May 11 - NI

Day 3 - Saturday, May 11, 2002

We had a great breakfast overlooking the sea at 8:15 AM. Later we chatted with Mary, the owner, about the reputation that continues to haunt Northern Ireland. As she put it, if you're raised on hate, you're going spread it wherever you go. It looked like we were in for a day of rain as a fine mist fell while we were talking. By the time we were in the car though, the skies had cleared and we were off to a beautiful start. We decided to do the Torr Road again, this time with clear skies. Mary had suggested that on a clear day you can make out Scotland in the distance. That day, the Mull of Kintyre seemed close enough to touch. We couldn't believe that we hadn't seen it the night before. The views were every bit as wonderful as the night before, but this time the visibility looked to be about 50 miles or more. I swear that I could just make out the peaks on the Isle of Skye in the distance, but Felicity said I was crazy. This time, as we approached the end of Torr Road, we turned off and took a tiny road out to Murlough Bay. We never made it down to the bay, but the scenery from the cliff's edge was great. There were, of course, sheep everywhere. Rathlin Island seemed so close, I thought it was the mainland.

This was going to be a busy day, so we headed off to Carrick-a-Rede. We made it to the parking lot and it was almost empty. As with virtually everyday on this trip, it was windy, but not too windy to close the bridge. As I remember, it is about a 15-20 minute walk to the bridge. The walk gives you views of chalk white cliffs and Rathlin Island in the distance. You don't see the bridge until you are just above it. We both crossed and took pictures of each other, but there were people waiting behind us, so we didn't linger on the bridge. Even with the wind, It wasn't particularly scary. The Island itself is a beautiful location. You pass the steps down to the "fishing port" just after you cross the bridge and a very short walk takes you to the top of the island. Mind you, this is a very small island and you can go from edge to edge in about a minute. Once again, you will have views of Rathlin Island and on a clear day, Scotland in the distance.

As we were leaving the Island, we discovered why it is that we are not tour bus types. As we got to the bridge, a bus load of people had just arrived to cross from the other direction. The serenity of the area was gone. A row of easily 50 people of all ages stood waiting on the stairs and up and around the corner to make the perilous crossing. Just as a person would get close to our side, another one would begin the trek across the bridge. This is a one way path and it took quite a while to convince them that we wanted to cross. It probably took close to an hour to get them all across. That's when it occurred to us than when you're with a tour, everywhere you travel is crowded.

We headed next to Giants Causeway. This section, from Carrick-a-Rede to Dunluce Castle, was the only area of Northern Ireland where we experienced crowds. We didn't let it bother us too much. When we got to the Causeway we decided to be lazy and take the free bus to the famous basalt columns. I was pretty thankful for this. The columns are quite an amazing geological formation. Many people had brought picnic lunches to eat while sitting amongst the columns. It was a nice place for a snack but it sort of detracted from the natural beauty. I could live with it though. If you feel inclined, there is a walk that will take you along the Causeway Coast that would make for a nice long day of hiking. We chose not to do this. In the end, I found Giants Causeway to be more interesting than spectacular, but that may have had something to do with having driven the Torr Road.

Dunluce Castle was next. Another short drive and we were there. The castle is in ruins, but it's perch on the cliff's edge makes for a memorable site. The cliff's edge is a part of it's most often told history, that of the kitchen and it's staff falling into the sea on a stormy evening in 1639. From the area near where the kitchen used to be, you can look west along the coast and see the "wishing arch". Apparently, if you made a wish while viewing the giants head through the arch, your wish would be granted. That is apparently not an easy position to get to.

We decided to continue on and spend the night on the Inishowen Peninsula. As it turned out, it was a pretty easy drive. We drove up the Coast through Moville to Dunagree Point and then came back and settled on the Seawater View B&B in Redcastle. It was a newly redecorated place and had a beautiful view of Lough Foyle, which is essentially the bay which leads out to the North Atlantic. We had dinner in Moville at "The Town Clock". It was originally an old market building that had been converted into a restaurant. It was a beautiful place and the food was excellent. The Irish have a different idea of "spicy" My stuffed chicken breast in a spicy red pepper sauce was great, but not very spicy. We had banofee for dessert. This is an Irish specialty I presume....a toffee base with bananas on top and lots of fruit on the side. It was fantastic.

We followed our dinner with an evening drive that took us out to Kinnagoe Bay. Then, struggling to keep our eyes open we returned to our B&B to get some rest after a VERY long day.

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