The Antrim Coast

In early October, i took a road trip with my father and Joyce along the Antrim coast in northern Ireland. We took a bus to Derry, stayed a night and rented a car the next day to spend 4 days at leisure, stopping where we wanted to and staying in B&B's along the way. Seeing as i had already been in Ireland for 6 months, it was decided that i would be the principle driver, since i had the lay of the land and used to "watching" driving on the wrong side of the road. Well, after the first day, you can see why my dad took over! It was still hair raising but we managed. We stopped at some pretty beautiful places as you will see from the photos. Come and take a tour with me as we drive down the Antrim Coast!

OOPS!!!!

Storm's a brewing!





Carrick-a-peed Rope Bridge

The Giant's Causeway

The Giant's Causeway was my main reason for seeing the Antrim Coast! I was not disappointed. The ancients thought that this was made By giants, that it was a bridge to Scotland, as there is the same formation right across the water. It is the only place in the world where these regular, closely packed, hexagonal basalt stone columns exist

Bushmill's Distillery

The oldest working distillery in the world!

Carrickfergus Castle

As you can see, i seemed to have been enthralled with the stone stairway! Oh, and my new man!

Carrickfergus Fishing Village

Dunluce Castle

This place was so beautifully looked after, i could have spent hours here. It was built on a very high, rocky basalt crag. In 1639, part of the castle, including the kitchen, fell into the sea, taking with it 7 servants and the night's dinner with it!

Lopud Island-Croatia

The beautiful island of Lopud! It is one of 13 islands that make up the Elafiti archipelago. It is known to have one of the best beaches in the area. Sunj beach has white sand that stretches out to the sea. The sand was so hot, i was thankful to get to the water and spend alot of time floating around. I spent 3 glorious days on the this island in the private home of Mario. He is a friend of the family that owns the hostel that i stayed in in Dubrovnik. He rents out a few rooms to make extra money. The people of this island are beautiful in every way but don't have much money. Mario works 3 jobs and is also a volunteer fireman. He is 25 years old and has lived on this island since he was 3 and came to live with his aunt and uncle. He grows his own fruit and veggies and makes his own wine. His uncle built the house and he inherited it a few years ago after he passed away. For 35€ a night, it was more than i could ask for. King size bed and french doors and shutters that opened out onto my own patio. The view was amazing! I had dinner one night in the small village on the water. The sun was setting between the sail boats while i was eating. I didn't want to leave. I will go back one day! The terrace that you see belongs to Mario and i enjoyed many hours in the shade reading and enjoying local wine. By the way, no cars are aloud on this island!

THE WALL-Dubrovnik

I decided to do "the wall" on the hottest day i was in Croatia. 40 degrees! Dubrovnik is the oldest walled city in Europe. I spent 4 hours and 4 bottles of water enjoying the most spectacular view i have ever seen. There were so many photo ops. The fountain was built in 1438 as part of a water supply system that involved bringing in water from 12 km away! It was built by the main gate to the city to encourage visitors to wash themselves before walking around. It is still used to this day and i enjoyed many bottles of water from it!

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Onofrio Fountain