One Small Thing: Return to the Emerald Isle

On Friday, it was time to leave Warsaw. We caught our flight to Dublin!

I have been to Ireland a few times before and it is always exciting and wonderful to return. We picked up our rental car, stuffed all of our luggage into the trunk and tucked securely around our legs and were off to Newcastle in Northern Ireland, south of Belfast. We drove directly to our country B&B, called Tollyrose Country House, which was so beautiful. It was a pretty big travel day and we had made only one plan, which was to visit Tollymore Forest Park. The park is at the base of the Mourne Mountains. It is a completely beautiful park. A river runs through it and we selected to take a 5km hike along the river, following the red arrows. Our walk included an old bridge, a Hermitage, a couple of sites of stepping stones, and Parnell’s Bridge. Within the park, there are a couple of parts where scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed. That was pretty neat to see. But the forest was a beauty to behold. We were fortunate enough to see a few deer cross our walking path! By the end of our walk, it was getting later in the day and we actually saw an owl at the top of a tree.

We drove into town as I wanted to head toward the ocean. We chose to eat dinner at Percy French Restaurant on the Irish Sea. The restaurant had a Game of Thrones door! I enjoyed mussels (and baby shrimp a bit less so) and a wonderful sticky toffee pudding for afters. It was a good first day in Ireland.

Saturday we all enjoyed a full breakfast at our B&B and were out the door by 9. We made our way to the Dark Hedges. The Dark Hedges is a road that is lined with gnarly and twisted beech trees planted in the 18th Century. This was another Game of Thrones setting. All of the photos that I have seen of this sight are truly phenomenal. The trees were spectacular to see in person, however, they would have been even more spectacular if the three loads of tour buses where not there. The people clogged up the view.

Continuing on our northward journey, we headed to Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge. This bridge was originally used by salmon fishermen to catch salmon as they swam past. It has been used for 200 years. The bridge is 20 metres long, 1 metre wide, and 30 metres above the water. We parked in the car park near the water and below the walkway to the bridge. It was a 15 minutes walk to the bridge along the seaside and the views were spectacular. There was a line up to cross the bridge and a sign that said only 8 persons were allowed on the bridge at one time. Arlyn chose not to cross, so Calvin, Kim, Abby, and I walked across the bridge together to Carrick-a-Rede Island. The island is mainly a place to sit back and enjoy all of the wonderful views. You can actually see Scotland from this vantage point. We walked around and enjoyed the fresh sea air and the panoramic views.

The last stop on our trip north was Giants Causeway. Having been here before, I knew what to expect but that did not damper my desire to visit again. This time, the site was obviously much busier than the last time I had visited. However, it took us no time to purchase an entry ticket, enjoy a wee lunch, and line up for the guided tour. Alice, our guide, took us down the long path toward the ocean. As we walked, she provided information about the geology, the history of the site, and some legends. I love visiting here. It is a sight that I will never tire of seeing. We spent time climbing up and down the hexagonal stone columns. I took a lot of pictures but they will never capture the true beauty of Giants Causeway.

Our last stop of the day was our cottage accommodations that we would be sharing for the next few nights. Directs to these cottages are rather vague but with some rerouting and backtracking we made it to Garry’s Cottage.

Entrance to Tollymore Forest Park