The travel loop we took to go to Belfast took us northwest
from Navan, past Enniskillen where the G8 Summit is being held, to Belleek, then
Portrush, (the name always makes me think of Doc Martin) and along the north coast. On a map you would see that we made a 3 day excursion out of
a two hour (each way) trip.
We over-nighted in Portrush which, with Ireland’s weather
reputation, must have a hard go as a beach town. It looks as though it is
struggling but pulling itself back up after the economic disaster of the last few years. We had a truly fantastic meal at Jackman and Pye.
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| Portrush from the yacht club balcony/bar |
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| what a life on a sunny day |
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| Dunluce castle in the background |
The next day we moved on to Bushmills Distillery, licensed in 1608 and
considered to be the oldest licensed distillery in the world. It’s another of
these world renowned operations located in less than a one-horse town and, if
you can believe it, they bottle for Jameson’s! How can a company as famous as
Jameson’s not have its own bottling plant? Because it’s another tiny operation located
on a back street of Dublin. Bushmills town has a population of about 1200 but
120,000 tourists visit the distillery every year.
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| an old copper still in the Bushmills cafe |
Part of the lure of going to Northern Ireland was to visit
the Giant’s Causeway. And we did, on a perfectly clear day. In November 2010 on
a tour in south eastern Iceland we were taken to an isolated spot, down a minor
gravel road, to the most stunning black beach and hexagonal rock formations.
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| Iceland, November 2010 |
I
thought, “great, we’ll see the other end of this phenomenon in Ireland; how fun”.
It turns out that legend has the Irish version connecting to somewhere in
Scotland (another trip?), but more interesting was the difference in presentation.
Giant’s Causeway is a UNESCO sight, with a huge and splendid visitor’s centre,
entry fees, shuttle buses to the site, audio tour headsets, thousands of
visitors, the ubiquitous gift-shop, etc. Despite all the hoopla it is a
gorgeous place and the shapes so regular it’s hard to think they aren't man-manufactured.
But that’s just human ego talking...
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| Jim on the giant's boot, left behind when he ran away |
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| a brief rest and a listen to the audio tour |
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| it is amazing |
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| and spectacular |
I
thought, “great, we’ll see the other end of this phenomenon in Ireland; how fun”.
It turns out that legend has the Irish version connecting to somewhere in
Scotland (another trip?), but more interesting was the difference in presentation.
Giant’s Causeway is a UNESCO sight, with a huge and splendid visitor’s centre,
entry fees, shuttle buses to the site, audio tour headsets, thousands of
visitors, the ubiquitous gift-shop, etc. Despite all the hoopla it is a
gorgeous place and the shapes so regular it’s hard to think they aren't man-manufactured.
But that’s just human ego talking...
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