Europe Part 3 - Ireland - May 13-15, 2008

Ireland is so picturesque, and this trip report doesn't really do it justice. Also, I'm pretty sure I took more panoramas here than the rest of the trip combined, so you should definitely check out Flickr.

119 Northern Ireland photos - CLICK HERE.
30 Dublin photos - CLICK HERE.



I arrived in Belfast late after Parc Asterix, and the Belfast Youth Hostel was my first hostel of the trip. I thought it was nice, but it actually was probably the worst hostel of the trip. That's not really saying anything bad about this place, but rather that all of the hostels were great. It really is the best way to stay in Europe. It was especially good on the days I was by myself, as it is a great way to meet other travelers, and it is also a great way to find information on the city, tours, bar crawls, etc. Here in Belfast, though, I was not alone, as I met up with Will there.



First picture from Belfast: this lovely semi-outdoor shopping mall seemingly imported straight from good old America.



It took very little time for us to see the "sights" of Belfast. This is (I believe) the city hall.



The most interesting part of Belfast (and what made it stand out more than Dublin) was the walk we took through the loyalist district.



While it's unlikely that a civil war will break out on the streets around you in Belfast these days, there are still some tensions and extremists.



The murals in parts of Belfast are the most interesting (and often disturbing) things in the city.



You can't really see it, but behind us is a mural celebrating North Carolinian Andrew Jackson.



I'm not so bad at propoganda myself, making sure to get the tricycle in this shot.



This wall in the city still stands, and we had to walk way around it to get to the other side.



Ah, homesickness.



Moving out of the loyalist area, a smiling Bobby Sands watches over us.



We had to have a drink at what Will called the oldest pub in Belfast. This was later found to be untrue.



I was smuggled into the Queen's library long enough to get what Will claimed was the best view of the city.



So, the days I was in Ireland were very strange. It did not rain a single time, and it was abnormally hot. People didn't even seem to know how to react. Will actually got sunburned.



The Botanic Gardens at Queen's University was a really nice park, and everyone seemed to flock to it on this hot day.



Queen's basically encompasses a decent sized chunk of the city, and the campus is fairly nice.



Coming from a school that essentially has a dry campus, it was a bit of a shock to find that Queen's has 3 bars in its student center. Ah, Ireland.



I joined Will and some of his friends for the required UK meal of fish and chips for dinner at a local place in town.



The rest of the night was spent in the student center. Imagine that; a student center where students actually want to go?!?



So I was completely against any sort of tours going into this trip, but was convinced to take a day bus tour along the northern coast. It changed my mind a bit about tours, because it was really good. This was at a quick stop outside Carrickfergus Castle.



Seeing castles is another requirement that must be satisfied when visiting Ireland.



Ireland was kind of shocking, because it's basically just as beautiful and incredible as the stereotypes, movies, and picture books make it seem. If I had not done the tour, I would not have really seen any of the Irish countryside, which is really more important to see than the cities.



We had a long stop to walk along the cliffs out to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, which came just in time, because I was getting horribly sick from winding through narrow twisting country roads in a charter bus.



See, now you pretty much HAVE to go to Flickr if you actually want to see this picture.



Here I am in fairy tale land.



Next stop; Dunluce Castle, or rather what is left of it. The driver told some story about a wave washing away part of the castle, but given the height of the cliff, that would have been a tidal wave of globe changing proportions, so it was probably a tall tale.



Next, the Old Bushmills Distillery. The air all around this place, and presumably in the entire town, smells like whiskey.



Of course there's a full selection in the tasting room. Guinness is good and all, but whiskey is Ireland's greatest contribution to the world.



The final destination, and ultimate goal of the tour, was Giant's Causeway, a bizarre result of a volcanic eruption that is one of the greater natural wonders of the world. This is part of the long trek to the top of a cliff overlooking the Causeway.



I was told more than a few times that I was a lucky bastard for being here when the sun was actually shining.



Here is the Causeway.



It really is bizarre, and hard to imagine how this formed naturally.



The rocks are all evenly six sided and fit together.



It also seemed like a good place to break an ankle, which would not have been a good start to the trip.



Ireland isn't exactly known for its food, but Guinness Pie makes for a good meal.



The last evening in Belfast was spent at the Belfast Empire, and naturally there was a band covering American pop songs.



Thankfully we left for Kellys Cellar, an older and more traditional little place.



Here I got to fullfill one of my final Ireland requirements of having an old drunken Irishman rant to me about nonsensical things for a good 15 minutes or so.



So my time in Belfast came to an end, and it was time to venture off into the solo part of my trip. And, for what it's worth, Will, I think you were right. It was better to spend the time in Belfast than Dublin.



Now that I've made a little dig at Dublin; the next stop: Dublin! I took the morning bus to the famous city in the Republic, but only had about 4 hours to spend there.



The river through the center of Dublin is cool, and seems like it would help with navigation, but in fact I got ridiculously lost, even with a map. I'm pretty sure the map from the Guinness Storehouse website is terribly inaccurate.



I passed by the Old Jameson Distillery, but did not do anything but stop in the gift shop.



There was some sort of election coming up apparently.



Here's a fairly nice cathedral. Cathedrals are apparently the thing to do while touring Europe.



As beautiful as Ireland is, the Guinness Storehouse is the most popular tourist attraction in the country. I added to the tally.



The place is actually pretty huge, and the tour expansive. I had to rush through it since I had a flight to Munich quickly approaching.



The tour culminates on the seventh floor at the gravity bar, where you receive a complimentary pint and get a panoramic view of the city.



Dublin seemed like a pretty fun city, but I don't regret choosing to spend my time in Belfast instead. My short visit came and went quickly, and it was time to make the hop across to the mainland.

Next Up - Germany



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