Day Twelve

Today I took my first guided tour.

I was walking around the center of Belfast and saw that there was a tour going from Belfast up to the Giant's Causeway. Since the causeway was on my to-do list anyway, I hopped on board. 

  The driver was both hilarious and informational. There were a lot of Dad Jokes (the kind that get a ha-ha sort of response), which consisted of Catholics vs Protestants. I liked him immensely. 

 I also liked the idea of a guided tour, because he pointed out things that I never would have known about if I had taken the trip by myself. Like the Titanic Quarter, where they built hundreds of ships - including the Titanic - and the museums about them. He pointed out local landmarks, explained why some sheep have red marking (because they're Catholic) and some sheep have blue markings (because they're Protestant). 

Irish Sheepies 

 There was a lot of information about alcohol, too. Apparently Guinness owns the second most amount of property in Ireland, right behind the Catholic church. They have this stuff called Poitin which is basically Irish moonshine. It's extremely illegal and so of course every household has at least two bottles in case of another famine. 90% proof, it's said that a good batch will cure your sickness and a bad batch will kill you. Only one distillery - out of over 100 - is allowed to make it and sell it internationally. 

 So as we drove through the gorgeous countryside, the guide told us interesting facts and local legends. We drove down this lane of birch trees, called "The Dark Hedge". Apparently it was used as the Kings Road in Game of Thrones. 

I wasn't aware that Game of Thrones was shot in Ireland. The guide said that Game of Thrones has been a huge help in drawing tourists to Ireland. 

We drove along to this spot called Carrick-A-Rede which used to be a limestone quarry and has a two hundred year old rope bridge that the fishermen used. 

It cost money to do the rope bridge, and there were so many people headed that way. I decided that I'd take the road in the opposite direction, away from the crowds. It led to the quarry (where Storm's Landing was shot) and had another parking lot. Just a little ways down from there, along a very slippery footpath, there was a limestone kiln. I turned a corner and found this gorgeous view. 

Suuuuck Iiiiiit

This is what happens when you choose the road less traveled, folks. After staring at this view for a few moments, I followed the path down to where I could scramble over rocks and touch the ocean. The water was so clear, but freezing cold. I didn't dip more than my fingertips in. 

This is the view of the cliffs a ways down that path. The sun was out, there was a light breeze, and nobody was around. It was wonderful. 

I got back on the bus and headed into one of the little villages near there. We stopped at a restaurant, and when I sat down I could see the ocean. When I was handed a menu, I immediately chose the seafood chowder. As a rule of thumb I get a seafood dish when I can see the ocean. It's a good rule to live by. Unless you're Connie, and you make the chef give you chicken nuggets and ketchup at a famous restaurant on the pier. 

The food was amazing. Hot and hearty, perfect for a day spent hiking the cliffside of Ireland. I spent lunch talking to another solo traveler from Holland. She's here on a two week vacation, and is going home tomorrow. 

After lunch we headed on over to the Giant's Causeway. Legend says that Finn McCool had an issue with a guy named Fergus in Scotland across the way (it's only 19 miles from the causeway to Scotland). So this Finn McCool built a bridge all the way over there to fight this Fergus guy. When Finn got to Scotland, he realized that Fergus was a giant. Finn turned tail and ran back home, and Fergus chased him. Finn got home and told his wife all about it and after a "eehh again? Really, Finn? Again?" she told him to hide in the cradle in the corner of the house. Fergus bursts in, the lady sits him down for a drink, and says Finn isn't home. Fergus sees the cradle and wonders what it is, and the lady says "Oh that's our six-week old son Owen" and Fergus says "Well if that's the size of his child at six weeks, this man must be a giant!" and so Fergus turned and ran back to Scotland and destroyed the bridge behind him. 

So with this story ringing in my ears, I hiked down from the visitors center to the actual causeway. It was a gorgeous view, majestic cliffs and the ocean pounding the rocks down below. 

So many visitors. In fact, there are so many, there is a local bus service that takes you there and back. The Chinese tourists nearly ran me off the path. 

The Giant's Causeway is a world heritage site. I'm used to "stay on the path" signs and "preserve the wildlife" notices. There were none. People were just walking all over the place. Through the grasses, over the rocks, stomping all over the columns. 

The view was pretty awesome though. 

So after hiking around and walking through the visitor's center, I got on the bus and headed to Belfast. The lady I sat next to told me about her kids and some of her favorite stories to tell them. I told her about how my dad would make up stories for us when we were camping. 

 A few words about Irish music. 

There are three types of Irish music. The first is the drinking songs. Rowdy and bawdy and overall a good time. The second is Traditional. This kind of music is not unlike American Country songs. Slow, banjos and violins. The third type is U2. 

You know how I said everyone in London sings the Beatles? Everyone sings U2 here. The bus driver, the restaurant, the visitors center, the street musicians, students, everybody. It made me laugh, because these songs aren't Irish to me, they're long road trip songs. To these people, they're something entirely different. Bono is a cultural icon. 

Tomorrow I take a bus down to Dublin. I'm looking forward to it. 

Til Next Time, 

Nita