Travelling North

Europe » Ireland
August 19th 2017

Published: August 19th 2017

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MrsMac

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Round Tower at Monasterboice

On Wednesday, we took our time leaving the hotel as we had to pick up our car at 11am. We got a taxi to the Avis depot and there we acquired our black Astra . After programming the GPS we headed north for the coast. We had a few twists and turns following the Sat Nav’s lady’s instructions but eventually arrived at the seaside town of Howth which is still in the outer Dublin suburbs. This is a busy fishing port so we parked and walked along the Marina. It was very overcast and windy, more like our winter than a summer’s day. We did find Beshoff’s market restaurant where we had a delicious seafood platter for two. This was fresh and scrumptious and was quickly devoured. We headed along the coast, stopping briefly at Portmarnock where there is a memorial to the Southern Cross. It was from this “Velvet” beach that Kingsford Smith took off for his record breaking flight across the Atlantic. Because of the weather, particularly the wind, we didn’t stay long. Further north we stopped briefly in the fishing village of Skerries. Again, this is picturesque and we enjoyed seeing the Skerries Mills. These are two large

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Celtic Cross at Monasterboice

windmills that have been restored but we didn’t have time to do the tour. We did walk to the info centre and then managed to take a couple of photos.

We kept driving north along the coast and finally came to our destination for the night, Drogheda. This is a medieval town and has links with Irish mythology. Our first stop though was at the Killowen B&B where we were booked in for the night. Our hostess, Angela, was a lovely lady who greeted us warmly and then gave us a downstairs room so we did not have to haul our cases up the stairs. The room was spacious and comfortable and we were happy to relax there for an hour or so after all the driving. We ventured out about 6pm and headed towards Drogheda township but the traffic was , so we finally just drove through and out again. We did stop at The Black Bull which Angela had highly recommended. There we had a pleasant meal with vegetable soup and chilli chicken tortillas for me while Fletcher started with some prawns then again tried the Thai Red chicken curry which still did not come up to

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Detail from the cross

scratch. He did help me out with my very large serve. Well sated we went back to our lodgings.

On Thursday morning, after a very pleasant breakfast we continued our northerly voyage. Our first stop was at Monasterboice, the site of a 9^th century monastery. All that is left now is a very tall round tower and three wonderful Celtic crosses, dating from the 10^th Century. These are now surrounded by a cemetery that is still in use. We arrived just as a bus load of French tourists but we still managed to have a good look around. From there it was straight on to our next resting place, Lisburn. This is a town just south of Belfast and I had found the Overdale Motel on line that offered B&B accommodation at the right price. As we were early we decided to park the car near the Railway station and catch the train into Belfast for a look around. The train was very clean and on time and we alighted at Great Victoria Street Station in the heart of the city. It was an overcast, chilly day but earlier sunshine had meant I had not brought my coat. We

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Tower, cross and ruins of church

decided the best way to see the city was to do the Hop on Hop off bus tour. We were given a brochure by one of the agents and told where to catch the bus. Then it was time for lunch. Looking for somewhere to eat seemed futile as the main streets had few restaurants. However, we discovered the small lanes, known as entries and down these are where the pubs and restaurants are situated. We chose McCracken’s which looked inviting and entered a spacious room with a bright bar and plenty of tables at which to sit. We watched the England v West Indies Test Match on the TV while devouring Fish and Chips for Fletcher and a different version of Chilli chicken and chips for me. Filling and tasty. We then headed to the bus stop where we boarded one of the last bus tours for the day. It was now 3pm but we did the complete tour. We had live commentary from a very informative lady and through most of the trip the rain held off. Some of the interesting places we saw were: the docks where the Titanic Experience is now situated, the Parliament building, the

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Close up of the cross

Stormont, which is magnificent and right out of the city centre, the areas which became household names during the Troubles in the ‘70s e.g. Falls Road, Shankill Road and the amazing murals which are still in evidence. We also saw the Peace Wall which is still in place and now contains murals relating to the peace process. Seeing all this brought all those troubled times flooding back.

Just as we arrived back the rain started. We made a dash for the local souvenir store where we bought a couple of umbrellas. I needed a new one anyway. We then walked back to the railway station and caught the train to Lisburn. When we got to the motel the owner had left a note and the keys in an envelope taped to the door for us, so we let ourselves in and climbed the stairs to our fairly spacious room. There we caught our breaths and relaxed. We set out again about 7 in search of food. It was still raining but we found a park in the town and then found an Indian restaurant called Spice which I had read about in one of the local guides. Here we

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Fletcher in McCracken's Bar

had a great meal in very elegant surroundings and with excellent service. The samosas and Bang Bang Chicken for starters were great and we only ordered their Spice special curry to share with rice and naan bread. I’m glad we did, for while the food was delicious the size of the serves was overwhelming. I wonder if it is because there are a lot of American tourists visiting Ireland that the serves are always huge. We had some tasty white wine to wash it down and spent a very pleasant evening there.

Friday morning, we were up and down to breakfast at 8am. Susan, our hostess was very welcoming and we had some nice scrambled eggs and coffee. We then checked out and left Lisburn about 9am as we had booked tickets on line for the Titanic Experience for 10am that morning. The GPS was working well and with only a couple of minor wrong turns we made it to the docks by 9-50am and parked in the underground car park there. This exhibition has won awards for tourism since it was built and I can see why. It had some fantastic sections. It started by giving the background

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Belfast

about Belfast in the 1880s when it became a boom town for manufacturing and especially ship building. There were combinations of film, audio-visual and static displays and plenty of hands on activities for the young ones. It then took us for a tour through the ship yards with voices telling us the different jobs and conditions for workers at that time. This was while we rode through a display which detailed different sections of the factory like a fairground ride. Then they became more specific focusing on the building of the Titanic, its launch, its fitting out and then the preparations for the maiden voyage. We learnt about some of the passengers, the different classes aboard ship and the captain and crew. Then it was into the sinking and aftermath. The final displays were about the discovery of the sunken ship and there is a video to watch of this being explored by remote cameras. We spent nearly two hours there but you could easily double that. Then we walked outside where on the original slipway they have an outline of where the ship would have been. The final step was to visit the SS Nomadic which was a tender

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The Stormont

to the Titanic in Cherbourg. She has been refitted and is in a dry dock nearby. All in all, a worthwhile and entertaining experience.

We headed north again towards the very top of Northern Ireland, following the GPS which has been mostly OK but not always clear in instructions. We stopped at the 5 Corners, a pub which had a sign which said Best Gastropub of 2016. I noticed the sign and we doubled back to taste their offerings. This was indeed worth it with Fletcher really enjoying a beautiful looking piece of cod with Thai sauce accompanied by beans and chips while I settled for the chicken and bacon carbonara, another massive serving but very delicious. This broke up our journey for a short while but we were soon back on the road heading for the next stop, Bushmills. Here we decided to visit the Old Bushmills Distillery, one of the oldest of its kind in the world. The Irish spell it “whiskey” while the Scots say “whisky” but it is the same thing. Here they distill it three times rather than the twice in Scotland. We were shown around the main areas by a young Irish girl

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Murals in the Falls road

whom we learned at the end was on her maiden tour. She did very well. Having gone through the Mash house, the distillery itself and the bottling plant we came to the tasting room. I gave Fletcher mine as I really do not like whisky (with or without an e) but I did try a whiskey cocktail afterwards which was not too bad. We then found this night’s accommodation, The Causeway Tavern, which proved to be in exactly the right spot, within a short distance of the Giant’s Causeway which we had come to see. Having checked in there we drove along the Causeway Coastal Road and stopped at White Park Bay. This is a magnificent stretch of beach, with white sands and breaking waves. As it was about 5pm it was still very light and we walked from the hilltop down to the sands along a winding path. The views on all sides were stunning and we braved the strong winds and enjoyed the beauty of the surroundings. It took us longer to return to the top. And we stopped several times along the way. At one point, we noticed six rabbits venturing out of the scrubland to nibble

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Murals along the Peace Wall

on the very green grass. They seemed unperturbed by the people passing by. We drove back along the coast road and found the entrance to the Causeway so we will know for the morning. Then we emerged back onto the main road and stopped at the Smuggler’s Inn for dinner. A cosy place with many families enjoying the warmth within while the wind howled outside. We shared a goat’s cheese tart for starters which was delicious. Then I had lamb rump while Fletcher decided on a rib eye steak. Both were excellent and we took our time and savoured the flavours. We even decided to go the whole hog opting for desserts: for me rhubarb crumble and custard while Fletcher chose a white chocolate cheesecake. We rolled back to the car and went back to our lodgings. Here the bar was open so over a drink or two I tried to write this but fell foul of technical problems while Fletcher read his book and tried to ignore the succession of soap operas the lady of the house was watching on the TV

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