At the Top of Ireland

We're in Ballycastle on the northern coast of Ireland overlooking the
sea and Scotland beyond. Many things seem to be named Bally up here,
Ballymena, Ballymoney and other Bally-towns, and my personal
favourite, Ballybogy Road.

The hills are softer and more rounded here, with big hills / small
mountains in the distance. There's one that looks like a big version
of Pendle Hill, overlooking the sea rather than the Ribble Valley.
Many cottages still line the roads here in Northern Ireland and the
hedges are often grown from fushia, something that I always thought of
as a little house plant, not something which grows into miles of
hedgerows!

We have been staying in B&Bs this trip. We've always stayed in hotels
before this trip, but when you stay in a hotel you seldom talk to the
people who live there. Either they're too busy or we are. When you
stay in someone's home, it's tough not to have a conversation!

We've stayed in seven so far and they've run the full gamut from five
star award winning to something a couple steps above a youth hostel.
We've enjoyed each, either for the amenities, for the experience or
for the conversation it generated the next day ('can you
believe...')! We have definitely enjoyed this mode of travel and will
do it again (should be very interesting in Italy!) - although we're
going to have to spend a lot of time on the tandem when we get back to
work off the Irish breakfasts!

And speaking of food, it's been very good here. We have yet to have
the traditional Irish stew and Guinness pie, but the seafood is
excellent. We've also had a surprisingly good Chinese and an
excellent Thai. I've been eying the local lobsters (which have a blue
tinge to their legs rather than the orange of the Maine lobsters), but
I'll wait until we get home to try one. I like lobster eaten at home
better than in a restaurant.

Yesterday's high points were a visit to the Giants Causeway and the
route along the north coast - both just gorgeous! We had to walk two
kilometers to see the Giants Causeway (try that in leathers and
motorbike boots!), but it was worth every step. We turned the corner
around a hill and there were these amazing naturally formed, yet quite
symetrical steps heading down into the sea. Supposedly there is
another set across the sea in Scotland, we'll have to check that out!

Today we're taking a trip through the Glens of Antrim on the northeast
coast as we make our way down to Dublin where we'll spend the night.
Both Julie and Andrew have assured us that Dublin is an excellent
place for a night out - perhaps for some more Guinness and Irish music?!