Travels through Eire: April 2011

I'm having a really hard time motivating myself to write lately (in case you hadn't noticed) but I'm going to do my best to write a post about my recent trip to Northern Ireland.

Last Wednesday I headed out fairly early to get on a bus headed for Derry. I had been throwing around the idea of going for awhile but hadn't actually made any solid plans until a few days beforehand. I booked my hostel and bought a buss ticket all just hours before setting off. Definitely different for me, I normally plan things out to the point of over-preparing. So here I am with only a vague idea of what I am going to do when I get there, no plans for returning, and no one going with me. All new experiences. The drive to Derry was lovely and the weather was pretty great for me the whole trip! A blessing for sure. Derry still has it's original city walls intact and you can walk up on them, so cool!

City Walls!

Fence around the Loyalist (protestant) quarter.

Amazing pipe organ in City Hall

Fence at a school.

Peace bridge that extends across the river to the rest of Northern Ireland thus uniting Irish Northern Ireland and British Northern Ireland. As the guy at the hostel told me, most people in Derry still feel Irish.

Derry was an amazing city and I'm so glad I got to visit. I was only there one night but I was able to see most of the city.

I then headed to Belfast for three nights and I spent a day out at the Giant's Causeway.

Linen Hall Library. I'm pretty sure it's the oldest library in Belfast. I'm really into libraries so I went in several others as well. All lovely.

Belfast City Hall. The architect who designed this building was awarded a knighthood.

Me sitting in the Lord Mayor's chair

Clock tower that leans. They did this intentionally, it's about 4ft off.

Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge!

Bushmills Distillery. The first company to receive a license to make whiskey making it the oldest legal brewery in the world.

Dunluce Castle. This castle is now in ruins, as you can tell, and for good reason. It is sitting very precariously on the edge of the cliffs. The last time anyone lived in this castle they were preparing for a party, there was a sudden rumbling and loud noise. The gardens, the kitchen (holding all the food for that night's party), and a few other rooms of the castle had just plunged into the sea below. That was the last straw for the lady of the house and she said she wouldn't spend another night there. So they left and the castle is now abandoned and in ruins.

Giant's Causeway

The Giant's Boot

Docks where Titanic was built. The brick building on the right was the drawing offices where the ship was designed.

War ship involved in WW1, don't remember the name.

White Star house (named for the White Star line that owned Titanic). The height of the building was the approximate height of the deck that the 1st class passengers would have been standing on. So if you were Kate Winslet that's how high up your balcony was.