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!

Kilkenny

Went to the village of Kilkenny in August. It is just south of Dublin and is the Arts capital of Ireland. It was a long weekend and the streets were full of tourists and partyers! Wish i had my camera with me after i checked into my hostel. The streets were full of people and balloons every where. The ivy covered building is Butler House which is now a hotel. It belonged to the Butler family that had owned the castle at one point. The castle was amazing! About 30 years ago, it was sold to the city for 1€ and has been restored to it's former glory. When it was purchased, it was missing floors and most of the roof. I think it was built around 800AD. It was absolutely incredible. The cathedral was very interesting, especially since it had tombs right in the floor! I loved the arcitecture and had to take some photos. The round building is Kilkenny Arts. There is one also in Dublin and i love going there and seeing all the Irish artists. It is devoted 100% to the Irish arts. I have bought some of my jewelry there. Silver and Irish! What more could you ask for. I will go back to Kilkenny just to buy from some of the silversmiths there.