Today we took a bus tour through the county just north of Belfast so that we could get a view of the rural side of this country. Here I am next to the real-life size statue of William of Orange, who landed close by and won the Battle of the Boyne that really began the Troubles of Belfast. I am 5' 8". William was a wee short. William is known best in the United States as the William of William and Mary College fame. Many Scots/Irish immigrated to the Appalachian Mountains in the USA and named their sons William or Billy after this successful protestant king. Some believe that the term Hillbilly evolved from the Billys who lived in those hills.
The harbor of Carrickfergus marks the spot where William landed. This town was the home of the parents of President Andrew Jackson.
The castle is a road width from the harbor. Our tour guide used the word, "wee" in almost every sentence. I thought it was a stereotype that Irish people used that term.
Carnlough was the next stop. It had a similar harbor to Carrickfergus, but no castle, just a wonderful rope swing hanging from one of the trees. It looked well used.
The tour took us through seven different glens or valleys. These are where the leprechauns live. It is said that when leprechauns drink the potato mash, they need to stay inside the next day. If they don't, they turn into stone yard ornaments. I'll never look at another pixie ornament the same way again.
There is a rope bridge between the first notch on the right. It was originally built by fishermen so that they could access the best fishing spot at the end on the rocky path.
Now this ruin of Dunluce Castle was something to see. The foundations hug the contours of the rock. How did medieval builders manage to construct this? It must look amazing in the mist.
The tour stopped at the Bushmill's Distillery. It has been in operation since 1608. We were impressed with how small it was.
The last stop was the primary motivation for this trip - the Giant's Causeway. Legend says that these are Finn McCool's stepping stones to Scotland. Finn is a Paul Bunyanesque figure in Irish mythology. This rock formation was caused by the rapid cooling of volcanic basalt in a process similar to the one that caused the striations in Devil's Tower, Wyoming. The black portions are where water hits or flows regularly. Tourists are warned to stay off of those. It looks like people read signs here as well as the do at home.
I am standing in a narrow passage between beaches of these stones. This gives you some perspective on the size.
This is a British National Heritage Site. We were surprised that people are allowed to climb all of over the stones.
This landslide was enormous and had to have happened recently because the exposed dirt was uniformly wet. These also appear to happen frequently. You can see another smaller slide above and to the left of this one. The only rain had been sprinkles.
This formation is called the organ pipes and is what is seen when you walk through the narrow passage from one beach to the other. Those are people on a path right below the formation.
The concession for Giant's Causeway sits on a hill that is about 3/4 of a mile above the formations. This is the view inland from the shops. It costs nothing to see this wonder of nature.
Looking west from the concession area is a view that reminded us of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.
The tour bus driver let us off just blocks from our hotel. We stopped at Scalini's Restaurant for dinner. It was delicious and the host was warm and welcoming. He came to our table and we had a nice talk about the time he lived in Boston.
We had passed this hotel several times. I finally decided that I wanted a photo of this statue escaping through the wall. I don't know the meaning, but thought it was funny, especially on a very elegant looking building. This neighborhood serves the students of Queen's University, maybe the statue has some significance related to that.
Today we took a bus tour through the county just north of Belfast so that we could get a view of the rural side of this country. Here I am next to the real-life size statue of William of Orange, who landed close by and won the Battle of the Boyne that really began the Troubles of Belfast. I am 5' 8". William was a wee short. William is known best in the United States as the William of William and Mary College fame. Many Scots/Irish immigrated to the Appalachian Mountains in the USA and named their sons William or Billy after this successful protestant king. Some believe that the term Hillbilly evolved from the Billys who lived in those hills.
The harbor of Carrickfergus marks the spot where William landed. This town was the home of the parents of President Andrew Jackson.
The castle is a road width from the harbor. Our tour guide used the word, "wee" in almost every sentence. I thought it was a stereotype that Irish people used that term. 
Carnlough was the next stop. It had a similar harbor to Carrickfergus, but no castle, just a wonderful rope swing hanging from one of the trees. It looked well used.
The tour took us through seven different glens or valleys. These are where the leprechauns live. It is said that when leprechauns drink the potato mash, they need to stay inside the next day. If they don't, they turn into stone yard ornaments. I'll never look at another pixie ornament the same way again.
There is a rope bridge between the first notch on the right. It was originally built by fishermen so that they could access the best fishing spot at the end on the rocky path.
Now this ruin of Dunluce Castle was something to see. The foundations hug the contours of the rock. How did medieval builders manage to construct this? It must look amazing in the mist.
The tour stopped at the Bushmill's Distillery. It has been in operation since 1608. We were impressed with how small it was.
The last stop was the primary motivation for this trip - the Giant's Causeway. Legend says that these are Finn McCool's stepping stones to Scotland. Finn is a Paul Bunyanesque figure in Irish mythology. This rock formation was caused by the rapid cooling of volcanic basalt in a process similar to the one that caused the striations in Devil's Tower, Wyoming. The black portions are where water hits or flows regularly. Tourists are warned to stay off of those. It looks like people read signs here as well as the do at home.
I am standing in a narrow passage between beaches of these stones. This gives you some perspective on the size.
This is a British National Heritage Site. We were surprised that people are allowed to climb all of over the stones.
This landslide was enormous and had to have happened recently because the exposed dirt was uniformly wet. These also appear to happen frequently. You can see another smaller slide above and to the left of this one. The only rain had been sprinkles.
This formation is called the organ pipes and is what is seen when you walk through the narrow passage from one beach to the other. Those are people on a path right below the formation.
The concession for Giant's Causeway sits on a hill that is about 3/4 of a mile above the formations. This is the view inland from the shops. It costs nothing to see this wonder of nature.
Looking west from the concession area is a view that reminded us of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.
The tour bus driver let us off just blocks from our hotel. We stopped at Scalini's Restaurant for dinner. It was delicious and the host was warm and welcoming. He came to our table and we had a nice talk about the time he lived in Boston.
We had passed this hotel several times. I finally decided that I wanted a photo of this statue escaping through the wall. I don't know the meaning, but thought it was funny, especially on a very elegant looking building. This neighborhood serves the students of Queen's University, maybe the statue has some significance related to that.
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