Lisdoonvarna to Dublin to Belfast, Days 8 & 9

Our last morning in Lisdoonvarna and one last morning walk before a long drive back to Dublin. All around our rental house were a variety of sweet kitties--this one was peeping at us from the neighbor's yard. 

On our way to Dublin we stopped for lunch at the Barack Obama Plaza. This place had the two of us in stitches! Apparently, Obama has roots in Moneygall, which is where the plaza is located. Given the often divisive conversations in the U.S. about the role of the president, it's such an odd experience to witness another country loving our president so much. If Trump gets elected, I can't imagine him getting his own plaza anywhere except maybe Russia or North Korea.

Once we got home, Peyton and I sent Eleanor and Dermot out for a date night, and we got delicious Indian take away and stayed home with the girls.

The next morning we were up bright and early for a 7:00 a.m. pick up in Dublin for our all-day tour of Northern Ireland. Belfast is a couple hours north of Dublin and when we arrived we were given the option of either a black cab political tour or a tour of the Titanic Museum. While both tours sounded great, we opted for the political tour. From this point forward, both of us were shocked by how little we really knew about the Troubles. Our tour guide, Martin, quickly informed us that he was condensing a 3 hour tour into a 1 1/2 hour tour. The clip and intensity of his speech kept us silent for most of the tour. Perhaps the most shocking part of the tour was when we learned that the "peace walls" that divide the republicans from the loyalists are locked every night at 6 p.m. and guarded by armed police. According to Martin, there are still regular acts of violence from both sides of the wall and that the civil rights issues that plagued the area during the Troubles still persist today.

Our tour began on the spot where the Northern Ireland riots began in August, 1969. 

 We then drove over to the current Sinn Féin headquarters. All around the headquarters, are these incredible murals chronicling current social justice issues in this community and in communities around the world. 

We then had an opportunity to see one of the gates in the wall first hand and we noticed a bit of graffiti on the sign that reads, "Kill all Irish."

Next, we visited the Clonard Monastery, which was the site of the initial negotiations that led up to the Good Friday Agreement that brought about a ceasefire and an end to the Troubles. 

Father Alec Reid was the priest at the church during the negotiations and played crucial role in their success.

Here's a sample of some of the methods used to protect the church--broken glass and the wall is coated with "climb deterrent" paint.

Through the gates, from the loyalist side, you can see that the public housing is surrounded not only by fencing, but that the back of the houses are also fenced/caged. Our tour guide told us that recently a little girl was playing in one of these enclosed areas and loyalists launched glass bottles filled with urine over the fence. From his perspective and experience, this kind of thing happens regularly. However, he was quick to say that there are always at least two sides to every story. His recommendation was that if we had time we should also find a tour to take on the loyalist side of the city. Martin was not shy about stating where his loyalties lie (IRA) or about how dire he perceives the situation to be in Belfast.

Our last stop was at a portion of the peace walls that visitors could sign.

Once we rejoined the tour group at the Titanic Museum, we all piled back in the bus and headed towards the Giant's Causeway. Along the way, we stopped for a quick photo of Dunluce Castle. 

While we were waiting to get back on the bus, I snapped a few photos of moss and a cute snail.

The first order of business when we arrived at the Giant's Causeway was to find lunch. We ate at this great place called The Nook.

Next started the long walk down to the Giant's Causeway. The landscape is so strange--there's the usual gorgeously green landscape that we associate with Ireland (and Northern Ireland), but then there's this strange, otherworldly aspect to it as well. I snapped about a million pictures; here are the highlights.

Peyton has insisted for years that I have "billy goat" ways. Here is his attempt to document what he means by that.

All photos are a bit better with random dogs in them.

Of course, my billy goating is in contrast to Peyton's fear of falling or getting caught on the rocks. In the next few photos you'll see Peyton in the background. While I figured he was off wandering on his own, he later confessed that he was in a dead panic about how to get off the rocks.

We said goodbye to the Giant's Causeway and headed for our next, and final, destination, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. This is the sort of place that will make anyone with a camera feel pretty good about themselves. Not only are the views stunning, but the haze and dramatic clouds provide a filter that makes everything look like it's misty and romantic.

While the walk down to the Giant's Causeway was long and hot, the walk to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge was long, hot, and treacherous. There are 176 stone steps (of various widths and depths) and steep hills to navigate on the way there and back. But, the views!

We were reassured that the bridge is incredibly strong and that you'd really have to make an effort to fall off of it. However, there were some tourists on the bridge who were really making an effort not only to behave in the most dangerous ways possible, but who were also making the rest of us nervous as hell. In the picture below you'll see a man at the end of the bridge in a red coat--I named him the patron saint of patience for dealing with dumb asses all day long. 

This is the only photo I took while on the bridge. The maximum number of people allowed on the bridge was eight because while the bridge is strong, it really swings. What you can't see is that ahead of me is a woman engaged in a fairly elaborate photoshoot and in the background you can hear one of the workers saying over and over again, "Take as many photos as you like, but you must keep moving across the bridge!" Seriously, lady, MOVE IT.

Around this time we began to hear the rumblings of thunder, so we started the journey back to the bus.

We don't have that many photos of us together, let alone photos where we're both looking like decent human beings. I sort of love this picture because we look photoshopped onto an incredible landscape.

Back across the bridge!

Here is Peyton looking sweaty and tired after hitting the halfway point back to the bus.

And, we saw this sweet snail on our way back.

And, one last photo of a bee.