It was a whirlwind, single day in Dublin, but what a great city.
Dave and I left Belfast early this morning by train to Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland. For those of you who don’t understand what that means, it means the island of Ireland is actually two countries: Northern Ireland, which is actually a part of the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Ireland, which is independently ruled with it’s own government. We’ve spent the last week and a half in Northern Ireland, which include Belfast and today we crossed the border into the Republic of Ireland which includes Dublin. Got it? If not…Google it! 🙂
Now that we’re clear on that, Dave’s and I have enjoyed train travel in Europe so much before, we booked first class tickets for this short, two- hour ride to Dublin. We also got an awesome breakfast on the train and I was able to catch up on my blog from the previous day. Duncan also came out for a visit.
Still an overcast kind of day, but it wasn’t raining when arrived in Dublin and the taxi driver found our hotel for the night at the Albany House. We were able to check in early to freshen up then we took the hop-on-hop-off bus around the city, which has kind of become our “thing to do” in each big city we’ve visited to get a lay of the land and layout of the city.
Our first observations are that Dublin truly exemplifies the words “bustling city” and then some. THIS is a thriving, alive city with many shops and restaurants and a LOT of energetic, young people. There are also a LOT of bicycles.
After going through every stop, we finally got off the bus at the Guinness Storehouse. You’re greeted inside the doors with the 9,000 year lease Arthur Guinness signed. There was a wax seal by his signature. The lease is inside a sunken area of the floor covered in glass.
THEN there are 7 floors of wonderfulness explaining everything about Guinness from the temperature the barley is roasted at, to the advertising designs they have used over the years.
It’s all a self-guided tour and there were a LOT of people there so getting around from floor to floor proved a hassle at times. We did a great beef sandwich at one of their restaurants and then a free pint on the top floor at the Gravity a Bar overlooking the city. I loved it, but we were both tuckered out. Old and out of shape!!
Overall we loved Dublin even though we did’t get to experience much of it. I’d visit again for sure.
Guinness is good!
It’s the last day of our vacation as we fly out tomorrow (Thursday)
A trip to Belfast would not be complete without paying tribute to the hard-working shipbuilders of Titanic and to those lives lost.
We had our first day (well, technically only half) in Belfast, Northern Ireland. More to come.
This morning Dave and I checked out of Fir Tree Hotel. I can honestly say we will not miss it and will not be visiting again. You’ll notice we haven’t posted any photos of it or our room. Onward…
We are now headed to Belfast to drop the car off at the airport, get a cab into the city and check in to our hotel for the next three nights.
Dave indicated I had not taken a photo of him driving the car. I took a short video in Scotland of him, but realized he was right. So here it is!
He did a great job driving, despite my nagging him he was too close to the curbs and hedges and a GPS/SatNav that died and having to use a different one. We really liked the Audi we got upgraded to by the nice man inside the airport at the Hertz desk. He was great even taking us outside to let us know where we’d be returning the car.
Dave got us safely back to Belfast airport today. It was a shame the young men who man the outside Hertz rental car pick up & return were so unhelpful and rude. Both at pick up and return, they were unpleasant to deal with.
Anyway…the taxi driver and hotel receptionist more than made up for the airport dudes. Both were extremely friendly and helpful and answered all our questions.
We were both hungry and walked over to White’s Tavern for lunch and a pint. I had Bangor’s (sausages) and Mash (potatoes) and Dave had fish n’ chips and we both had Guinness. What a cool pub. Supposedly haunted, it originally was established in 1630. Which means it has been a pub since around the times the Pilgrim’s landed. Think about that.
Our first order of business after checking in at The Premier Inn, was to take a hop-on, hop-off bus tour of the city. We walked to the first stop and were glad to see the tour was just about to leave. We sat on the outside, upper deck of the double-decker bus and were whisked around the city for an hour and a half tour.
Unbeknownst to us, there was a woman’s rights march today in Belfast and the bus had to wait for the march a bit and drive a slightly different route.
The tour showed the good, the bad, and ugly. Unfortunately, there is still some major bad and ugly in Belfast with the religious differences and segregation. There has been peace, but you can tell the unrest could bubble up at any time. After photographing a few of the murals dedicated to those who sacrifices or were innocently killed, I stopped photographing them. I hate war, I especially hate violence, and I wasn’t crazy about it all being a focus of a tour bus. It is, however, part of Belfast’s past and should be remembered to not repeat in the future.
There are some historical buildings in Belfast NOT associated with The Troubles, and they were pointed out and they drove through what could be considered the “slums” of the city as well as the more affluent neighborhoods. It was uncomfortable to me to not only take the tour bus down the streets of these poorer neighborhoods, but for the tour guide to be talking on the speaker about how poorly they live….while driving down the street and people who live their walking about. Edinburgh, this was not. And perhaps that is WHY they do it. They need to show the world.
We also drove to the Northern Ireland parliament building which is very grand, but way outside the main city.
After the tour we walked around the city for awhile and did a wee bit of shopping. Dave picked up a free Guinness hat and I bought one of the two things I’ve been looking for in Ireland: a Claddagh ring.
There is an old Irish saying that goes, “With These hands, I give you my heart and crown it with my love.” The Claddagh ring consists of a heart with a crown held by two hands symbolizing love, loyalty and friendship. There are specific ways one is supposed to wear them as well.
Dave is still not quite over his cold and I was starting to get a sore throat so we cut our night short and hope to get some rest.
We’re off to the big city today. I want to apologize to Belfast for the smelly Americans walking around. We brought FAR too many heavier pieces of clothing for these warm & muggy temps. I’d buy more cooler clothing, but getting my luggage through check-in at airport in four days is already going to be an issue.
Our last day on the coast before moving inland,
Our last day in Ballintoy greeted us with more haze and clouds, but still warm and no rain! We’ve been very fortunate thus far.
This morning I tried the white pudding for breakfast and found I quite like it. White pudding is broadly similar to black pudding, but does not include blood; modern recipes consist of pork meat and fat, suet, oatmeal and breadcrumbs formed into a large sausage. It had a nice crunch and wasn’t as spicy as the black pudding from yesterday. Would I go out of my way order it again? I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t turn it down if offered.
We met a nice older couple from southern England over breakfast this morning and shared pleasant conversations about travel and places we’ve all visited. The O’Rourkes were lovely.
We shared our day’s plans with Theresa and she told us to take any of the breads and muffins we’d like with us for our lunch. I had just enjoyed a piece of what I believe was strawberry bread that was delicious, so I grabbed two pieces of that and two muffins. Theresa gave us a small container of butter and two plastic bags to take. Great idea!
If you have tired of descriptions and photos of ancient castles, then look away, because this one is a doozy. Our last castle in Northern Ireland was Dunluce Castle. Even though it was abandoned in the late 1600’s it was amazing how much of this castle remains, especially with it’s ocean-side, cliff-top setting.
It has easy access and an easy-to-read map describing each area. A lot of archeological work has been done on the grounds and some of the photos and artifacts are on display.
I was fascinated with the “lodgings” or guest quarters where each room had their own fireplace. This was actually OUTSIDE the castle grounds. One of the two-feet thick walls had fallen over at some point and it has been left right where it fell.
The views out every window and ledge were stunning. Dave and I both took so many photos from different angles and locations. We would rate this attraction high on our list of must-sees.
We kept seeing this spectacular sand beach while touring Dunluce and were able to pinpoint where it was. A short drive along the coast and there it was…just ready & waiting for us. It’s called White Rocks Beach in Portrush and it’s wonderful.
Dave and I settled into a nice spot on the sand, enjoyed the rolling waves and people watching and had our baked treats we had brought with us from the B&B. A terrific spot. And, yes, it does have white rocks,
Our next destination was to Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. Although both of us had already agreed we probably would NOT walk across this narrow, rope bridge, we DID want to see the way to get to it and enjoy the view on this suddenly warm, sunny day. The path TO the bridge wasn’t too bad, but it would have been a bear for both of us to complete on the way back. So we enjoyed the tremendous views.
We went back to the B&B for a rest before dinner and the TV was on in our room. Really odd since we haven’t turned on the TV since our vacation started.
Then we went back to the Fullerton Arms for dinner. When we walked in to the place, it was noticeably quiet and dark. The power was out. Just as we were deciding what to do, the power came back on. I had fish n’ chips and it was fantastic. We then drove to Ballintoy Harbour for a final look. It was lovely being bathed with sun this time instead of haze.
We returned to B&B and the TV had come in again in our room. Then we learned there was s power outage here as well. I guess it’s not that unusual.
Dave andI go inland to Strabane tomorrow. I will miss Ballintoy, it’s scenery and the very friendly people. Thank you!
Another cloudy, hazy day, but not cold and more importantly, NO RAIN!
