Today was going to be a busy day. We were going to the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland and then hopefully be back in time for the Hurling Final between Kilkenny and Tipperary (go Tipperary!) We actually looked into getting tickets for the game but it was well and truly sold out. It’d be like trying to get tickets for a State of Origin game in Brisbane on the day of the game, not gonna happen. We were going for Tipperary because they were the underdogs and Kilkenny had won 5 years in a row. We had no idea what the rules were, though.
In the hope of getting back fairly early, we made a concerted effort to get up early and leave as soon as possible. We woke at 7am and were down at the breakfast room at 7:30am, unfortunately they hadn’t opened their doors yet so we waited in the lobby. Eventually at around 7:45am the doors opened and we woofed down breakfast and were on the road by around 8am. Along the way we were again in awe of the magnificent countryside, so beautiful. We also noticed the banners and flags of the teams in the Hurling Final, hanging down from overpasses. It was confusing at times driving from Ireland to Northern Ireland because the speed limit signs were in km/h in Ireland and mp/h in N. Ireland.
Now, this drive would normally take around 3 hours but again we got confused along the way. We took at least 3 wrong turns and ended up getting directions from a service station attendant in Belfast. We got to the Giants Causeway at around 12:30pm, more than 4 hours later. Love it.
Anyway, we had made it. The small town of Bushmills we drove through, only 3kms from the Giants Causeway, was beautiful, as was the rest of the landscape. We paid for parking and walked towards the tourist office. There was a courtesy bus waiting to take people down the rock formations but it didn’t look that far so we decided to walk down. It was a little longer than we thought but it was a very nice walk nonetheless. When we finally arrived at the National Nature Reserve we were really amazed to see how the rocks had a hexagonal shape to them.
They were formed around 50 million years ago due to volcanic activity and are very impressive. The legend behind the Giant’s Causeway is that a giant Irish warrior, Finn McCool, built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart, Benandonner. We spent a good 3 hours exploring the amazing formations, including the ‘Giant’s Boot’, which we had a photo taken in, before finally walking back up the hill the tourist centre.
We have found it impossible so far not to buy anything at souvenir shops and today was no exception. We bought an Ireland photo book and were back on the road to Dublin at about 2:45pm. We stopped off at a diner for lunch at around 3:30pm and had burgers and chips which really hit the spot. We could tell we were still in Northern Ireland because we had to pay in pounds not euro and it was raining. The Hurling Final had already started and we were still at least an hour from Dublin. We listened to a little of the game on the radio and really couldn’t tell what was going on but Tipperary won in the end. Yay!!
As the car drove into the city centre the Hurling Final was over and we saw hordes of people wearing their team colours walking to train and bus stations and also overflowing out of nearly ever pub we drove past. Everyone looked happy though, some more than others.
We got back to the carpark at around 5pm and it proved nearly impossible to get out with all of the people from the game getting to their cars. We walked straight to Dunne’s and bought some Baileys Irish Whiskey to share on our last night in Dublin. We’ve had a blast and would love to come back one day. At the hotel we ended up finishing off whatever we had including Pringles, cake, chocolate etc while we shared some Baileys. We only ended up having a couple and fell asleep while watching Transformers. It was another day and another country down. :( It’s going too quickly now.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-ev/collections/72157624677997272
In the hope of getting back fairly early, we made a concerted effort to get up early and leave as soon as possible. We woke at 7am and were down at the breakfast room at 7:30am, unfortunately they hadn’t opened their doors yet so we waited in the lobby. Eventually at around 7:45am the doors opened and we woofed down breakfast and were on the road by around 8am. Along the way we were again in awe of the magnificent countryside, so beautiful. We also noticed the banners and flags of the teams in the Hurling Final, hanging down from overpasses. It was confusing at times driving from Ireland to Northern Ireland because the speed limit signs were in km/h in Ireland and mp/h in N. Ireland.
 |
| Northern Ireland countryside |
Anyway, we had made it. The small town of Bushmills we drove through, only 3kms from the Giants Causeway, was beautiful, as was the rest of the landscape. We paid for parking and walked towards the tourist office. There was a courtesy bus waiting to take people down the rock formations but it didn’t look that far so we decided to walk down. It was a little longer than we thought but it was a very nice walk nonetheless. When we finally arrived at the National Nature Reserve we were really amazed to see how the rocks had a hexagonal shape to them.
They were formed around 50 million years ago due to volcanic activity and are very impressive. The legend behind the Giant’s Causeway is that a giant Irish warrior, Finn McCool, built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart, Benandonner. We spent a good 3 hours exploring the amazing formations, including the ‘Giant’s Boot’, which we had a photo taken in, before finally walking back up the hill the tourist centre.
 |
| Sitting on the Giant's Boot |
As the car drove into the city centre the Hurling Final was over and we saw hordes of people wearing their team colours walking to train and bus stations and also overflowing out of nearly ever pub we drove past. Everyone looked happy though, some more than others.
We got back to the carpark at around 5pm and it proved nearly impossible to get out with all of the people from the game getting to their cars. We walked straight to Dunne’s and bought some Baileys Irish Whiskey to share on our last night in Dublin. We’ve had a blast and would love to come back one day. At the hotel we ended up finishing off whatever we had including Pringles, cake, chocolate etc while we shared some Baileys. We only ended up having a couple and fell asleep while watching Transformers. It was another day and another country down. :( It’s going too quickly now.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-ev/collections/72157624677997272
1 comment:
What a beautiful place!
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