A Trip to the Country

Today, John and I took off for the Causeway Coastal Route along Northern Ireland's northeast coastline. We were in search of sheep and cows feeding in the fields, old castles and ruins, rugged coastline and the glens of Antrim. We need some establishing shots of the island. It gave us the chance to get away from some of the traffic we saw during day one and see and capture some beautiful images.

We took off and drove on the M1 motorway (similar to our interstate highways) through Belfast and then headed to the coastline up to the village of Larne. We stopped a few times between Larne and Bushmills the first being along the water at Ballygalley. John wished one of our students was from their because it would be great to hear a narrator have to say it over and over again.

We then drove up into the hills above Ballygalley and stopped at the entrance to a house that overlooked the coast. While using a garbage can as a tripod (the tripod was still AWOL thanks to our airline), the owner came out to check on us. He told us to go up to his house to capture the views he has out his main picture windows. He also told us to continue up the coast for some outstanding views. He was right.

Using our "nat sat" device (GPS unit) lent to us by our bed and breakfast host Bill, we entered the Glens of Antrim. Nearly every little village along this part of the drive started with "Glen" such as Glenarm and Glenballyemon to name just two. The first picture is of one of the hills near the Glens.

We stopped for lunch at a place called Carnlough--fish and chips doused in vinegar and salt at a little cafe along the road. We took it to go and stopped along the coast after a short diversion (detour for road work) into the hills.

We headed north to see two things. One was for us to have some fun. The other was for the incredible beauty along the Irish coast.

The first (as you see in the picture to the left) was to walk the rope bridge at Carrick-A-Rede. The bridge runs 80 feet to connect to a small island. It was originally constructed by salmon fishermen to reach one of the places the would set their nets. The National Trust (similar to our National Park Service) now manages the site.

John was wearing a wind shirt from the U.S. Open golf tournament. One of the National Trust workers at the rope bridge had to rub it in that Northern Ireland's own Graeme McDowell took down the U.S. in the final match of the Ryder Cup. I couldn't look anywhere but where my feet were walking. John had no problem and even stopped to take a picture looking straight down.

Our next stop was at the Giant's Causeway (picture to the left). It's an interesting geologic feature of more than 30,000 hexagonal basalt column that were formed when lava of an underground volcano cooled in the cold waters of the Irish Sea. We stopped at the information booth to see if there was a charge. The man asked us where we were from. After we told him, he said, "Well for today only, everyone from Montana gets in free." His co-workers laughed. Then as he stepped out to show us the way to go, he tripped on a step. He caught his balance and said, "Well, that's what I get for being cheeky." Then we laughed. There were gigantic waves lashing the rocks. The wind shot sea foam into the air like confetti. It was quite a site. But you'll have to wait for the video to see the waves.

Anyway, both the rope bridge and the causeway required some walking. It was nice to finally get some exercise to try and burn off some of the food we're eating. Tonight we ate dinner at the bistro at The Plough here in Hillsborough. John and I were talking after dinner and the women across from us asked us where we were from. "I picked up on your accent right away," she said. She said she was originally from West Virginia but had been in Northern Ireland for 15 years. Everyone we've visited here has been incredibly friendly, helpful and "brilliant" as they like to say around here.

Today, the driving was much better. It was nice to be off the busy roads and able to get used to the car and the turns. If you want to park, you park and everyone just drives around you. It gets a bit tight now and then but generally you just wait your turn. I'm getting better with the roundabouts but still have times where I forget to look to the right.

Tomorrow, we'll park the car and take the bus into the city of Belfast to capture video of Belfast's landmarks. On Thursday, we'll be in Letterkenny, Ireland to do our first interview. Then we're off to Dundalk, Ireland on Friday. We'll keep you updated.