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

Op woensdag 8 februari gingen we met de groep Erasmussers op een tour die door de school georganiseerd was. We gingen naar de Carrick-a-rede rope bridge; dat is een touwbrug die je over kan gaan om tot op een klein eilandje te geraken. Toen wij er waren was het héél winderig dus ik voelde me niet echt op m'n gemak op die wiebelende brug =p. We zijn ook naar de Bushmills distilery geweest. Daar kregen we een rondleiding en achteraf mochten we ook wat whiskey proeven. Ik heb het geprobeerd maar ik denk dat ik nooit een fan ga worden... We hebben er wel een lekkere stew gegeten en de barman maakte speciaal voor ons een cocktail met whiskey zodat we het wel zouden lusten =) Tenslotte zijn we ook naar de Giant's Causeway geweest. Hier ... read more

Sunday August 24th Rushport, Northern Ireland So I crossed the border to Northern Ireland. Nothing changed really except for the accent, but that changes every two miles here. Yes I crossed the border, not we. Stephan left yesterday, as planned, for Germany. But first things first. I left you at that house in Glendalough, south of Dublin deep in the Wicklow Mountains and far away from any civilization. As I told you, be came to Glendalough and found it ridiculously expensive. We started asking people if we could camp on their grounds. One guy finally told us about a spot up on the mountain right next to a little pond. It’ll be quiet there, nobody would bother us. So we went up the mountain. After an hour or more walking through the night there was a ... read more

Now, I know what it is like to be Charlie in the Chocolate Factory, but this time it happens to be a whiskey distillery. In fact, the worlds oldest distillery. This Sunday, I went with Ronald and Minda to Bushmills, a very small town outside the surf town of Portrush. We arrived at the distillery and took a tour of the Old Bushmills Distillery. Founded in 1608 with permission of King James the I after the infamous Flight of the Earls in 1607, the Old Bushmills Distillery has been providing high quality Irish whiskey (Just a reminder: evidently, you do not want to get Scotch or Scottish Malt Whisky and Irish whiskey mixed up because Scottish Malt Whisky has a smoky flavor and is distilled twice while Bushmills Malt Whiskey is distilled three times and lacks ... read more

I have now been in Northern Ireland for longer than a month and failed to see what is perhaps Northern Ireland's greatest tourist attraction, the Giants Causeway. Yesterday, the time had come to remedy that. I booked a ticket on a bus tour that ventured on the coastal highway along the Irish Sea and North Atlantic Ocean. We left Belfast about half past 9:00 a.m. and began meandering our way north. Our first stop was at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. This particular attraction makes for an interesting time as one crosses a bridge made from rope, as you probably figured out from the name, from the mainland to a small island at a height of approximately one hundred feet. The feeling on the bridge was quite unique as it swayed back and forth under human weight ... read more

Today was the start of a beautiful travelling relationship. Michelle and me winding through the Irish country side with Kristelle and Ryan in hot pursuit. Well that’s how it started anyway. We quickly realised that our car was a bit sluggish and KB and Ry’s had no worries keeping up. We headed out of Belfast after a quick goodbye to the old fella (thanks for the lift Al!) - destination Londonderry. First up was a standard pit stop at a Castle on the Antrim coast at Carrickfergus. The weather was a bit rough so we decided to drive on - hoping that our next stop would be a bit drier. Unfortunately the weather didn’t clear up and we soon arrived at the Carrack-a-rede rope bridge. This must stop of the Irish tour is where, historically, a ... read more