Northern Ireland

Renting a car in Belfast was a very quick, yet rather expensive affair. You either have to pay a lot for insurance or allow them to put a hold for thousands of dollars on your credit card. Ugh. Our first stop was the Blackhead Coastal Path which was beautiful but not as stunning as the Gobbins Cliff Path. We stopped for ice cream and snacks at The Rhinka which is a family owned ice cream shop that has been selling homemade ice cream since 1921. We have enjoyed trying unique flavors such as Biscoff, rhubarb, and sticky toffee pudding. Because our 2.5 hour hike on the Gobbins Cliff Path was a guided tour, we had to wait awhile as we got there early. We then drove to our guest house which was located very close to the Giant’s Causeway. We had preordered a dinner (at an extra charge) from the guest house. After eating we hiked around the causeway. The views from the guest house were absolutely stunning, the beds were very comfortable, the water was very hot for the shower, and there were three twin beds plus one queen size bed in our room. Perfect! The free continental breakfast was quite comprehensive, but we also bought three hot breakfasts.

After breakfast we drove to the Carrick a Rede rope bridge which again afforded us amazing views of the beautiful coast. We ended our time in Northern Ireland in Belfast. We had a one hour private guided tour outside the museum that included a free small drink and a small bit of food at a restaurant, and then we went inside the museum. It was very different from the Titanic Museum in Tennessee as this one is focused on the building of the ship. It was very high tech and even included a ride. Our last stop was to C.S. Lewis Square where we saw statues of the beavers, White Witch, Mr. Tumnus, Aslan, etc. We were surprised they didn’t have statues of Peter, Edmund, or Lucy. C.S. Lewis was born and lived in Belfast for the first several years of his life. We drove to the airport to return the rental car, took two taxis to the train station (don’t ask how much that cost us!!), grabbed a bite to eat on the train, and rode a train for 2 hour plus 15 minutes to Dublin. Thankfully we only paid for one taxi to take us to our hotel. I was game for walking the one mile from the train station to the hotel, but I was outvoted. The kids shared a room with three beds. Paul and I had our own room. The most any one room could accommodate was four people. This morning we walked to a cafe for breakfast as the hotel we stayed at charged extra for breakfast. Then we took one taxi to the airport. We arrived very early, but I knew there wasn’t enough time to do something in Dublin before going to the airport so we decided to play it safe and get there earlier than necessary. We are supposed to be served two meals on our flight to Newark. Thankfully this is not a red eye flight like we had coming over here. I’m not looking forward to the jet lag, but I’m very much looking forward to holding Milo!