The travel bug bit us again, so we hoped on a jet plane
(budget airline of course) and headed to Northern Ireland. Our flight was
really early in the morning on Friday so we had to spend the night in Edinburgh
the night before. Thursday after work we hopped on a bus and headed to
Edinburgh. Immediately Raymond got car sick and almost lost his cookies several
times on the hour and half ride to the big city. Here is a picture that
documents Raymond’s pathetic face throughout the trip. I tried my best to help
him but to no avail.
We finally got to Edinburgh and Raymond almost kissed the
ground as we departed from the dreadful bus. We made our way to the hostel got
situated and then headed out for pint before hitting the hay.
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| One Sick Puppy |
It was a beautiful 45 minute plane ride to Belfast as the sun came up over the clouds.
The coastal route was beautiful on our way to the top of Northern Ireland. We went straight to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. It was really dramatic weather so we were excited about crossing the rope bridge to the island. When we got across the "scarry" (not as scary as we were made to believe. We are total bad asses) the island was super slippery.
True to form, I slipped and fell into the muddy hill. Okay, okay maybe I'm not a bad ass. I was walking around looking like I sharted myself. People started dropping left and right, which made me feel a little bit better.
We decided that we needed to spend some time out of the cold and rain. We went on a tour of the oldest licensed whisky distillery in the world, Bushmills Whisky Distillery. As soon as we walked in the door we were given a Hot Toddy which warmed our child bones! YUM!
The next day we went to see the famous Giant’s Causeway.
I’ve been bugging Raymond about taking me for the past year! We weren’t too keen on paying the parking and visitor centre fee so we drove around until we I spotted a parking space. It wasn't too far from the causeway and hopped a few fences to avoid said visitor centre. (bad ass status reinstated???)
We did a lot of hiking and were constantly in awe of amazing scenery that surrounded us. The weather was perfect.
The wind was kicking up some huge surf!
From there we drove to Muff, Ireland where Raymond's relatives are from. We had a good inappropriate laugh at the name of the town and then we saw this restaurant...
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| The Sqealin' Pig MUFF |
After Muff (snicker) we went to Derry and learned all about the riots. There is still a separation between Irish and English in Derry. It's crazy to see.
The next day we drove to Belfast and went to the Titanic museum. It was really really amazing. I would highly recommend going. After the museum we went to the Christmas Festival and got some mulled wine. Yummmmm
The next day we left Belfast to explore before driving to the airport that night. We found a cool Abbey that's got nothin on the Scottish border Abbys. We also stumbled upon St Patrick's grave. This was really cool to see and the Cathedral that was attached to the grave yard was quite impressive. From there we found a really cool Museum, Ruined Castle, and the oldest Castle that is still used as a private residence in Ireland. The oldest part of the castle was built in the 11 hundreds. It was simply amazing.
Trip side note:
I found two cute kitties along the way! One at the whisky distillery and one at St Patrick's grave, see below:
Raymond said they were gross but I loved them! I'm starved for animal attention.
Later Days
