Walking with Giants…

On the north east tip of the Antrim coast you’ll find one of the strangest sights in geology…The Giants Causeway as it is known, is home to thousands of perfectly formed basalt columns and gives way to many legends. The most widely told is that of the giant, Finn MacCool (gotta love that name!) who laid the causeway to reach his lover who lived across the ocean on the island of Staffa in Scotland. There are similar formations on that side as well. Scientifically the story goes how 61 million years ago a series of volcanic eruptions began the process of developing these amazing stone pillars.

It is a place which attracts thousands of tourists every year but the sheer beauty of it stands on its own and is for obvious reasons, a photographers dream….the cliffs surrounding the sight are lush and gorgeous as well and luckily we were there before they started to build a newer, BIGGER visitors center which will probably change the feel if not the look of the place. Anyway, well worth a visit… 
Further on up the road and inland is the city of Derry. On the road signs in the U.K it will say ‘Londonderry’ and after some confusion I asked our driver Eric what gives with the name? He told me what I suspected that it depends which side of the coin you’re on…Catholics call it Derry and Prods call it Londonderry. It has been home to much conflict and in particular of recent when British troops shot dead 13 demonstrators in 1972.  There is such a strong sense of the troubles when you are in and around places like Derry. Murals depicting fallen heroes and the like are seen throughout the town. Unfortunately  I forgot my backup battery so no photos of Derry. The people were very friendly and we had lunch in a cozy old pub. Anyway, save for the Japanese girl who delayed the bus for 45 minutes we arrived back safe in Belfast for a good old pint at the crown Saloon…apparently one of Belfast’ oldest pubs who housed the builders of the Titanic. We also took a stroll through the Europa Hotel which is the most bombed hotel in the world.

A ride in the Paddy Wagon…

My dad and I decided that instead of renting a car, we would take a bus tour along the Antrim coastline.  We hadn’t quite wrapped our heads around the madness of Irish and U.K driving methods even though I own and have been driving a right hand drive van for 3 years. I still needed to warm up to the crazy speed limits and those oh so joyous roundabouts! We booked a comfy, large coach from the Belfast Hostel by phone and just about died laughing when the thing pulled up in front of the 5 of us tourists waiting by the curb. We thought the Dublin hop on hop off was cheezy! Roll on up…The Paddy Wagon! Big , green and a huge, scary Leprachaun painted on the side of the bus.                                                                                                           

Well needless to say we sat right up front for optimum views and close contact with our driver, being the crazy, hell bent tourists we are. Our day started out with nice weather again and off we went. Northern Irelands’ coast is rugged and cliff strewn. As we ambled along our driver gave us an amazing history about the area as well as the south of Ireland including a detailed account of Oliver Cromwell and his campaign against the Irish in the mid 17th century. Much mention was also made of the uprising of 1916, Michael Collins and the recent troubles in Belfast Derry and Omagh. Ireland , it seems, has always had conflict amongst the people and therefore reflects in all aspects of life here. Our first stop was on the outskirts of Balleycastle and the view of Ratlin Island.

The next stop is a rope bridge at Carrick-a-rede which although had spectacular views, the 8 pound fee to cross the thing was not within our limited budget…        

We enjoyed the walk and cooed with the cows in the field…

Where we’ve been leaves us with dreams…

A view of the route we took.  As the " ’Be Good Tanya’s’ say….”you pass through places and places pass through you, but you carry them with you on the soles of your travelin’ shoes…”

New and improved

So lets see…where were we…oh yes..the motherland..Ireland.

After our adventure in the centre of Dublin and some much needed rest, Aja, dad and I made the pilgrimage to Northern Ireland.

More specifically to Belfast where dad’s family came from on his mothers side.

Luckily Aja had the weekend off so she offered to drive us up and then dad and I would hang out for 3 days while she went back to Dublin.

I had highlighted a side trip which was about 10 minutes off the motorway and am I ever glad we took this detour!

The place is called Mellifont Abbey just west of Drogheda and is the first Cistercian monastery to be built in Ireland around 1142.

Once again we had gorgeous weather (not to be taken lightly in Ireland in May!) and not a soul around….it really lends to a place so sacred and beautiful when there’s no one else there.

So while we were up looking around the ruins, we met a man and his young son who lived up the road. He asked us if we had been to Monasterboice and if we hadn’t we really should see it as it is home to some of Irelands’ oldest High Crosses from the 10th century….

Of course we took him up on his offer to follow him about a 5 minute drive up the road. 

Good thing we followed him because it was around a few good winding, narrow and twisty, turny tracks that might not have been too easy to find by description alone.

Out in the middle of a pastoral valley was this amazing 5th century cemetery complete with the crosses and a gorgeous round tower made of stone….

BIG cross…wee da..

The incredible thing is that the big crosses were all carved by hand and made of a single slab of stone….must’ve had a hell of a lot of time on their hands, those monks…

 I even found a little birds nest in the window of the Roundtower!   

                                                                 

We got a bit lost in Belfast but after a few dead ends and looking over our shoulders a few times we found our B&B on a lovely tree lined street.

The reason for a bit of nervousness was that when Aja came up to Belfast a year ago, she arrived on the day of the Orangemens Parade. Hundreds of people marching in support of Prods and British rule…not a day when you want to be driving around with Irish license plates.

After we checked in we went for a stroll into the city and had a look at the beautiful sight of Queens University built in 1879.

On the loose in Dublin town...

I have to say that my dad is one hell of a trooper! After nearly getting killed riding a bike and almost falling off a 300 foot cliff, I must say I was a bit concerned on how the rest of the trip was going to go. Needless to say by the end of our tour, I will tell you this: I never met anyone who had never been overseas who fit in like a comfy pair of jeans and who let everything that came his way gently flow over him. Anyway after tripping around on the Aran Islands, we were aboard the train from Galway back to Dublin. Train travel in Ireland is so civilized! Relaxing, comfortable seats, friendly folk all around and of course a bar on board for your afternoon Guiness. After a few days of rest we headed into the city centre of Dublin like kids in awe and amazement at this great town. We decided to be gorby tourists and did the hop on hop off bus thing which is actually a pretty good way to get about and lets face it, who's going to see you that you know anyway! The tour bus trundled about and gave us a good little history of the place and our first hop off was the Kilmainham Gaol. An intense Victorian jail which housed many men, women and children, mostly poor and their only crime mostly being Irish Catholic and fighting for independence from the British rule. So after some hardcore stories of the uprisings, we decided the next hop off would be the Guiness factory. Imagine 500 acres in the middle of the city belonging to a brewery! Ahh the Irish know their historical monuments and how to preserve them alright...The highlight is the 360 degree pub at the top with grand views of the city and of course a big free pint of FRESH Guiness. Did I mention that the Guiness does taste better in Ireland? After a lovely meal in the cafe there we started out for a good walk and wander around the Liffey river, Ha Penny Bridge and eventually into the Temple Bar district where we found a great pub and our first taste of traditional Irish music. By that time our fresh Guiness had worn off and it was time to replenish our iron levels as they were quite low by now...and you know whats good for that? You guessed it...the G word...I think around 10 pm we decided to stagger off to find the bus...got a bit lost and got friendly with a local who pointed us in the right direction (while telling his life story...) and arrived safe in Balleycullen. My daughter and her lad were a bit concerned but relieved when we showed up giggling and singing Dublins praise..."dirty old town...dirty old town.." To be continued...

Irish times...

So I've been looking back at some of my photos from my recent trip to Ireland and thought I would post some of my 

favorites...but first a quick history of the trip. My dad and I arrived in Dublin which was to be our base since my daughter Aja and her lad Robert were living there at the time. Our first trip was dad, Aja and I off to the Aran Islands. These are a group of 3 remote island off the west coast and very much locked in a time gone by. Many of the people there are 7th and 8th generation Islanders who rarely get off the island..one man we met last went to the mainland in 2004. Most of them only make one or two trips to the mainland each year. A gracious and friendly sort who mainly speak Irish gaelic and live simple lives with tourism being one of the major ways to make a living. Aran sweaters are known the world over but I think most of the wool comes from the mainland now and sheep farming has dwindled. The most obvious thing that you notice once you begin the bike trip from the ferry is the rock walls. They are everywhere and are amazing pieces of functional art. What else are you going to make your fences out of when you have millions of rocks and no trees? The other thing you will see are the thatched roof cottages of which we stayed in for the 2 nights we were there. The movie 'Man of Aran' made in 1939 was filmed in and around our B&B which goes by the same name. The movie is supposed to depict life on the Arans and although does give the basic gist, it was a bit more enhanced than the locals liked to think.Anyway a beautiful, rugged place with ancient history dating back to prehistoric times. One of the forts, Dun Aonghasa, is believed to be older than the pyramids of Egypt. Anyway I will continue these short photo journeys in coming blogs.

aahhh summer...

I am just getting used to the quiet after having my daughter Aja and her lad Robert here for two weeks. They have moved to Toronto via Dublin and came to spend the last few weeks of June here while they waited for their apartment to be vacated. There was much fun and exploring to be had such as our trip out to Parkinson Creek on the Jaun De Fuca trail west of here. The day was a bit drizzly but turned out rather sunny in the end especially after our big harvest of mussels from the shore. When it was finally time to leave, Robert was as hard to get away from the beach as the mussels that we just plucked from the rocks...like a kid in a candy store...happy as a clam...or should I say mussel! Anyway much scrubbing and steaming later, with a gorgeous white wine tarragon sauce, new potatoes and salad from the garden, the feast began...a successful 50 mile diet dinner...You gotta love the summer with its abundance of free food, good wine, friends, family and of course good wine to move it all along...To top off the incredible edibles I also found a tiny pearl in one of the mussels...apparently one in ten thousand...and me the lucky girl to find it!