Eglinton Hotel Portrush

aka. most beautiful place in the world. i don't think thats overstating it much, and i'm definitely qualified to make that statement! we got back on the bus bright and early and drove up the coast to dunluce castle. it was a really beautiful day which was a nice change from the day before. the castle was on the edge of a cliff and it was amazing, the coastline was so beautiful and the views from the castle were fantastic. next we drove to the giants causeway which was also amazing. we took ...

... had lunch at a tiny cafe near the tomb, a very nice soup and sandwich! next we went to enniskillen, a town just over the border where we invested in some gumboots and visited the pound atm. we got to derry at about 5:30, dumped our bags at the hostel then walked through town to the diamond - the centre of town with a second hand war memorial statue - for a tour of the city walls and murals. our tour guide was really interesting, he'd lived in derry his whole life and ...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"< br>
We're standing on the edge of Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, facing out toward endless ocean and we're all sharing a cathartic scream out into the sea. The wind is blowing strong--so much so that every so often you have to kneel down and let the gale pass, and the rain is coming in horizontally, but I wouldn't have it any other way. This is how the Causeway is meant to the be seen, so you feel like you are conquering something, a ...

... those who know me know that crossing the bridge would have involved me crying and possibly wetting myself. The winds were blowing at at least 40 miles per hour (you do the conversion) - in a nutshell, it was mighty windy!

The off to the Giants causeway - which is a section of beach, said to have been a bridge between Ireland and Scotland for two warring giants - evidently there was a lava explosion eons ago and the settling, cooling lava resulted in octagon/hexagon ...

... game and listened to a Blues Brother's Tribute band. The next day we woke up and went to Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. It was extremely windy which made it that much more exciting. I don't think David liked walking across if very well. haha afterwords we ate an amazing carvery at a restaurant in a hotel. Then we left around 1:30 and finally made it home at 11 that night. It was a long weekend of traveling but well worth it.

An interesting castle ruin. The main castle is on a rock. Part of the old kitchen fell into the sea. They built another block of buildings on the main land.

Afterwards, I climbed down to the base and saw the natural cave underneath the castle.

Dunluce Castle
After a fun time at Giants Causeway we headed farther up the North end of Ireland to Dunluce Castle. The castle built in 1510 sits 100 feet above the ocean floor near Bushmills and even in ruins you still expect knights to ride up on horseback like in a movie. Smugglers Hole is the name of the entrance to the ocean that as used to provide food and drink to the castle. Included is a picture of ...

... to find a hostel and dropped of our bags so we could walk a few miles to a castle nearby called Dunluce. We took a long time walking a long the coast and on the cliffs and when we got to the castle it was closed so we jumped the wall to look around. There was a cave hollowed out by the ocean that reminded me of the count of Monte Cristo, it was the most beautiful scenery i have seen so far. By the time we got back and got a pizza it was pretty late so ...

... small sea-side holiday town of Ballycastle for dinner. I had heard that folks in the North were even friendlier than those in the Republic, and Seamus, the young guy behind the counter in the local fish and chip shop, was proof of that. While cooking up our fish he talked up a storm, chatting to us like we were long-time regulars, and bidding us farewell like we’d see him again next week. Good luck with the dream of getting to Perth for Christmas 2006 to see your cousins, Seamus!

... home. The Swiss Army rides again!....however he did drunkedly stare at me the entire ride home. Which by the way.... we figured Adrian could fly home to Canada in less time it took for me to get from Belfast. Guy was unerving, but harmless. Well this has been incredibly long. Will be seeing Gerbil from the SARFC when he gets back from honeymoon and visits Cork, will be fun(Fran: Gus will be there too!) Miss you all and send me an email or two Blackie