Belfast and Giants Causeway

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After leaving Mom back in Edinburgh, I continued my travels in the UK by flying to Belfast. Belfast served as my base for travel around the northern coast and the Giant’s Causeway. My first night after arriving in Belfast I went to a small diner by the hostel and I had an Oreo shake, which was so good. On Easter Sunday I took a tour around the Giant’s Causeway and the northern coast of Ireland. Apparently the northern coast is very beautiful, but unfortunately for me, the weather was not very cooperative and a low hanging cloud prevented me from really seeing any of the coastline. Since we could not see the beauty, we just had to take the guides word for it. We did make a quick stop to see Dunluce Castle and Carrick-a-Fergus, both of which were medieval castles that played important roles in the history of the land. After our stops, we stopped for lunch in the town of Bushmills which is where the oldest Irish whiskey has been distilled since the 1600's. We just had lunch at the distillery, but I can still say I have been there. After lunch, we headed to Giant’s Causeway. The Giant’s Causeway was really interesting. There is a folk tale about the creation of the causeway and looking out over the causeway, the tale is quite humorous and convincing. Apparently, a giant through the causeway across the sea to fight another giant in Scotland. The rock formation was very unique and was very nice. The hike to and from the causeway was also very nice. After the causeway, we headed for the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. The rope bride is over 100m over the sea and 60m across. The rope bridge used to be used by salmon fisherman to go and catch the migrating salmon. The bridge was a little scary with the wind blowing and the low hanging clouds, but it was a neat experience. The rope bridge was the last stop on our tour and we headed back to Belfast.

On my last day in Belfast, I went to the Titanic Experience museum which was very fascinating. It was loads of reading, but it provided a load of information of the history of Belfast and the whole story behind the shipyard and the building of the Titanic. Of course, it also covered the tragedy that opened on the maiden voyage. After the museum, I went back into the city centre and had lunch at the amazing Crown Bar. It was the most beautiful bar I have seen. It is designed in the Victorian fashion and is a protected building so it can never be changed without permission. A definite must see in Belfast. After the bar, I walked around the city centre and then went and lounged in the Botanic Gardens and soaked up the sun and read my book.



Belfast was nice, but I must say that I was a little disappointed and the times of the 'Troubles' still seem like they exist and the city is still recovering.

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