Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Ireland Part 2

The sad part of this day was Lucy had class and we didn't bring her along.  In retrospect we should have.  Because it was just one day of class.  Oh well.  We got up and got croissants and coffee/choco  and headed first thing to the Dark Hedges a Game of Thrones sight where a large Chinese family was doing a long photoshoot.  When they cleared out we did our photos.  Pretty cool place that was unknown until the show.   Personally didn't love the show, but I think I am going to read the books.  Hopefully they are less misogynistic.

Next up was Bonamargy Friary near Ballycastle.  It has a haunted stairway.  So they say. 



This spectacular spot was the next stop: Fair Head.  We thought of the boys because it is the most famous climbing spot in Ireland and Alex Honnold climbed here.  You can also see Rathlin Island and Scotland from here. 









Next stop was Tor head where there was a ruined house that I think belonged to the Coast Guard or some such thing.  A lonely outpost with grand views. 






We ate lunch in Cushendell and got gas in the car and I was amused by the laundry facilities in the parking lot.  However as I made the mistake of not booking airbnb's with washers and dryers I discovered what a rarity such a facility is in Northern Ireland.  They don't go in for the 24 hour anything here, particularly laundromats.  
We stopped next at Glenariff Forest Park, known for it's waterfalls.  It reminded me of Hawaii in many ways. 






The drive home along the coast was stunning and we saw some dolphins as well. 


 We met up with Lucy when we got back and had a really scrummy dinner right near our airbnb at a place called Made In Belfast, a kind of fun ecclectic local eatery.  



Monday, December 9, 2019

Ireland Part 1

Rob and I flew out of ABQ on Saturday, through Chicago, and landed in Dublin Sunday morning.  We met Lucy, Whitney, and Courtney at the car rental place and it was a bit of a struggle to fit the luggage, but we did a little Tetris and got it sorted.  
We drove to Howth, a suburb of Dublin, and did the cliff walk.  It was a beautiful day.  I wore the wrong shoes and the walk was longer than I thought it was going to be and I thrashed my feet (I have HORRIBLE feet and they are very picky about what I can wear.) which wasn't good .  But it was a really pretty walk and you can rest when you are dead, right?






















We shared some delicious fish and chips in the village. 



We dropped our luggage at the apartment and did a quick tour of Dublin to see the post office (sight of a battle for Irelands freedom from the UK in the 1930's I believe) and found dinner on Temple Bar. 






Dinner was delish.  


The next day we drove to Belfast, with a stop at Newgrange, Brú na Bóinne, an ancient tomb complex.  It was very cool.  This is the river Boyne, I do belieive. 






We hustled to Belfast checked into our fab airbnb, and ran to city hall for a Troubles tour, which was really really excellent. 




This mural was painted last year after the reporter was killed in a riot. 

Dinner that night was at Wagamama's and it wasn't great.  So annoying to have mediocre food on vacation.  Oh well.