Sunday, August 23, 2026
Belfast, Ireland
64F and mostly cloudy, some sun
I keep wondering when we are going to get to a warm port.
Today was not as cold as 2 days ago, but we dressed in layers again. This morning was a 6 a.m. wake up so we could
be at the port for our private tour to Giants Causeway. I think I am going to
need to learn how to write a shorter blog—you probably think I include every
photo that I take, but I do not!! I have
gotten very good at shooting pix out of bus windows. At least I think so. I
have been disappointed in my photography skills—at one time I switched to my
Android phone for two days but went back to the DSLR for what I thought were
better photos.
So today, since we have already visited Belfast (2024) and the
fabulous Titanic Museum, as well as St. George’s Market, we opted for a Giant's
Causeway tour. More rocks and ruins!
Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland is a world-renowned
cruise destination famous for its maritime history, vibrant street art, and
warm hospitality. Docking at the Belfast Cruise Terminal put us right at the
doorstep of the city's spectacular industrial shipyard heritage, most notably
as the birthplace of the RMS Titanic.
Belfast has an urban
population of approximately 345,000 residents, with the greater metropolitan
area encompassing around 675,000 people.
Northern Ireland has a population of 1.5 million people.
Today our tour was with Best Price
Shore Excursions (which was probably part of Viator). Our tour guide was
Angelina, a native of County Antrim/Belfast. I asked her if she watched the BBC
TV show, Derry
Girls, because her humor reminded me of
the characters in that show. She did watch the show and attended an all-girls
Catholic school too!
By 8:30 a.m. off we went on a comfortable
bus into the countryside of Northern Island along the North Antrim Coast. The
Irish landscape that we saw today was not as rocky as the Outer Hebrides. Hedge fences and stone fences dotted the countryside,
some were pastures for sheep, others for cattle. Pine and maple trees, patches of peat. There were a lot more sheep in the pastures
today.
Irish Gaelic is the native
language, mixed in with Scot Gaelic, and Hibernian English. Angelina was easy
to understand most of the time! She spoke of how superstitious the Irish are
and that they truly believe in fairies. She showed us a few Fairy Trees along
the route, and people do not dare do anything to harm them. (mostly black or
white Hawthorne, some maple). Such trees stand alone in a pasture or property.
Of course, I did not get a photo of any fairy tree.
Irish history is certainly convoluted,
and it is difficult to put it all together—she spoke briefly of the past 1000
years. Currently Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom--monetary
system is the Pound Sterling. Ireland is part of the European Union--monetary system
is Euros.
She did speak of the “Potato
Blight” or “Great Hunger” of the 1840s. They
do not call it famine because there was plenty of food. The renters had to pay
the landowners with their crops and livestock which were exported from Ireland
during the famine. The refusal of London to ban such exports was a continuing
source of controversy. It is probably
this situation which contributed to the Irish issue in British politics, the anti-British
sentiment, intensifying Irish nationalism, and the desire for independence. It
certainly was a turning point.
Our first stop was Dunluce Castle,
first built by the Anglo Normans. Subsequently many chieftains/clans lived in the
castle until it was abandoned in 1690.
It is thought to be the inspiration for Cair Paravel in Chronicles of Narnia. Exterior shots were used in Game of Thrones for
Pyke, House of Greyjoy. In 1973 its image was used in the inner fold of the Led
Zeppelin album, Houses
of the Holy.
Dunluce Castle ruins
Dunluce Castle-closer
According to legend, an Irish
Giant and a Scottish Giant Giants Causeway were building a stone bridge to confront
each other. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant%27s_Causeway In reality, the Giant’s Causeway is an area
of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient
volcanic fissure eruption during the Paleogene period, 50-60 million years ago.
Supposedly the cold air caused the unusual result. This unique feature is one of Ireland’s most
iconic places where myth and geology intertwine!
Neither TK nor I played on the rocks
TK makes a perfect model!
As rocks go, they are pretty cool!
I am so glad that we took a
shuttle to the Causeway, a mile downhill (1 pound/each) That meant we could take the shuttle
back uphill. I need to retain my energy!
That also meant we had enough energy to have coffee and sweets at the
nearby hotel—a rather posh hotel!
A tidy breakfast: raspberry scone, clotted cream,
strawberry jam, butter, and black coffee
Sticky toffee pudding for TK
I wonder why no one in our group
wanted to try the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge that connects the mainland to
Carrick-a-Rede, a tiny island. I could see stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean without doing
that! The first rope bridge was built over 350 years ago by salmon fishermen, a part
of the local salmon fishing heritage
Rope Bridge
(that's an 80 ft. drop by the way)
Unidentified island near Carrick-a-Rede
Our final stop was Ballycastle, a
small seaside town with great restaurants. We enjoyed fish ‘n’ chips here, fresh
haddock from the sea!
Our view while waiting to eat at Salt House
Fish n Chips at Salt House Restaurant
Ballycastle, Ireland
some fries are missing
Our view from inside Salt House Restaurant
Entrance and landscape
Closeup-Identified by TK's app as Agapanthus
Finally, we took a tour of the
area of great unrest in Belfast---even today one of the streets has its side’s
views, and the opposite has other views.
Angelina said that when she was 11 years old (in 1969) she was sent to
live with a family (not her own) to be safe, and our bus driver said he was 9
and was sent to Boston. This period was
called the “Troubles.” The wall art on
both sides of the street were remarkable. TK took a few photos. I do not think
every Belfast visitor sees this. Angelina said there is still controversy, and
it isn’t over religion—some want to be
united with Ireland again, and others want to stay with the UK.
"The Ulster State
Their footprints and songs
The Appalachian Trail"
--an example of the wall art--
It was a good day in Belfast!TK’s Takes: No swimming pools today, but some very nice
single family homes. He has never seen so much livestock in two days, sheep,
cattle, one pig, some horses—mostly sheep, and no goats. He is a city boy after
all. Giant’s Causeway is a good place to
exercise if you want to exercise.
