saturday nov. 17.  2018

we got up early, packed our stuff, loaded the car, and headed up to northern ireland starting in ballycastle to see carrick-a-rede rope bridge.  the cliffs and water were simply stunning.  the chill winds made it a little uncomfortable, but we bundled and made the best of it.  the beautiful walk along the cliff’s edge was calming for the soul.  we crossed the rope bridge, and soaked in the views.

we next headed about 15 minutes west along the northern coast to the giants causeway-a natural phenomenon.  we caught some lunch at a nearby cafe near the giant’s causeway-authentic ireland food…which was pretty good.  listening to the waves crash and the stunning views was again so lovely.

we then continued west about 10 minutes along the coast to the dunluce castle, which we viewed from the parking lot-took a few pictures of the castle and sheep, and left for the next stop.

the dark hedges are beautiful, and apparently in the game of thrones…they were beautiful, mysterious, and had great character.  we took a few pictures and headed back down to belfast-an hour’s drive, to get to the christmas market.

we parked at the marriott where we had stayed, and walked half a mile to the belfast city hall, enjoying the sites and sounds of belfast, ireland.  we made it to the market, astonishes at how gorgeous it was, how amazing the food was, and how festive it was…and it was all Merry Christmas-which was great to see!

we then had an hour and a half drive from belfast down to dublin, which was hard to make, as we are still adjusting to the time and jet lag, but we made it to the clayton hotel near the airport, dropped into bed at 10:45, and got up early at 3:45 for our morning flight from dublin to london…this was the morning i was most concerned about, but everyone did pretty good.