Day 9 - August 6

Let’s see if I can re-create this whirlwind day. It began at 6:15 AM in the lobby, where we hailed a taxi that took us to the Molly Malone statue in the middle of town. Our bus, Paddywagon Tours, met us and we all climbed on as this was a group tour. Then at 7:00 AM we took off.

I was worried that with no bathroom on the bus, it could be bad. But Shay, our driver, stopped at a gas station a time or two, and enough restaurants that we were ok. Our first stop was Dark Hedges, rows of trees on either side of a road that were planted by King James I. While very cool, they weren’t very dark anymore as nearly half of them have fallen. The worst part of the stop and all the others was the lack of enough time to really soak things in. But that’s the problem with a long tour and several stops. So on we went. 

Our next stop which I really loved was Dunluce Castle. By this time we were far north in Northern Ireland and could see the coastline. A plus here was fewer tourists, so you could actually get good pictures with no people in them. I loved this stop. 

The castle was not far from The Giant’s Causeway. I don’t know of any way to describe this place. It was also on the coast. It is a natural rock formation of hexagonal stones, fitted together, that look like they just grow out from the earth. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was crawling with people so few good pictures.  

It was impossible for me to clamber over the rocks because it made me incredibly dizzy. So I parked myself on a rock and watched the sea roll in and watched Beau clamber on the rocks. He went way up and sang his song of the sea that he performed at one of his recitals.  Jack took off on his own and didn’t fall off anything. You had to go down a very long, very steep hill to get to the rocks, and luckily they had a bus we could pay to take us down and back up. Beau and I did that but Jack hoofed it.  Would I go back? Only if I knew nobody else would be there. 

The next part of the tour was just loveliness out the window. I can see why our ancestors landed in Kentucky; it is very much like what I was looking at today. 

So impossibly green. So many cute sheep and lambs. Hedgerows.

The bus driver, Shay, made a surprise stop by the seacoast where we could see Scotland across the water. This place was amazing.

We had a short stop in Belfast, where there was a massive music festival going on and the place was crawling with people. Shay said people come from all over the world to this festival, which was in Belfast for the first time. 

Two hours back to Dublin where Euros were good again, and Uberred to the hotel. Now Beau is trying to line out a restaurant for us for lunch tomorrow and then off for the airport. Twelve-hour day but so worth it. I am incredibly impressed at Jack and Beau and how they can just talk to anybody.