Now that I am home and getting back into the groove of American life, I wanted to update you on all the recent travels I did prior to returning. My last day of teaching in France was April 15th and I returned to the United States May 15th. In that month, I went to 6 different countries: Ireland, Scotland, England, Greece, Austria, and Portugal. It was the adventure of a lifetime, and I had many neat experiences while on these travels. For some of them, I was alone and for others, I had a travel buddy. So, without further ado, let's get into it and start with Ireland!
I arrived in Ireland on April 18th and the first stop I made there was Dublin, the capital. I met up with another English language assistant named Katie, and for 3 days, we saw many cool sights in and around Dublin.
The first night that I got there it was a bit late, so Katie and I just went to a restaurant in downtown Dublin and then we went back to our hotel where we immediately went to sleep. The next day was more exploratory because we went back to Dublin that day and toured the city. We started at Trinity college and then went to numerous landmarks around the city.
One landmark we saw was the Dublin Spire. This spire stands in the middle of O'Connell Street at the former site of Nelson's Pillar. This striking monument is 120 meters tall and 3 meters in diameter at its base. Completed in 2003, it is a symbol of modern Dublin and is the city's most famous meeting point.
Of course we had to visit Trinity College, Ireland's most famous university. Founded in the 16th century, the university is famous for its iconic library, The Long Room, which also houses the Book of Kells. Some of the universities most notable past pupils include Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett, Bram Stoker, and Michael O'Leary.
Trinity College
The Long Room, Trinity College's library. It is nearly 65 meters in length and filled with 200,000 of the libraries oldest books.
The Book of Kells museum is also housed next to the library. Here, we learned a lot about Ireland's iconic cultural heritage and saw the Book of Kells, which is a 9th century manuscript that documents the four Gospels of the life of Jesus Christ. This book is one of Ireland's greatest cultural treasures and the world's most famous medieval manuscripts.
Other famous landmarks that we saw in Dublin were the Temple Bar, the Ha'penny Bridge, the Dublin Castle, and St. Patrick's Cathedral.
The Temple Bar in Dublin is known for its large whisky collection and for its traditional live Irish music. I did enjoy the music and the grilled ham and cheese toasty I ate but I did not drink any whisky there.
The Temple Bar in Dublin
In May 1816 this charming, elliptical arch bridge opened, known as the Ha'penny Bridge. It offered passage via its timber gangway to any Dubliner willing to pay a ha’penny, the exact price of the then redundant ferry. This fee was payable to William Walsh, ferry owner and alderman of the city.
Here is the Dublin Castle. Though not really viewable from this angle, it is actually under a lot of construction right now. The castle is located in the center of the city with gardens right across from it. Built in the 13th century by King John of England, it served as a military fortress, a prison, treasury, court of law, and the seat of English Administration in Ireland for 700 years. Today it's used for important State events and Presidential Inaugurations.
St. Patrick's Cathedral. Completed in 1191, this is Ireland's largest church. The building is a very busy place which serves as a site of worship, a visitor attraction, and as a host for many events. Tours are available daily, but we just walked around the outside.
After a full, fun-filled day in Dublin, we took a bus tour the next day to go to the Cliffs of Moher. However, the bus tour didn't go just to the Cliffs, it also went to a beautiful coastal town in Ireland, as well as a castle. And during the tour, we listened to Irish music and the guide, as he talked all about Irish history and the sights that we were seeing.
One of our first stops was Kinvarra -- a beautiful sea port village in Galway. We walked around here for about 20 minutes, and saw some cute donkeys!
Our next stop was a town called Fanore, where we saw the Baby Cliffs of Moher. These cliffs are not as high as the actual Cliffs of Moher, but the views are still magnificent.
For lunch, we stopped at a restaurant in Doolin Village where I ate fish and chips, with mushy peas. It was delicious! Also, a side note: if you ever visit the British Isles, they say that the fish and chips is better in Ireland than in England, as Ireland is nearer to the coast. And I definitely found this to be true during my travels.
The highlight of the day was the Cliffs of Moher, located on the rugged west claire coast. Here, we walked along the safe, paved pathways and saw the Atlantic Ocean and the Aran Islands.
We saw a lot of sheep on the drive up to the cliffs and munching grass near the cliffs. They were very cute.
The last stop of the bus tour was Bunratty Castle. Robert De Muscegros, a Norman, built the first defensive fortress (an earthen mound with a strong wooden tower on top) in 1250. His lands were later granted to Thomas De Clare who built the first stone castle on site. In 1318, the castle was destroyed when Richard De Clare, Thomas's son, was killed. The castle was then restored for the King of England but then laid to waste in 1332 by the Irish Chieftains and remained in Irish hands from then on. It is quite an impressive castle, with a lot of history attached to it too.
After spending 3 nights and two full days in Dublin, Katie had to go back to France to resume teaching, but I was still on vacation so I went up to Northern Ireland, to the city of Belfast. Belfast was a city that I was very excited to visit because I had talked a lot about the city and its history with my students in France. I had also recently seen two films related to the conflict of the 'Troubles' that took place there: Bloody Sunday and Belfast. To say I was excited to see this city was an understatement.
As soon as I got to Belfast, I went to my airbnb, hosted by a very nice lady named Cathryn. Cathryn recommended that I visit the Belfast Castle and Cavehill that afternoon because it wasn't a far walk from her place, so that's exactly what I did.
This is the Belfast Castle, located at the bottom of Cavehill. It was a lovely day when I visited.
The following pictures above are of Cavehill, in Belfast. These mountains overlook Belfast and they feature neolithic caves. They are known by their famous outcropping 'Napoleon's Nose,' a balsaltic outcrop which ressembles the profile of the famous emperor, Napoleon.
Cavehill is also the inspiration for Jonathon Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Swift imagined that the Cave Hill resembled the shape of a sleeping giant safeguarding the city.
The remains of an ancient promontory fort, McArt's Fort, is located at the top of Cavehill, which has a beautiful view of Belfast. The walk up there is quite steep, so be wary of that if you choose this path.
Napoleon's Nose
The path leading up to McArt's Fort at the top of Cavehill
After my big hike my first day in Belfast, I spent the next day in the city. I first visited the city center.
The Belfast Capital
I wanted to learn more about the 'Troubles' in Belfast as well, so after seeing the Capital, I visited to the peace wall, murals, and memorial sights.
'The Troubles' was the conflict that lasted from the late 1960s to 1998 between the Protestants and Catholics, but it was also a war about whether Northern Ireland should be part of the United Kingdom or a part of the Republic of Ireland. The Catholic neighborhoods and the Protestant neighborhoods were separated by these walls which are up to 6 meters high. You can see these walls all throughout Belfast.
Above are the murals and memorials so people can remember the somber history of The Troubles. More than 3,500 people were killed during The Troubles and about half of those deaths were in Belfast. About 50,000 people were injured.
During my time in Belfast, I saw that these conflicts were still going on. I went to Mass one Sunday while I was here, and I was warned not to go in the church on one side because this entrance was on the Protestant neighborhood side. Evidently, the conflict is still going on -- the violence may not be as prevalent, but tensions between the waring groups are still high.
After touring through Belfast's heavy history, I decided to end my day at the Titanic museum. Here, I learned more about Irish history, how the Titanic was built here in Belfast, and about its eventual demise. It was an interesting museum, and there was even a shipbuilding simulation. You can ride a very slow rollercoaster and see the steps of how the ship was built.
The S.S. Nomadic is located right next to the Titanic Museum in Belfast and is available to tour with your museum ticket. It was originally built alongside the RMS Titanic in 1911 and is known as a 'mini Titanic.'
The Titanic Quarter in Belfast. I ate a nice dinner out here after the museum.
The next day, I got out of the city and went on a bus tour to the Giant's Causeway. We went to a few more sights besides the causeway, one of them being the Carrickfergus Castle.
The Castle sits on the beautiful northern shore of the Belfast Lough.
The next stop was the town of Ballycastle, a small seaside town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Its views are incredible, and so is the drive to get there. We drove along the Causeway Coast, which has coastal views like these the whole way. This scenic drive is so good that it was voted 5th in the world’s most scenic views in 2006.
Finally, we arrived at the highlight of the day: the Giant's Causeway!
The Giant's Causeway is incredible. When we got there, I had to walk down a slope to get to the beach, and then I walked along the rocks. It is an area made up of about 40, 000 interlocking basalt columns, which resulted from an ancient volcanic fissure explosion. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven or eight sides. It is the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom and access is free of charge.
After the Giant's Causeway, we went to the the Dark Hedges, a Game of Thrones filming location.
Finally, after a full day bus tour in Northern Ireland, we returned to Belfast. It was still light out when we got back so I visited Queen's University, one of the UK's most prestigious universities, and I had dinner near its campus.
After two busy days of touring, I had more of a low-key day for my final day, so I spent a lot of time at the Belfast Botanical Gardens. These gardens are amazing with all the flowers, paths, and trees, and are definitely worth a visit if you get the chance.
My last stop was the C.S. Lewis Square, built to honor the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, who was born in Belfast. Here, there is an impressive statue of the lion surrounded by a skate park.
After 3 full days in Belfast, I traveled to Scotland, where I visited the capital, Edinburgh. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Ireland. Rich with culture, history, and beauty, it is definitely worth a visit. The food is amazing too, and I found the people to be very kind. I will be back one day for sure!
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