Brenna's Ireland: Northern Ireland is really showing off this weekend...! Incredible

The International Students Society here at NUIG was offering a trip to Northern Ireland for a really great price so Emily, Quinn and I signed up! We left on a Friday morning and headed to Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. Some may not be aware that Northern Ireland is under the control of Great Britain and separate from The Republic of Ireland (in the South). They even go by different currency, the pound, instead of euro. When we finally got into Belfast, we had some time to explore so we all walked around the capital city. On our walk to the downtown, we went in and checked out St. Anne's cathedral, which was beautiful. Next we went out to this huge mall in the center of town that had a top level, about 5 stories up, that was a clear dome with a 360 degree of the whole city. It was really great to be able to see this new city I didn't know much about. After that we sat in the middle of the town and ate some of our lunch that we had packed. We had to get back to our hostel because we were going on a bus tour of the city. The tour was great, and we learned all about the history of the city and saw all the major attractions. I learned a lot about the horrors they experienced during war and their fight for peace within their country. We saw all of these wall murals that promoted their struggle for peace and the Northern Ireland War Memorial. It was a great tour and I discovered a lot about Belfast and what life was like in Northern Ireland compared to the Republic. Never before did I know how separate these two areas were that shared the same Island. During this time I was still in the process of writing my comparison paper for history about discussing these two areas during World War II. It gave me great insight on the effects of war on Northern Ireland. That night we went out to this pub or shall I say saloon. It was called the Crown Liquor Saloon and it looked a pub right out of the days of John Wayne. It was very old school and even had booths with swinging doors that closed. It was great craic there and then we went back to our hostel to hang out with some the friends we made.

The next day we were out of Belfast early and headed up North to the Antrim Coast. Our first stop was Carrik-a-Rede. By the time I woke up (I try to sleep as much as I can on those buses just so we don't have a repeat vomit incident!) I was amazed at how beautiful it was. The prettiest shades of green I have seen yet. It was exactly like I had picture Ireland. Carrik-a-Rede was incredible! As soon as we stepped of the bus, we saw huge cliffs of every shade of green imaginable. In the distance, we could see a huge island and the water was a beautiful blue hue that was really clear. We walked about a mile to get to the rope bride which is about 90 feet high from the water. We waited in line for a little bit then we made our way across the bridge that was shaking a bit from the strong winds. I felt like I was straight out of an Indiana Jone's movie, too bad Harrison Ford wasn't there! Surprisingly, I wasn't scared at all to go across. It was so much fun, I couldn't wait to walk back across from the tiny island. Maybe it was the amazing view the bridge had of our surroundings. I could not believe how beautiful it was on top of that little island. In the distance you can see the nearby Rathlin Island and beyond that we could actually see Island of Mull in Scotland, that is how far North we were!

We piled back into the Paddy Wagon bus and headed farther North to Giant's Causeway. The area is hard to explain but anyone that has seen it will understand how incredible it is. It is a four-mile-long stretch of the coast that is famous for its strange basalt columns. They look like perfectly carved hexagonal pillars that stick up at different levels on the beach. Rick Steve's tells us that "Geologists claim the Giant's Causeway was formed by volcanic eruptions more than 60 million years ago." It was the cooling of the lava flow that supposedly created these bizarre shapes. I like the old Irish legend better. Legend has it that an Ulster warrior named Finn MacCool built the causeway to reach his love who lived in Scotland and the rest of the causeway was ruined by giant who was chased back to Scottland by Finn after he had come to take back Finn's love. Our Paddy Wagon told it much better but that is the basis of the legend. It truly is incredible because as you are walking along, you are on normal rocks that you would see on any beach or coastline, then all of sudden emerges these giant steps that are all in perfect hexagons that extend up to create millions of steps. It was crazy! Emily and I explored a little more and even saw more of these strange shapes stuck in the mountain side further down. The weather we had these days couldn't have been better to spend the day outside. It was very sunny and was even pretty warm at one point. The waves were really strong near the causeway and at one point I just sat down on one of the many perfect steps and watched the strong waves hit up against these strange rocks. The sky darkened just a bit and it started sprinkling just a little bit. Then emerged one of the most perfect rainbows I had ever seen and from the trail I was on, it looked like it was coming right from the causeway. It seriously was a prefect picture of Ireland. I had a moment when I could not believe I was where I was. I was at a World Heritage Site on the best day for weather to experience it. Everything about the Northern Coast was ridiculously stunning and I could have stayed there for hours. But when the rain picked up, we headed back to the tourist shop and got back on the Paddy Wagon to head to the other major city in Northern Ireland called Derry. We got to Derry at around 5 or 6 so after settling into our hostel we went out to dinner at a place called The Ice Wharf. We met up with some of our new friends and had a great meal for a great price! All of the girls and I thought it would be fun to pool our money together and get a pitcher to share of a really girly cocktail because that was the first time we had seen cocktails in a pub in Ireland. The two pitchers we got were drinks called Fruity Tutu and Woo Woo. It was pretty funny ordering drinks that were so girly but they were delicious. It was a lot of fun to order my first cocktail and I had a great time chatting with the girls and Quinn (Quinn had no part in the ordering or drinking of Fruity Tutu or Woo Woo lol). After that we had heard that a bunch of the people from our trip were going out to this pub called Peadar O'Donnell's to listen to some traditional Irish music. While we didn't get to hear much traditional Irish music, I made some friends with these awesome people, three of them were from Italy and another was from France. I had a great time getting to know them and asking them questions about places to go in Italy and France. They were so nice and I had a great time getting to know them! The next morning there was an optional bus tour for 4 pounds around the city but Quinn, Emily and I figured we would do some exploring on our own in the morning. One major difference we found between the North and the Republic was how empty Belfast and Derry were at night time and in the mornings. Sunday morning in Derry seemed like a complete ghost town and it was like 10am. It was very different than Dublin and Galway, where there are always people walking around. Derry was really a great city with lots of city. The old ruler of Derry built a wall around the city to protect and the views on the top of the walls give a great view of its countryside. The walls looked so mid-evil and we even found some old war posts with cannon and old military look outs. The whole city spoke of a rich history that strived for Peace among violence. The Bloody Sunday Memorial (yes, like the U2 who made that song about Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland) and the Hands Across the Divide statue, both speak volumes about Derry's hope for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. After doing a bit of site-seeing, we finally found the only open cafe to crab a cup of coffee and sit down to wait to the other tour to be over. Many of the students met us there after the tour since it was basically the only thing opened that morning.

We left Derry and headed down the North-West Coast back to the territory of the Republic. We stopped in the countryside of County Sligo to visit the grave of William Butler Yeats, the famous Irish poet. The graveyard that it was at was very beautiful. It is kind of sad that there was a huge group of us there because I feel it took away from the experience of the quiet, serene landscape. I walked around for awhile by myself and read some of the tombstones that people had for their loved ones. All of these people had their own story and family that lost them and I felt so sad for these people. The messages that loved ones had written on the tombstones were so sweet. My favorite ones were "Peace Perfect Peace" and "Time Passes Memories Stay Quietly Remembered Everyday." I have always been fascinated by Irish high crosses and that graveyard was the first time I had ever seen one up close. They are so beautiful and I hope to do my final paper for Irish Art History on the Irish high cross. After visiting the grave we went into the city to grab a bite to eat and Quinn, Emily and I found this adorable little cafe. Someone was playing violin and I ordered the fresh, seafood chowder. By the time we got our food we had to be at our bus in like 5 minutes so I had to eat in piping hot as it burned my throat. I am kind of a baby about temperature hot things and I have never eaten that hot of soup that fast! We ate up really fast and made it to our bus before the left Sligo! I fell asleep on the journey back and when I woke up we were in Galway and it was still sunny and beautiful out! Overall, I had a great time in Northern Ireland and saw some of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. Successful trip to the North but it was back home to Galway! I had much planning to do before leaving for Paris on Thursday morning!

More pictures to follow, internet isn't letting me put any more on at the moment!