Before we left the north of Ireland we wanted to visit The Giant’s Causeway, its most well known natural site. We found a bus tour with stops at a few other spots along the way while leaving us a couple of hours to explore this landmark.
The drive north west from Belfast along the Irish Sea to the North Atlantic is lovely.
We had a brief stop in Carrickfergus for coffee and castle viewing, before heading deep into Game of Thrones country.
Carrickfergus is one of those castles that looks formidable but, aside from long siege that degenerated into some light cannibalism, it seems to have been conquered or occupied by virtually everyone who was in the neighborhood including the Normans (they built it), the Irish, the English, the Scots, William of Orange and the Dutch-English, the French, and the English, again.
If you did not know that the HBO sensation Game of Thones had filmed in Northern Ireland you certainly will after a visit here. This particular bus tour made hay out of several short scenes that used various locations in the north. Our driver made the fair point that before Game of Thrones, Northern Ireland was primarily known for “the troubles”. This show helped to shift the focus to its natural beauty, resulting in a huge bump in tourism.
The sleepy harbor of Carnlough is one such example. There are dozens of picturesque coastal villages with views of the Scotland, including islands like Islay and the peninsula The Mull of Kintyre (cue Paul McCartney and Wings). We stopped there because the character Arya Stark climbed out of the water on the shoreline. It was a lovely little village though.
One sobering element of the drive were the flags. In some towns the Irish tricolor flies. These are predominantly Catholic areas. In other towns, the Union Jack and flag of Northern Ireland. These are Protestant towns. We never once saw a town where both sets of flags flew.
We had a quick stop at the Carrick-a-rede National Trust site with its famous rope bridge that is suspended thirty meters over the Atlantic from the mainland to the namesake island. We had to content ourselves with viewing the bridge from a lookout in the wind and the driving rain. The bridge has been in this spot (in various incarnations one assumes) for 250 years.
Then we were off to The Giant’s Causeway. This famous UNESCO World Heritage site was formed over 60 million years ago when the interaction between molten rock and the sea formed 40 000 perfectly formed basalt hexagonal columns of rock. It’s a long and winding walk from the carpark down to the shore but well worth it. It’s an otherworldly site and its origins seem impossible. It’s why most people default to the myth that it was built by the Irish giant Finn McCool to face his Scottish rival in battle. This is one place where the myth seems more plausible than the science. The name is certainly appropriate.
After visiting the causeway we had a lovely walk along the coast on a path that we shared with hundreds of runners who were involved in a coastal cliff race. The sun had appeared but the wind was still blowing strong.
We had a quick stop in at the Bushmills Distillery in the town of that name. Had a quick walk about but no whisky was consumed.
Our last stop was a final Game of Thrones scene at a spot that is now referred to as the Dark Hedges. It’s a tree lined laneway in a fairly ordinary farming area where a hotel, restaurant and giftshop have all popped up in support of the tourist interest in Game of Thones. The trees have been marked up with people carving their initials in them and dozens seem to have been cut down as a result of disease. One gets the sense that this may no longer be much of an attraction for long.
Back in Belfast we discovered that there are no restaurants that have passed a city health inspection which do not require a reservation on a Saturday night. We lucked into a waiting list spot at the Ragin’ Ramen restaurant which necessitated a dip into the Jailhouse pub just down the adjacent Joy’s Entry.
After a pint (Rich) and a Shady (Robin) we got our table and enjoyed a late bowl of Irish Ramen, a peculiar but delicious combination.
We had an hour or two to kill before our return train to Dublin the next morning and were fortunate to stumble upon the only free table at Harlem, a funky hipster breakfast spot next to Ulster Hall, Belfast’s famous concert venue. The recently unveiled statue of Irish blues and rock, guitarist Rory Gallagher, stood between the hall and restaurant in all its glory. A great breakfast, and a wonderful city.
We hope to return.
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