So I haven't done much the past few weekends. I realize that I forgot to detail my Easter trip to the North. (That would be Northern Ireland, not above the Mason Dixon Line, for those keeping track at home.) Tax(I) Boy and I drove up to Belfast and to Derry and pretty much played tourists. He'd been to Belfast once or twice, but nowhere else in NI. Absolutely nothing eventful happened. No close shaves, no lucky escapes, no news of any violence anywhere while we were there. We learned that any claim to fame is better than no claim to fame, that elephants look remarkably natural in the Irish countryside, that directions should always be verified before ascending a very steep hill enroute to the sea shore, and that Britain gives "Loo of the Year" Awards.
Belfast is an interesting city. In the city centre it could be any random European city: lovely squares, nice old buildings, good pedestrian shopping streets. Once you get out of the city centre is when you know where you are. It's very much like being in a more expensive version of South Central LA; not as impoverished but the gang presence is visible. The tri-color flag (the Irish Flag, orange/white/green) flies only in the Catholic areas, which is were all the violence occurs. The shops are written in Irish and English and there are many murals depicting the troubles. Lots of murals about a hunger strike in the 70's. Very beautiful murals, but very disturbing I must say. We were a little edgy driving around. The people, however, couldn't have been warmer. We wandered around the city centre, which was remarkably empty until we found an interior pedestrian street. Then it felt like a city. Listened to a bag piper in a small square and watched a little girl practicing her Irish step dance in the gazebo behind him. I almost got a photo of her, but she spotted me and played shy. They're trying to promote Belfast as a family destination, so on the weekend we were there at least, there were street actors? About. One woman was dressed as a ladybug. A man sat outside a cafe dressed as a movie director, shouting things to the customers. I spotted a zoo employee leading two gorillas thru the crowds of kids, who were both terrified and thrilled. Not real gorillas, mind you, they aren't that irresponsible, but the most realistic costumes I've ever seen. There was also an exhibit in the city hall dedicated to the Titanic, for the anniversary I assume. It amazed both of us how proud they are of such a disaster. Everywhere we went, the images were omni-present. Post cards, framed photos, t-shirts. Tax(I) Boy found a vintage poster that explained it for us. Beautiful image of the ship with a tag line that read: She was fine when she left here. Can't tell you how long we laughed at that. There is no such thing as bad press, isn't that how it goes?
We drove next to Derry, which sits on the border of County Donegal, which I was informed (thru peals of laughter) is pronounced "Donny-gaah-l" and does not rhyme with Mc Gonagal. Beautiful drive and they have much better roads than in the Republic. (Wankers...) Anyway, we drove thru the country and up over their mountain range, saw lots of beautiful vistas with quaint cottages, green grass, sheep grazing... the quintessential pastoral view of Ireland. I kept wanting to photograph it. But once you've got 10 of those shots, there isn't really need for another. So we drove and then came into Derry, which is quite a city, I must say. It's the only walled city in Ireland that still has it's walls. It just drips with history. We drove thru the city center, thru one gate and out another, to the catholic part of town, (again, flags, murals, Irish language) but here the murals were all pointed toward the city center, which is English, and all featured martyrs of the troubles, including one of a little girl that was killed in the cross fire. It's really very sad. We based ourselves here for the next couple of days and took little road trips into Donegal, which Tax(I) Boy billed as a concentrated version of Irish countryside. He was right. It was beautiful. We stumbled upon a classic car show, which was really good. About 50 cars from 1920 to 1970. One American Caddy, which was the size of 3 of the British cars. I found my fondness for Jaguar holds true, and I'm very drawn to Morris Minors, which I've probably misspelled. And the mini? Really, spectacularly mini. Wow... those things are small!! The new ones dwarf the originals. What else did we see? Oh right... there was a "2 ring American Circus" outside Derry, hence the elephants. We drove by and there they were, grazing in a pasture along side the tents. Surreal and yet natural at the same time.
The following day we drove to Country Antrim, home of really only 2 things: Bushmills and the Giants Causeway. We did Bushmills first, because if you're gonna fall off a cliff, best do it after a good strong shot. Great tour at Bushmills. Beautiful little property (photos forthcoming). While waiting for the tour, we discovered that their loos (bathrooms) were award "Loo of the Year", but only the ladies. So I went it to see what it takes. It was worth the award. Great natural lighting, spacious, gleaming fixtures... (photos fothcoming, yes I know how odd that is) The tour was interesting. They start you in an auditorium and give you the basic history. They they give you the safety info, very similar to being on a plane. No cell phones, no smoking, nothing that can give off a spark potentially, since there is a large amount of alchol in the air. Hadn't thought about that. It's quick 30 minute tour, but they take you thru the working part of the mill. Had it not been a holiday, there would have been people there making the whiskey. It ended in the bar/cafe/gift shop, with a free shot of any of their varieties, a tasting for 4 volunteers and the parting with your money. I had a hot toddy and I liked it. Mostly, I liked the warmth and the cloves, but whatever. It was good. From there we drove to the Giant's Causeway before heading home to Dublin. It's a natural (ancient) lava formation on the North shore of Ireland. Jenn, Melanie and I were supposed to see it on our trip in November, but it got cut out due to time restraints. That happens on a whistlestop tour. All I can say is, we lost out. It's an amazing place. The basalt is formed in hexagonal columns of various sizes. Here, read all about it here:
http://www.northantrim.com/giantscauseway.htm
So you can climb out on them and see the little pools left over after the tide goes out. No fish, but hot pink sea anemone and lots barnacles. We were there just before the sun went down. You arrive at the visitors center and then hit the trail out back. 2 trails, to be exact. One up and one down. Now, knowing that the causeway is on the sea, one would naturally head for the trail going down. But the sign points to the trail going up, which we heeded because we'd just gotten lost in the parking lot due to someone's lack of wanting to visit the visitors center. (not me) Anyway. We got to the first look out, where it was unanimously decided we stop for oxygen masks, only to have me respond to Tax(I) Boy's query 'What is this thing again and do we actually need to see it? How much farther?!" by pointing w-a-a-a-a-a-y down to the sea below us. Sigh... hike down the hill to the visitors center, then hike down the other path to the causeway, all the while remarking about A- how the hell did anyone find it in the first place? and B- It's really steep and if you think I'm going to walk back up, think again, oh look there's a shuttle. It was an amazing place when we finally arrived and anyone that comes to visit should be prepared to see it. And look! There's a shuttle.
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