[Written by mary, edited and published by brian]
Well, our instincts and feelings were so right on. Northern Ireland is just NOT our kind of place. We left Belfast this morning, such a smelly, dirty city (seemed every turn whilst walking had a new sewer gas aroma) and took the Scenic Causeway Coastal Route up to the north.
Certain towns and specifically not all, were aggressive showing numerous Union Jacks. It was disturbing to the other locales where no flags or Irish Flags were flying. We have come to the conclusion that Brexit has just inflamed the differences once agin. Free Ireland is the only country to share a border with the UK and here they are twenty years after tearing down all the border stations needing to rebuild them all.
It is difficult to describe the difference from Norther Ireland from the south. Visually, the first thing is the houses are brick, not stucco and union jacks abound. Then there’s the ever present ONE IRELAND proclamations via graffiti, signs and flags. Socially, people do not look one another in the face or say hey. On the road in the south, if you are passed, you pass, or screw up, the southern Irish just wave at you, here, not so much.
We booked a B and B, said we’d be checking around 4:30, well, we got here early, and had to wait for 4;30 to check in, owner left a note on door, popped out for a bit, well, that bit was 2 hours, and then, no jeez, have you been waiting? Hell no (pretended all was ok). We had originally booked 2 nights here, we are bailing on the second night.
On the better side of things, the coastal route was absolutely gorgeous (stunning), and we were lucky to see 2 rainbows one of which was a double rainbows. All in all it was a delightful (wonderful) 2 hours on the road. Stopped in a lovely village, Ballycastle, and Brian got his first bowl of steamed mussels for lunch. Lovely pub, fire burning, and the people were kind of nice, then on to the Dark Hedges……..Yea, we ARE NOT GAME OF THRONES FANS, didn’t see it, but the dark hedges were on our plans, and really breathtaking. I can’t imagine the folks that live there, the crowds in peak season must be horrendous, cuz, today we saw about 20 people.. Anyway, enjoy the photos Brian took.
Our end game was a town in the very north, Portrush, to pay homage to our friends Veronica and Cuthbert Mann (who both grew up here). We were told by them and then by their son, to come and go to the Harbour Bar. Well, the place is the size of a postage stamp and under construction; we couldn’t even get in the front door, too crowded. Oh well.
We have decided to get the hell out of Northern Ireland, and will both be in a better mood, and a better frame of mind. ok, so one nice thing about the north, the bar/pub we ate and drank in tonight, the bartender comes up to Brian and said, there was a dash remaining in the Jameson bottle after the last pour (Brians) and that tradition said he should have the last of the bottle. Kinda kewl.
PS – Brian here. I owe y’all some pictures for both day eleven and this post. Maybe once we’re out of Occupied Northern Ireland I’ll be able to catch-up. Apologies.
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