Blogs from Ballycastle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe

Ireland the North 1. Rathlin Island Rathlin island for most of us today in fair weather, though a cool wind this morning. The 9 o’clock ferry going out seemed the best option with a return at 3pm. The first obstacle was a shortish but vicious hill straight out of the port as we headed for the bird sanctuary and the west lighthouse. We saw puffins, guillemots, fulmars, kittiwakes and razorbills. The East lighthouse road ends up on a grassy and stony road which tests out the mountain/gravel bike skills of anyone brave enough to tackle it. As we approached we were shouted at by kittiwakes who thought we were too near their nests and then we saw a group of seals playing in the sea and basking in the rocks. Their camouflage is so good that ... read more

Zoals altijd begint een wandelvakantie na een vliegreis met de zoektocht naar een gastankje, aangezien deze niet mee mag het vliegtuig in. Wat een redelijk goed voorbereide actie leek, werd nog een spannende race tegen de klok in de vroege ochtend. Na een nachtje in ons hostel in Belfast, vertrokken we half negen opgesplitst in twee groepjes. Irma en Baukje gingen gewapend met een kaartje van google met daarop alle outdoorzaken het centrum in en Judit en ik zouden paraat gaan staan bij het busstation om precies op tijd kaartjes te kopen en het juiste perron op te zoeken. Alles is gelukt, alleen niet binnen de tijd dat onze bus naar Waterfoot zou vertrekken... Dan over op plan B, want dat was er natuurlijk ook al. Op naar een treinstation en met de trein naar Ballymena, ... read more

We just got back from 5 day road trip. What a country! It is beautiful in rain or sunshine. Heather did all of the driving while I navigated. Think we made good team, except when we got lost in Belfast. The first day ended in Ballycastle, a little resort village where we met some great people. I'll upload photos with comments, and try to add more text later. We are in Dublin for the last weekend and hope to do all the touristy things we missed last week. ... read more

Sunday was our travel day. We got a late start since we didn't get in until 2:30am. We skipped breakfast so we could sleep longer. We got up and packed everything so we could head out to Northern Ireland. We picked Jessie up at Corrib Village around noon and headed north through Sligo and Donegal. About 2 hours into the trip, Jessie suddenly realizes that she has forgotten her passport. This is potentially a huge deal since The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are two different countries, even though they are on the same island and it is all Ireland. The Republic is under Irish rule, while Northern Ireland is still controlled by Great Britain. Jessie called one of her roommates that had been to Northern Ireland earlier in the semester and she said they ... read more