Giant's, Magic Caves and the Barking Dog

Our morning correspondent is Katie Bolas:

It was another amazing day in Northern Ireland. The morning started out very nonchalant. Some people hung out in the common rooms while others went down to the student center for another day of Ulster fry. We all met on the lower floor (aka the girls’) common room at nine o’clock. Then, we hopped on the bus and set off for Carrick-a-Rede and Giant’s Causeway.

We decided to take the scenic route. We drove by miles of coastline and stopped at different places such as Carrick-Fergus. Carrick-Fergus is a castle built 800 years ago. The castle has never been breached and is the landing site of William of Orange and his troops before the Battle of Boyne. After five minutes of pictures, we got back on the bus. We also stopped at a cave that was made during the time the Penal Laws were being enforced. The cave was used as a type of hedge school for Catholics during this time because they were not allowed to conduct classes in their own schools. We read about a hedge school such as this in Translations by Brian Friel. We also passed a statue of a Celtic warrior.

Two hours after we left Belfast, we arrived Carrick-a-Rede. It was very windy when we first got there, so we were not allowed to cross the rope bridge. We waited out the wind for a while in the small tea shop right next to the entrance of the park. Scones, hot chocolates, muffins, and soup characterized our visit to the tea shop. Mr. Bizga then told us that the wind had subsided and we could go into the park and cross the rope bridge. For people who like adventure, the rope bridge is amazing. For those of us, such as me, who are afraid of heights, it is a living nightmare. The adventure junkies were all over the bridge and, after the initial shock of how high up the bridge was and contemplating certain death, everyone decided crossing the bridge was best. On the other side we were greeted with an amazing view. It was the grassy knoll heaven that almost all envision Ireland to be. It was also picture taking heaven. Armed with cameras and a perfect view, our group took more pictures than any one memory card could handle. An hour later and hundreds of pictures richer, we returned to the bus.

It was only a short drive to our next destination, Giant’s Causeway. This appears to be a man made arrangement of stones, but is actually a natural formation of rocks caused by a volcanic lava flow and then weathered by thousands of years of erosion. Giant’s Causeway is often pictured on the back of Northern Irish Pound Sterling bills. Everyone was hungry, so some people stopped into the small gift shop/ restaurant right next to the entrance to the Causeway while others went straight down to the sea. Giant’s Causeway provided another perfect picture spot, and once again everyone took thousands of pictures. At 3:15 we all left Giant’s Causeway and headed for our next stop, the world’s oldest whiskey distillery, Bushmills, in the town of …Bushmills.

Our afternoon correspondent is Emily Love:

This afternoon, after walking around Giant’s Causeway, we headed off to Bushmills Distillery where we were ready to take a tour of the facility. Unfortunately, we were stopped from entering due to the fact that every single one of us is under the age of 18 (rats!). The woman explained to Mr. Bizga that people under 18 are allowed to enter, but not with school groups.

Once we all loaded back on the bus, we headed to Dunluce Castle which is just like a playground for big people. An ancient fort stood on the 30 m. basalt “stack” as early as 1,000 years ago. A castle was built during the Middle Ages, and the ruins of the present structures date from about 1620. We crossed the narrow bridge the mainland and walked in and out of rooms, up and down stairs and even stood where the kitchen once was before it fell into the water…with people still in it. After walking around the main parts of the castle, Mr. Bizga took us down into the secret cave to the sea. Let me tell you this was no simple trip to the water. Down tons of stairs and into the cave filled with rocks, we all finally made it to the water. Katie was determined to go down into the cave because it looked like it could have been in Harry Potter. Walking back up was no easier than walking down as by now our legs were burning. Ian, Mr. Bizga and Mr. McLenaghan laid down in the grass to take a “nap” before the hike back up the stairs.

Thirsty and needing a place to sit, we went over to the Wee Cottage across the road to buy some beverages and ice cream. There was an adorable female dog that recently had (or is going to have) puppies and smelled not very good, reminding me of my two dogs at home. After making all of our purchases, we got back on the bus for a quiet ride home. Upon our arrival at the Elms, we only had twenty minutes to change for dinner at the Barking Dog. It was a great meal but also very long (almost three hours).

We all had a great time traveling and seeing the sights today. We can’t believe we are only going to be in Belfast for a few more days! Cheers!