal heritage dating back to the early 17th century. James I granted the land to a cousin who drowned on his way to Ireland before he could take possession of his new home. The estate then passed to his grandson, William Stuart, and remained in the Stuart family for many generations.
As I said, we were not here for the house. We were here for the tourist attraction. The Stuart family had planted 200 beeches to impress visitors who came to the house from the front of it. I daresay the house was a disappointment after that avenue of trees. Anyway, "Dark Hedges" was used in Game of Thrones.It is incredibly hard to take a picture without faces of people. For whatever reason, K chose not to walk very far up the lane, but J and I did and got a nice selfie.
We did not waste time coming back, because we wanted to take advantage of the restroom in that coffee shop.
Since our bus driver Brian was from Belfast and had lived there during the troubles. we were offered a drive around the area of that strife with commentary from him. The whole bus sensed a great opportunity and agreed to it.
It should be noted that things have been basically peaceful there of late and that it was offered to the residents to take down the barriers. They decided to leave the Peace Walls up to maintain the peace.
We started out in the Protestant area that centers around Shankill Road. At first, if you didn't look too closely at the houses, they looked like simple row houses. But, pay more attention, and you'll often spy a Union Jack or a garland of them. Sometimes, you'll see a "white flag red cross red hand", which is a red cross on a white field with a six-pointed white star with a red hand in the center and a gold crown above it. This is the Ulster Banner, which is the unofficial Ulster Flag or Flag of Northern Ireland. A sign about closed-circuit television would be a simple security warning elsewhere, but not here.
Murals were a big thing in both the Protestant and Catholic areas. I took the photo on the left, but found a shot without scaffolding online. They really want you to know they are loyal to the UK. The fancy circle celebrates King Charles's coronation.
There were others, beautifully executed. Many commemorated victims of the violence.
Then, Brian drove us along the Peace Wall that stands between Shankill Road and Falls Road. The Falls Road area is the Irish republican or nationalist Catholic area. The wall used to be covered with graffiti. This has been replaced with elaborate paintings. This first photo is of a portion of the wall that celebrates Frederick Douglass -his portrait is just cut off. ("Sister Rosa" is Rosa Parks.) The second shows solidarity with the Palestinians. There were quite a few in solidarity with them.
Some paintings celebrate the Irish Republican Army, while others harken back as far as the Spanish Civil War, and still others celebrate Nelson Mandela.
Brian was Protestant. He told of a childhood of being careful about which group you hung out with. You could play on a soccer team with Catholics, but you'd never bring them home. Be that as it may, he fell in love with a Catholic girl. As soon as they married, they moved to England, where they lived for many years. They moved back in with his mother in the past few years. He told us that you are still careful about who you hang out with and who you tell your story to.
He then drove us to Belfast City Hall and parked next to it at 3:30 to let us out. After asking Noel where we could buy a postcard, K, J, and I went to explore the city hall, which as big and fancy as some of the state capitols we'd visited earlier this summer.
On the other side of the fence from where we'd been let off was a big elaborate memorial to Frederick Temple. In part, it says:
To the illustrious memory of
Frederick Temple
1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava KP.
1826 - 1902
Governor-General of Canada
Viceroy of India
Ambassador at St Petersburg
Constantinople Rome and Paris
H.M.Lieutenant of the County of Down
and Freeman of the City of Belfast
Going around the corner toward the entrance, we passed the Belfast Cenotaph honoring war dead. It is reminiscent of others we've seen in the UK.
On the first floor, heading to the left, we found a series of beautiful commemorative stained glass windows. The first honored the fighters of World War I. The second was a nod to the North Irish Horse, a yeoman brigade that fought in WWII. That was followed by a window commemorating the 1907 Dockers' strike. Next was what was called The Famine Window, but, as you can see, it honors those who died of typhus and cholera. And the final window honors Belfast's City Hall's centenary. It is really something.
Beyond a set of double doors, there were exhibition rooms, which covered many aspects of the city and some of her famous sons and daughters.
We learned that cotton brought steam engines and the Industrial Revolution to Belfast. England proved too much competition eventually for cotton-weaving and linen-weaving grew until the largest linen spinning factory was here.
The city is known for shipping and ship building, which, of course, reminds one that the Titanic was built here. Even though a museum about it is not far from city hall, there is an exhibit here.
Like many industrial cities, Belfast has seen a decline in heavy industry. But, fun fact, the DeLorean was made here.
When the exhibits turned to famous people from Belfast, I'll admit that I concentrated on those I'd heard of. We did want to get out and see a bit. K and I have seen Galway perform, by the way.
We made use of the restrooms and I bought a couple of postcards at the desk, before we went outside at 3:50. I found it tricky to be able to angle a photo of the front to get in "Belfast".
There was a large gate in the fence around the building and at the top there was a nice simple version of the coat of arms of the city. On the fence, there was a more elaborate one, complete with paint.
We went across the street to the store that Noel had pointed out. They had the usual stuff and I got postcards, but they also had this funny shirt.
We headed down the street, because Noel had said there was a mall farther down it. Along the way, we took note of our surroundings. We were not shocked to see McDonald's and Skechers. In fact, on our way back down the street, K would duck in McD for a coffee. However, he was unsuccessful, because it was too crowded, they wanted you to order at the kiosk, and it was had to pay in cash.
We never did see a mall and we made it all the way to 88 Royal Avenue and the very art deco Bank of Ireland building. Evidently, we did not realize that Castle Court was the mall in question and we walked right by it. It was just as well, because we saw the bank at 4:31 and we were due back at 4:50.
We'd seen art deco and now, looking down High Street, we saw the Castle Buildings, which was built in 1905 with an art nouveau frieze at the top. The building now has apartments.
We made it to the bus at 4:44. It was mostly sunny and 75.2°. We were on the road back to Dublin at 4:51. On our way out of Belfast, we saw the sculpture RISE by Wolfgang Buttress, which the locals call "Balls of the Falls", among other things.
I didn't need to visit Belfast. My family is from the part that became the republic. But, I'm glad we saw it and learned a bit of the first hand experience of living there during the Troubles.
As we came into the city center of Dublin, we drove down the road that runs by the port. This was our first chance to see what looked like a typical busy port.
At 7:05, we were conveniently left off outside the store with the Finn McCool Tours desk. We tipped the guys a total of €20 and went in to look at the store. Outside, was this great Oscar Wilde quote on a light post.
The place was crowded, but there were three seats together at the counter just below the bar level. Seriously, it was not the bar itself. J ordered Sprite, while I got a 1/2 pint of Bullmer's Cider and K got one pint of the house-made Jack Smyth Red Ale.
While the menu does have other things, we concentrated on boxty, which a helpful chalkboard explained was a traditional Irish pancake (bacstí or Aran bocht ti). It is made from grated potato added to flour. We chose the Gallagher's Boxty Platter for €26, of course: Crispy Boxty Fries, Garlic & Rocket Aioli; Toasted Boxty Loaf, Tomato & Coriander Salsa, Roast Ham Salad; Boxty Pancake, Bacon Lardons, A Cashel Blue Cheese Sauce; and Boxty Dumplings, Sweet Chilli & Honey Sauce.
Our second entree cost €29 and was Lamb Boxty: Irish Lamb, Carrots, Leeks, Cumin. Boxty Pancake, Mint & Cucumber Yoghurt.
All were delicious. We could not, however, pass up dessert. We got the Apple and Cinnamon Boxty (Home made Boxty Pancake with Hot Apple, Cinnamon filling and Home-Made Custard and Vanilla Ice Cream for €8.50) and Bread & Butter Pudding (Glazed Bread & Butter Pudding with Home-Made Custard and Vanilla Ice Cream for €8.50). They were a great finish to a wonderful meal.
When we left at 8:45, we headed for the north side of the river. This took us right by The Custom House and this impressive building on Custom House Quay.
On the other side of the river, on City Quay, we saw another building lit up in green, but also the light sculpture near the river.
When we reached the CHQ building, we could see just how close to our hotel it really is.
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