Whiskey, castle drama and peace

(We lost internet again, so another LONGdelay in posting. Grabbing a few minutes this afternoon to do more catch-up.)

I'm trying to catch up a bit here so am rolling 3 days into one post...I am writing about July 4-6 while surrounded by the activities of The Twelfth in Northern Ireland - many places closed today while large parades and bands and activities occur in many cities and towns.

But back to last week...Monday was rainy in the morning so we headed to Bushmills for a tour of their famous whiskey distillery. Kim and I enjoyed a hot toddy at the end while the other adults tasted various brands of straight whiskey - yowza! Kim and I asked for the hot toddy recipe, we were so enthralled. The younger crew just liked watching the bottling and boxing of this famous product!

The rain seemed to pass and we headed back along the coast road to Dunluce Castle, one of my favourite places from my last trip 13 years ago... I was excited to visit again with all our girls. Beautiful and dramatic atop the cliffs, we enjoyed exploring and imagining life here hundreds of years ago. The girls and I could see how C.S. Lewis could have been inspired by this awesome site to create the castle Cair Paravel in his Narnia series.



The terrific trio channeling their 18th century ancestors. Photo courtesy of talented b-i-l Damian Steel.

 

The family.  ;-) (Thanks to Kim's fancy timer.)



Courtesy Damian Steel.



Lianne fascinated by the history. Courtesy of  Damian.



Courtesy of my dear sister and her super camera.

The sun had been shining on us during our trip back in time, but dark black clouds moved in overhead in the brief moments that it took us to climb down the hill to see the sea entrance below the castle. Though we headed back up the steep flight of stone steps as quickly as possible, we were caught in a DELUGE - . it was warm though, and not much to do about it, so we just trudged to the top and took shelter in the tearoom. (Damian and Kim ran ahead and snapped photos of our approach across the car lot - helpless with laughter.)

Courtesy of Kim Thompson-Steel!



Thanks to b-i-l Damian Steel!

The next day was a quiet one in Cushendun - the trio played on the beach and we all relaxed. Late in the afternoon we headed to Cushendall - just a hop, skip and a jump along the road.  We followed our noses and some rather unclear signage to the Layd Church ruins. Another unexpected discovery - an absolutely idyllic and peaceful site in a tiny, grassy valley above the sea. The church dates back hundreds of years but has some very recent gravestones around it as well...obviously still an important church to families in the area.

Fun at the beach. See Uncle D against the fence?

 

Hanging out in front of Cushendall's oldest tower.



Climbing the steps to the Layd Church ruins.



Dad in Layd Church,




Running through the Layd Church churchyard.

A third relaxing day and K & D headed out on their own for as we watched the trio. Not much watching necessary as they were so happy to adventure out anywhere in the village. That evening was absolutely gorgeous and after a fantastic meal at Harry's Restaurant in Cushendall, we all walked up the hills behind our apartment - the views are extraordinary.


Girls with friend, Miriam.



Looking up the glen.



The hill lane above our home



Dad.

Looking over Cushendun bay from above our house.

Looking back at the photos from just a few days ago, the loveliness of it remains clear - I hope to return here many times! And if I win the lottery one day, I have found the international destination for my second home. ;-)

Next post will be Londonderry and a connection to our friends, the Devines!

Giants and high adventure

Our second day had us setting out for two of the most well-known sites on Ireland's north coast - the Giant's Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Unexpectedly we also experienced the best of Irish summer weather that day - sunny and warm ...and as these two places require a significant amount of climbng and walking to see the best views, we could not have asked for better!

The Giant's Causeway is made up of many interlocking basalt columns - the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. The more exciting explanation though, is that the causeway is the result of a bridge made by the giant Finn McCool to allow him to reach and battle his enemy acorss the sea in Scotland. We all like the legendary explanation the best!  ;-)

Kim walking in a giant's footsteps.

Taking the cliff path and stairs to the top, rather than the easy route.




The view looking back down the path to the Giant's Causeway.

The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge is just a short hop along the rocky coast and some of the most gorgeous photos I took this week were the result. It is a kilometre walk from the car park to the rope bridge, and we felt more like we were in a part of the caribbean than here in Northern Ireland.  Carrick-a-rede means rock in the road, and the narrow gap between the tiny island and the coast was just that...a stop in the salmon route each year. Fishermen for hundreds of years would string a rope bridge to the island to more easily catch the salmon passing by - now it is done only for the benefit of all the visitors to the area!

Florence would not cross the narrow swinging bridge, but stayed happily on the mainland while the rest of us ventured across. Once on the small islet and off the main path is a gorgeous grass-covered hill where people sat and rested after their trek ...staring out at the sea under the brilliant sky. Bryanna was desperate to get down to that aquamarine water and swim, it looked so enticing - but we held her back.

What a gorgeous day - the weather was not to hold but the next day would be as exciting and certainly more dramatic!

Cushendun!

For those who have been waiting for a post, sorry for the delay! No internet during our week on the north coast ...I have been prepping posts and organizing photos though and will gradually catch up over the next few days now that we have moved to a B&B in my mom's village of Aughnacloy.  (FYI, our week in Cushendun was PHENOMENAL. Read on for more.)

We begin with a photo of Cassidy at dinner on our first night in Dublin…the cousins spent 1.5 hours in the pool and between that, excitement and jetlag, Cassidy was DONE.


Cassiday at dinner, first night.

The hotel was perfectly located and had a great pool and public areas but the bedrooms are very tired – we are happy that we won’t need to stay more than the one night here.

Then it was off on the 3 hour trip north…through a bit of the south, across the border into Northern Ireland, through the outskirts of Belfast and then through the northern counties on the way to the north coast. We had 2 cars (did I mention that we scored a BMW for our ride? Nice!)…Kim drives one, dad and I share the driving of the BMW…we brought dad’s GPS unit and we are loving it…we keep saying…how does she KNOW that??? Very cool. We stopped for groceries at a main shopping centre recommended by the owner of the coast home we are renting for the week, and by the time we did that and had lunch, we pulled into the tiny village of Cushendun around 4:30.

We LOVE it here. The village is a collection of about 10 main buildings…famous for some turn of the century cottages built by a famous architect – true irish history and gorgeous. At the foot of one of the famous glens of Antrim, our home is in the Bay apartments on one side of the river and the village on the other – and we face the sea! The following are some pics of the village, beach and apartments…



Miriam, the friendly goat - lives next door.



The village path, bordering the beach.



Kim on the beach in front of our coatal home - the Bay apartments.



Cushendun village from our balcony.





The sea wall in front of our house - looking across Cushnedun Bay to the sea and Scotland!

The cousin trio are in their element – they head into the village for snacks and then to the beach or the playground beside the village church…all on their own. Bryanna told us repeatedly that she adores this place.

We are LOVING this place.


Hanging out!

More gorgeous photos of Ireland and our whole clan to follow over the next few days as I catch up on posts!

Dia dhaoibh from Ireland!

Yes we have safely arrived!  Since we are now navigating the streets of Dublin with road signs that appear in gaelic and english, the common irish gaelic greeting of Dia dhaoibh seems very appropriate!

View of countryside around Dublin from hotel.

Flight was uneventful but tiring - none of us slept well but we stumbled through customs and managed to find our rental car at Dublin airport (though we had to upgrade to a roomier vehicle...sigh, $$$$). We were delighted that dad's GPS led us quickly and efficiently to our hotel - the Regency Hotel Dublin...we're stretched out in the hotel lounge now, waiting for our rooms and for Kim and family to arrive...internet is free here so am taking advantage while I can.

Girls are happy ....school out, in Ireland on a big adventure, and waiting for their cousin to arrive any minute! While they are biding their time in very modern pursuits during this bit of downtime (Nintendo, itouch), they are doing so in a lovely setting....

That's it for now...no sleep is catching up with me...will try to post more later when we have joined up with the whole crew.