To The North! (of Ireland)

We managed to escape Dublin with our police incident report and our replacement rental car. Unfortunately, the majority of our time in Dublin was spent dealing with stolen baggage and shopping at cheaper department stores to replace necessities to make it through the rest of the trip. So, our impression of Dublin is not too high.

Yet, as we headed north, we began to feel better... and enjoy our trip again! We went for a tour of Newgrange, a dome shaped 5,000 year old structure. In the Stone Age, the farming people in the area, gathered stones and built a tomb/place of worship. There are a number of similar structures in the area, often merely appearing as grass covered mounds, forgotten for thousands of years. Newgrange is the best restored and the only one that visitors can go inside.

Rocks were built up around a center tomb area as well as an external passageway. The most interesting part about this, and the other structures, is that the farming people who built them incorporated timing of the sun. At Newgrange, on Winter Solstice, at sunrise a beam of sunlight streams in and hits the back of the tomb's wall.

This is the front of Newgrange where we went in. On some of the larger stones around the base, there is ancient artwork. It crazy to think that we were in a structure that was built over 5,000 years ago!

We were not allowed to take photos inside. This is a photo of a photo of the inside... you can see the narrow passageway back to the tomb area.

After Newgrange, we headed up to our hotel in Antrim where we spent 3 nights. It was just a comfortable, basic hotel... more similar to hotels in America that others we had been in (but at this point, we didn't care... it was a nice place to stay).

After getting well rested and going to the outlet mall down the road for a last few replacment clothes (I got GAP jeans on sale... it was great!), we took off for the Northern Coast. Oh my goodness was it beautiful! One signs said that it is designated a "place of outstanding beauty" and it spoke the truth! I just posted a few pictures... but we have many more beautiful ones that I would have loved to share!

Dulunce Castle perched on the edge of the sea. It has a very picturesque setting. We hiked around the castle and enjoyed a variety of views. The interesting story behind this Medieval Castle is that the lady of the house was having a dinner party during a storm and a whole chunk of the castle fell into the sea (including the servants in the kitchen). You can still see the area that fell off into the sea.

Steep steps make for a nice view of the coast line. There was even a small cave under the castle that we walked through.

Next, we went down the road to the Giant's Causeway. Here we are on a bluff above the coast line... spectacular scenery! We were blessed by a sunny day with blue skies so it couldn't be more beautiful.

Not the actual well known Giant's causeway, but a nice section of coast line.

Ta-da! The Giant's Causeway! Columns of basalt packed in together in varying heights as they stretch down into the sea. One story behind the causeway is that it used to be a pathway for Giants that stretched from Ireland to Scotland. More likely, geologists suspect is was formed by a lava flow.

Here is a sideways view of some of the columns. These weren't even the tallest ones... :)

So, all in all, we enjoyed our day exploring the coast. It was a relaxing, fun day outside in the sun! I would definitely come to this area again!