A Giants Causeway - Northern Ireland [Day Two]

Up early on Sunday morning, I opened the curtains and could only see white - it was snowing so hard! It looked amazing, but was dreading heading out into the cold. After a quick shower I braved the weather, heading to the meeting spot for my 'Paddy Wagon' tour. I arrived at the Europa Hotel (the most bombed hotel in Europe) about 10 minutes early - having just enough time to get a nice greasy breakfast.

A crazy coincidence – I had booked the tour about a week before leaving for Belfast. My new friends had also booked exactly the same tour!

So off we went, travelling north to the coast. We stopped at a spot overlooking Rathlin Island and Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. Usually you can cross the rope bridge, but it was closed because of the weather (probably just as well, looked pretty mental - see pic!). From this point in Ireland you can see across to the coast of Scotland - its so close.

We travelled up around the coast for a couple of hours catching some beautiful scenery before arriving at the Giants Causeway. This is a natural phenomena formed by an ancient volcanic eruption. There are about 40,000 hexagonal columns that look man made, but are all naturally formed. I am unsure how exactly, but it has something to do with a certain type of lava and the way it cools. We climbed up all over the stones, walked out to the crashing waves, took plenty of photos, and the sun even came out!


After a quick stop at Dunluce Castle (thought to be the most picturesque castle in Ireland), we moved on to Derry (or LondonDerry depending on who you speak to) to see the famous walled city and political murals. Derry is the only remaining walled city in Ireland, and one of the few remaining in Europe. You can wander around the whole city on top of the wall, giving a great view of the city and political murals.


Derry, like Belfast, was also affected by 'The Troubles', most famously the Bloody Sunday tragedy. This was a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association where 27 civil rights protesters were shot by the British Army Parachute Regiment (thanks Wikipedia!). These murals are also a product of this period.


From Derry we headed back to Belfast, I even managed to get a bit of sleep on the bus. From there to the airport, and back to London. All in all, a really good weekend, definitely recommended.