Last weekend we were able to spend the weekend with some friends in Northern Ireland, not the sort of place that we ever thought of going to for a break. It all came about because Steph’s chorus, Signature, and Enigma, the quartet, had entered the Coleraine music festival. Unfortunately it was cancelled due to a lack of participants, maybe due in part to the current financial crisis!
Some of us decided that we would go anyway, just for a weekend away. Ann, one of the ladies in the chorus, did a wonderful job of organising the whole trip, even getting our very own coach and driver for the whole weekend. Thanks for a great job Ann.
Shortly after we arrived at the local Premier Inn on Friday afternoon we obviously had to meet in the adjacent bar for a pint of Guinness, no really you do have to start a trip to the ‘Emerald Isle’ with a Guinness. We then all strolled over the bridge, well maybe it was a little bit more than a stroll, to The Lodge which had been recommended to us by our driver Kenny. The Lodge is an older style hotel on the opposite side of the river to where we were staying but the 20 minute walk was well worth it. The meal was nice, the staff where very friendly and the wine wasn’t too bad either! Then there was the entertainment, a man with his organ, so much singing and dancing. It was a bit like going back in time watching mostly the locals having a fabulous time on the dance floor. I even noticed that the table next to us, which consisted of 4 ladies, just had a jug of water all evening, you wouldn’t get away with that where we live!
Most of us braved the cold and staggered back across the bridge to our hotel though there were some who bottled out and took a taxi, shame on you!
Saturday was a bright and early start, well 9 o’clock, I must admit I’m glad that I decided on the continental breakfast as the English was just HUGE. At around 10.30 we set off on the coach for a grand tour of the coast, first stop was the beach at Portstewart.
We then drove on round the coast road to Dunluce Castle, about 3 miles to the east of Portrush. Dunluce dramatically clings to the top of a cliff overlooking the Atlantic.The castle is said to date back to the 14th centuary and is thought to be one of the most romantic and picturesque in the whole of Ireland.
Back on the coach and we were off to the Bushmills Distillery.
Unfortunately Ann had been unable to get us on one of the organised tours as our group of 10 was a little too small for them! Fortunately Kenny, our wonderful coach driver, was able to get us into the shop and introduced us all to the very mellow taste of Bushmills whiskey. We all sat and had a coffee in the cafe, well maybe we did also have the odd taste of the local brew! They say that this is the world’s oldest ‘licenced’ distillery but that the distilling goes back much further. We managed to reluctantly stagger back to the coach for the short drive onto our next stop at the Giant’s Causeway.
After watching the short video on how the causeway was formed geologically, or how the giant built it (definitely my preference, I mean what do these scientists know!), most of us walked down to the causeway those who took the shuttle bus down will have to remain nameless for legal reasons! The causeway is a wonderful spectacle though for some strange reason I thought it would actually be larger than it actually was. I think we all caught the shuttle bus back, due only to time constraints you understand, not laziness in any way at all.
While we had been sightseeing Kenny had been up to The Nook, a 19th century school now converted to a restaurant, to see if he could get us all a table for lunch and has he happened to know someone it wasn’t a problem. The Nook is a really lovely place for a meal, full of old world charm, good food and friendly service.
After lunch it was back onto the coach to continue our journey to the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge near Ballintoy. Here there is no choice. if you want to cross, or just view others crossing, the bridge you need to walk down the coastal path from the car park to the bridge.
The bridge itself was originally created by the salmon fishermen to cross the 18m chasm giving access to the fishery, it’s about 24m down to the sea below. In the end I think all but a couple of us managed to get to the other side. Once across there were some spectacular views of the Fulmar gulls gently gliding off the cliffs, didn’t see anyone with a hang glider trying it though.
It took everyone a while to get back to the coach, I think Kenny was a little upset as he really would have liked to have been home in time to see the start of the 6 nations final between Wales & Ireland, sorry Kenny but at least you did see most of it and what a nail biting finish it was too!
On Sunday morning, sadly, we had to check out and start our journey back to the airport. We did manage to have a fairly scenic drive back with a couple of stops for photos. We had lunch at a Comfort Inn a little way outside of Belfast, which considering it was Mothering Sunday, was very pleasant. After lunch we made one final stop en-route to the airport and that was in Belfast itself. Just a quick pull over to take some photos of some of the ‘Loyalist’ wall paintings that are found on the sides of some of the houses.
Having spent this weekend in Northern Ireland it has certainly made me change my mind about the place. It is a very friendly place that reminds me very much of times past, quieter and more relaxed than we are here in the south east of England, the coastal scenery really does need to be seen to be appreciated.
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Chez Louis 