Northern Ireland

I was pretty sad to come back to Ireland, only because I knew that meant my adventure time was almost over, BUT I had something to be excited about...NORTHERN IRELAND, plus my mom came over to spend my last few weeks bummin' around with me. It felt good to really know Dublin when I got back. I knew which buses went where, which way was east, and could tell cabbies where to go with certainty and correct them if they turned on the wrong street. It felt like I was home again. It was nice. But as always, you gotta head out and EXPLORE!

Soooo.....to Belfast I went! The city itself is pretty ordinary, especially downtown, but there is this neat thing you can do called a black cab tour. There are these old timey guys that take you into the "neighborhoods" of Northern Ireland. The tour is centered on the religious conflict in Northern Ireland. The Catholics vs. the Protestants. These neighborhoods are literally one street away from one another, but to help cut back on violence there is an actual barrier between them. Things have calmed down so this gate is opened during daylight, but still closed every night. As I am sure you're tired of reading it was nuts to see a building after a bombing and then in the present...the violence and destruction we inflict on one another is disheartening.

Our cab driver was very very very Protestant and made comments when driving through the Catholic neighborhood. Apparently he also completely skipped the memorial on the Catholic side, where as he MADE us get out of the car and take pictures at the protestant ones. The working class folks definitely still have some bad blood between them, but the country has a whole has calmed down significantly. The murals, at least on the Catholic side, have been redone with worldwide political concerns and artwork, versus just IRA propaganda. For example...

The Protestant side was a bit of a different story...

yes, yes that gun is FOLLOWING you

Just in case you cannot read this, "Catholicism is more than a religion it is a political power therefore I'm led to believe there will be no peace in Ireland until the Catholic Church is crushed," Oliver Cromwell

And despite being raised Catholic, I did not bias these! The guy took us to a very apolitical selection of murals on the Catholic side, minus on the actual IRA political party head quarters which had a picture of Bobby Sands, a Parliament member who died in a hunger strike, but it is the political headquarters, so I think its okay. These Protestant ones are on housing developments!

After exploring Belfast a bit, I convinced my mom to head up the north coast road to an area called Giant's Causeway. Along the way though I got to see beautiful coastline, old castles, and got warmed up at the Bushmill's distillery! All in all, an AMAZING combination. I got to hike a bit and then head down some sketchy old stone stairs. Any of you who have witnessed my klutziness will be impressed! At one point along the way, we stopped for a snack and I found these!

I feel I should get royalties on this business!!

And now to the lovely sites!

This is where the Carrik-a-rede rope bridge is when it is not November, so we didn't get to cross, but sheesh its beautiful!

Dunluce Castle, beautiful!!

Some happy bovines!

looking down on giant's causeway from the cliff hike

The way down to giants causeway from the cliff hike...

Success!

(imagine me giving you a thumbs up whilst saying that, because I totally did!)

Rocky intertidal!

Crazy hexagonal stones that make up the causeway, so pretty!

Seriously do not skip this trip if you ever find yourself in Northern Ireland! It was such a lovely day! Castles, whiskey, hiking, and ocean time...what else do you need in life?

Next, it was back to the republic with me!