Kathleen and John are coworkers both from London. Kathleen is working aboard, originally from California, and John is from London. They are doing a short tour of Ireland starting in Belfast, exactly the opposite of our travels.

It was around 9:30am when the tour started. A combination of the dark drizzling weather, the tour guide’s monotone voice, my lack of sleep and my newfound skill to sleeping while sitting quickly knocked me out. I didn’t mind catching some zzz’s as my main reason for being on that bus wasn’t till the afternoon. I picked up a few facts here and there, but it wasn’t until after our first stop that I actually woke up.

Our first stop was a Castle by a shore. We were able to get out and stretch our legs. We were only limited to the outskirts of the castle as going in actually costs additional money. Most of tour was on the bus, driving by places and a short narrative about the importance of that location. The scenery was quite good, but the rainy weather was hindering our enjoyment.

As we drove through some wooded areas, the bus driver disclosed that there was a lot of de-froestation going on. However there is a new law that says every single tree cut down two new trees must be planted. As a result the road divides the forest between tall old trees and small new trees.

The sun peaked out from behind the clouds as the bus made another stop. We had arrived a Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. It cost a few pounds just to walk across the bridge, but we thought what the hell? When’s the next time we’ll be in Northern Ireland right? The view leading up the ridge was spectacular. Cliffs that turn into rolling hills. Again the fields are littered with sheep. I’ve never been to New Zealand, but I’ve heard it is the land of the sheep. Right now I am willing to bet Ireland could probably give it a good run for its money.

We reached Bushmill’s Whiskey distillery and was again able to take a break. The guide suggested that we try the 12year old malt as it was difficult to find anywhere else. Nathan, Gene and I ended up sharing one just for kicks. It was smooth but I couldn’t really tell that much of a difference. I personally have never heard of Bushmills. I’ve always liked Maker’s Mark or Jack Daniels. We bordered the bus just in time to miss the incoming showers.

The bus guide drove through several other points of interest. It seemed that most of the people we kind of tired as I saw several people sleeping, including Gene. I don’t blame them the monotone voice of the bus driver reminded me of my highschool biology class and gloomy weather made each site all that less interesting.

We stopped on the side of the road to have a view of another Castle by the sea. This one in fact has been slowly falling into the sea one section at a time. The weather, as it has been for most of Ireland, changed yet again. The clouds opened and sunshine broke through the clouds. It instantly felt warmer.

Our last stop was the main attraction, Giant’s Causeway. Giant’s Causeway consists of roughly 40,000 interlocking hexagonal columns. Legend explains that an Irish giant built the causeway in order to fight another giant in Scotland. There are similar rock formation on the other side of Scotland. Science explains that intense volcanic activity during the Paleogene period caused these distinct formations.

There are two paths to the causeway. The longer one is to walk along the top of the cliff above the causeway and then back down to the formation. The more direct path goes directly down towards the causeway. There are buses that run up and down the shorter path which costs 1 pound for the ride. With two and a half hours to spare we decided to take to the long way.

Below is a picture of a rock formation called the Gaint’s foot.

Each of the hexagonal stones are interlocked together in various heights. They form steps going up and down along the coast before dipping down below sea level. The tops of the columns are sometimes concave and other times convex. The lower columns hold circular pools of sea water where various mosses grow. The columns are a golden brown at top and steadily change to a dark brown towards the bottoms. It is a truly unique site to see.

The guide that sold us the tour tickets had recommended that we try salmon and champ. Champ is mashed potatoes mixed with scallions and if you haven’t had salmon yet I feel sorry for you. I’ve never ever heard of champ until now. Apparently the salmon here is suppose to be one of the best in all of Ireland. The guide explained that the city of Belfast releases 40,000 salmon fry each year into Northern Ireland’s streams and rivers in hopes that the adult salmon will return to their birth city to once again spawn; all so I can get the freshest and best salmon available. Good job Northern Ireland!

Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland which is its own country, which means I am on country number two of my trip. Located on the north eastern edge of the island, Belfast serves as a hub for us to fly over to Glasgow, Scotland. Crossing into this new country did not require any border checkpoints or customs.

Besides being a hub for our travels, Belfast is also full of history. Home to one of the bloodiest feuds ever, Belfast has many historical places such as the second most bombed hotel in the world. Besides grabbing a claim from violence, Belfast is also home to the world’s second and third largest crane (#1 is Dubai), the shipyard that built that world’s largest ship (the Titanic), and the oldest News Paper.

After changing our Euros to Pounds, we found the Linen Hostel. Dropping off our bags we headed to the town center to explore the city. The main capital building seems like a central location of the town. There are various historical buildings surrounding it. There was also a Ferris Wheel right next to the capital building which seemed very out of place. That day we explored Belfast and found some tickets for a Northern Ireland tour the following day; the tour included Giant’s Causeway which was one of my top destinations on this trip and also to my surprise the tour was ranked #2 in Europe.

We met some French fine arts students at the hostel that night. They could speak limited English and it was extremely difficult at times to establish a clear channel of communication. At some point Nathan was speaking French, I was speaking Spanish (not because I was confused, but one of the girls knew some Spanish), and they were speaking English. This is one situation that I have yet to run into. Thus far, we have been blessed with the fact that everyone was on the same language channel. I guess this serves as a reminder to the difficult times ahead when we venture into a country with a foreign language.