On Thursday, we boarded a big green bus to take a day trip to the Carrick-a-rede bridge and the Giant's Causeway.  Our bus driver, Marc, was the perfect guide during our drive up the coast, and we really enjoyed the whole trip!

We were up at 5:00 a.m. to catch the first bus of the day into town, and then hopped on the tour bus to head out of Dublin.  We then headed up the coast while learning some insight about Ireland along the way.  We passed "fairy trees", which are thought to bring bad luck to anyone who harms one.  These small trees were used as grave sites during the famine (in hopes that no one would dig them up in fear of bad luck).  We also passed a "fairy fort", which is a circular earthen mound.  Destroying a fairy fort is said to bring you good luck, but the next seven generations of your family will be cursed with bad luck.  It is said that the Kennedy Curse (the tragedy that has seemed to have been passed down through the generations of the famous Kennedy family) is the result of the destruction of a fairy fort in Co Wexford by Patrick Kennedy before he sailed for America in the 1840s.  Today, the Kennedy family is in the seventh generation of this "curse", so we'll be looking for another Kennedy president in the near future!

An aerial image of a fairy fort.

We passed through the open border into Northern Ireland, and learned a lot about it's history and the continuing turmoil between the Irish Catholics and the English Protestants.  Depending on what areas of Northern Ireland you find yourself in, you have to be careful which side you are (knowingly or unknowingly) supporting.  Those wearing red, white, and blue (the colors of the Union Jack) will be most unwelcome in the Irish parts of town, and the bus driver informed us that the last time one of their green buses drove into the English part of town, the bus came back on fire.  (Being a Michigan State fan would be difficult around here; Laura had to take off her green Spartans hat while walking around Belfast!)

Despite the conflicting history, Belfast was still a great place to visit.  We got to see the dry dock where the Titanic was drawn and built, along with the recently constructed Titanic museum.  We also got to see their impressive city hall, and a few other places of interest.

The recently constructed Titanic museum in Belfast.

City Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

We also visited a hotel in Belfast that is in the Guinness Book of World Records.  Any guess on what record it broke to get into the record book?

The Guinness Record-holding hotel...

The Europa Hotel is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most bombed building in the world.  It has been bombed (and rebuilt) THIRTY SEVEN times... and over 200 bombs have been found in the hotel.  After getting this picture, we walked away rather quickly!

After stopping in Belfast, we headed to the Carrick-a-rede bridge, a 65-foot rope bridge, 100 feet above the water that connects the main land to the very small island of Carrickarede.  The bridge was fun (and quite bouncy), and the views of the coast were spectacular!

Looking down at the water from the bridge!

After crossing the bridge, hiking the coast, and taking in the gorgeous scenery, we hopped back on the bus to head to the Giant's Causeway.  The Giant's Causeway is an area of thousands of interlocking hexagonal basalt columns that are the result of an ancient volcanic eruption.  Irish legend has it, however, that the causeway was built by a giant named Finn McCool.  Finn built the causeway as a way to cross over to Scottland to face a giant that had been taunting him, however, when he finally made it across, he realized the giant was ten times the size of him, and ran back across the causeway.  The Scottish giant went across to find him, and Finn dressed in baby clothes to disguise himself.  When the Scottish giant saw how big the "baby" was, he realized that the father must have been much bigger, and ran back to Scotland, destroying the causeway in the process.  The hexagonal columns are truly a spectacular site, and we loved hearing about the legend behind it.






The last stop on our tour was Dunluce Castle, a castle located in Northern Ireland that is now falling into the sea.  Game of Thrones (pronounced 'Game of Trones' in Ireland; a lot of the Irish don't pronounce their h's) used this castle as a backdrop for filming.




The whole trip was amazing, and we learned a lot during the ride.  Our trip through Ireland only has a few days left, but we are really excited to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day in Dublin!

Laura and Bryan

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