St. Patrick's Day 2011

One reason Jesse and Michelle came to Ireland when they did was so Jesse could celebrate his 30th birthday, which happens to be on St. Paddy's day, in Dublin.  We did lots of celebrating.

Counting down to the big 3-0

Birthday-Bushmills

On the way to the St. Patrick's Day parade

Michelle made Jesse a birthday shirt

While out on the town we found a new store that for the most part sells
only American products (at pretty steep prices).  They also sell marshmallow fluff,
Aunt Jemima, pancake mix, Nerds and jelly beans.  I can live without these things.

Portrush and Bushmills Distillery

After Giant's Causeway we continued north up to Portrush where we stayed the night.  The next morning we did some walking along the coast, visited Dunluce Castle, and toured the Bushmills distillery.

Michelle and Jesse enjoying some drinks

Breakfast at the Clarmont B&B

Richard's chuffed about the "Ulster Fry"

Dunluce Castle

beach walk

Bushmills Distillery

Bushmills whiskey tasting

Giant's Causeway

After leaving Belfast, we drove the famous A2 along the coast, passing on the way Carrickfergus with its castle and of 'I wish I was in Carrickfergus' fame, Larne of 'I wish I was out of Larne' fame, and Torr Head.

Then we bravely crossed the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge, with stark resemblance of Monty Python's 'Bridge of Death'. The bridge keeper had only one question, and while we can't reveal the details, it had to do with our tickets.

As it was getting dark, we got to the Giant's Causeway, which enhanced not only the character of the place - hexagonal rocks paving a way into the sea towards the Scottish coast - but also the wind and rain. We were quite happy to arrive at Portrush afterward.

The drive along the coast is just fantastic. For me, it's a major attraction, if not - according to our tour book at least - for the faint-hearted.

Looking south towards Cushendun

View from Torr Head

Jesse and Michelle like it

By the bridge

... must answer questions three

This rather misrepresents the perilous nature of the undertaking

This, too

The Giant's Causeway

The rocks

The giant, raging sea

Belfast

Right after Michelle and Jesse arrived, we drove north to see Belfast and the Antrim coast. As is customary, we started off with Indian for dinner, and then hit the pubs the landlord recommended. Well, no, we had dinner and went to bed. Next day, we saw Belfast, which is nice. We also visited some segregated areas in a black cab and saw murals.

The cathedral

The Laggan

The cab that took us around

Mural

Mural

The separating wall

Glendalough

We recently went to Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains.  Glendalough, or Gleann Da Loch in Irish, translates to "Glen of two lakes".  We saw the monastic settlement founded in the 6th century and walked through some of the old stone structures, some which date to the 8th-12th centuries.  Afterwards we did a hike to the two lakes, with a lakeside picnic in between.

Martijn, Jorien and Joakim Visit

At the end of January friends Martijn, Jorien and Joakim took the ferry from Bangor, Wales to stay with us for the night.  We had a great time seeing them and packed in a lot of fun and catching up in a short amount of time. (We borrowed a few pictures from Martijn and Jorien's blog-- hope you don't mind!)

Mourne Mountains

The other weekend, we drove up to the Mourne Mountains in County Down. We had planned on doing that for a while, because one can see the MM from Dublin Bay, most notably from the Howth peninsula, and they always look like a lot of fun. We stayed in Newcastle, and hiked up Slieve Donard, the highest peak, about 4000m. Or was is 850, I don't remember. From the very top, one can see Belfast, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales, and even the Wicklow Mountains. If there is no fog.

In the evening we visited the Quinn pub, which was great fun, a bit like the 'Time' in Bangor, for the benefit of those who used to frequent that. No pictures I am afraid. The next day, Kelsey drove us, the little Alfa and myself, down the coast, then over a mountain pass right through the Mournes, which is a marvelous place to drive, and then we headed back home. A great trip that we'll recommend to visitors in the future.

And here are some visuals:

On the way up Slieve Donard, looking at Dundrum Bay, of 'Coast' fame.

The views are still very good.

The Mourne Wall.

Almost there.

The peak in the clouds. We had to imagine Scotland, Wales, and all the rest.

It got sort of dark on the way down.

And that's what SD looks like without the fog, i.e. if we are not on it.

At the mountain pass.

Lake in the central Mournes.