Northern Ireland Adventure

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Today I was spontaneous. I decided that Belfast wasn't my favorite city and I wanted to go see Giant's CAuseway. There was a flyer for a Paddy wagon tour to Giant's Causeway, the Carrick-a-ride Rope Bridge and Derry. It was only £18, which is awesome because the bus to Derry would have been £15. I paid at the reception desk a the hostel. I got the very last empty seat on the tour.
I went to the kitchen for free breakfast. I got a coffee, some toast and jelly along with a oats and grains biscuit. Wasn't the best breakfast, but it was free 😊 While in the kitchen this awkward older man in unmatching button down and shorts in different plaids. Flip flops with fungusy toe nails (ew!) and a sweater vest, asked me how my morning was. I replied with a smile and a "super fantastic" (Thank you PwC) and asked him how he was. He was well. Turns out, this bumbling old man was the tour guide. O what a trip. The original tour guide couldn't make it and Nick was filling in, he'd never done this tour before. Luckily we were able to follow another Paddywagon Van doing the same tour. Unfortunately, Nick kept losing him. After a lot of swearing and U-turns we made it to Carrick-a-ride Rope bridge. I paid my £3 to hie around the coast and cross the bridge. The area was absolutely stunning. Gorgeous cliffs, clear blue water with luscious green, rock islands right off the coast. The flowers were in bloom, the birds were chirping and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I took a lot of pictures. I got to the rope bridge and watched it sway as the people in front of me made their way across. I looked down. I know you're not supposed to, but I'm weird and it made me even more excited to cross. I took my time, enjoying the view down the coast. It was pretty cool. I wandered my way back to the van and we started toward Giant's Causeway. Nick lost the van in front of us and when we approached a sign that said Giant's Causeway right, we turned left *sigh*. We corrected him and eventually made it. Again, beautiful. I hiked my way down to the Causeway. It's hard to believe these rocks ar natural. Tons of uneven hexagon shaped rocks littered the coastline. I played on them and took a few pictures. An older man offered to take a picture for me and he posed me to be climbing a mountain. I love the picture. I then decided to climb the cliffs behind the Causeway. I climbed and stood in awe of the view. Stunning. I took some cheesy pictures of me on the Cliff pretending to be a giant in the Giant's Causeway (I thought I was cleaver). And made my way back toward the vistors center to grab a bigte to eat before our trip toward Derry. I sat with Dessie from New Zealand and then we headed back to the van.
We stopped next at Dunluce Castle to marvel and take a few pictures. Then to Derry. We arrived in Derry at Guild's Hall and the Magazine Gate into the 'Walled City'. I walked around the walls reading about the 2 seiges and marveling at the cannons still stationed at each of the walls. The view was breathtaking. From the wall you could see Derry, full of murals and Republic of Ireland flags. I walked around the inner city, looking inside St. Columb's Cathedral, the first cathedral to be erected in teh British Isles after reformation. It was completed in 1633. I called Pops, looked at the numerous bronze statues throughout and mailed some postcards. It was a comfortable little town once you lost sight of the cannons. Before long it was 4 o'clock and I headed back to the van for the ride home. I slept the entire way. when I got back to Belfast I used the free internet, heated up a frozen pizza I picked up at the grocery store, and wrote in my journal until Simon, Rachel and Tim returned from their tours. We all headed out to the pub and sat and talked about Belfast and sports until the bar closed at midnight.
Rachel - from Australia
Simon - from Canada
Tim - from Australia
Rachel and I walked home to the hostel and went to sleep. I have an early train to catch tomorrow!

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Comments

[Dad]

Glad your Calling it Derry
Thanks for calling Derry Derry.