Saturday morning came very earlier for a few of us. 6:30am. We ventured outside in the rain to walk 20 minutes to St. George's Market. Most of us were starving, and got scones, pastries or potatoe & cheese pancakes and coffee/tea from the vendors. Can't really describe the different smells from the market, just know that they were incredible!
I had a really good breakfast sausage roll and caramel latte.
We left Belfast around 9am and headed to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. The bridge is over 350 years old, and is typically used by fishermen during the salmon season. It's also open to tourists, if they dare to walk across it. With the "I only live once" attitude, I crossed the bridge which is suspended 30m above the sea. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be!
The views were breathtaking and the air was chilly, but it was exhilarating.Next stop: Giant's Causeway. There's an old Irish legend told that explains how this beautiful site was created: A giant, Finn MacCool laid the causeway out over the Irish sea to serve as a path to his lady love in Scotland. Today, this strange rock formation resembles stepping stones and appears to even be man made (it's all natural). The columns you see in the pictures are made of basalt, a common volcanic rock, and are hexagonal-shaped. We spent about an hour climbing over and through the causeway.
We slowly made our way to Derry (Loyalists commonly referred to this city as "Londonderry"). On the way, we drove through Portstewart, a town where some of my ancestors are from!
After checking into the hostel, one of Rick Steve's tour guides took our group on a walking tour of the city. He explained how the city is still very much divided into Catholic and Protestant areas. Many of the housing developments feature bold murals, some of which you'll see below.
Note: I chose not to take pictures of some of the murals, as several were pretty graphic. I was amazed that people live in these neighborhoods and see these images everyday.
This says "You are know entering Free Derry." This mural features the eyes of one of the people who were killed on Bloody Sunday, January 30, 1972, when 13 people died as a result of being shot for participating in a civil rights protest. The famous U2 song Bloody Sunday is discusses that horrific day in Irish history.
The hostel put on a barbque for us Saturday night, and we all sat underneath a makeshift tent in the backyard huddled around heat lamps. There were plenty of hamburgers, veggie burgers, and sausages to go around. Everyone headed out to Peadar O'Donnell's, one of Northern Ireland's most famous pubs. We met and talked with some locals, and heard some traditional Irish music. The band played one song about Derry, and most of the men in the bar stood up and starting singing along with them, one typical form of Irish patriotism. The owner of the pub bought the bar next door years ago, and put a door connecting the two bars to allow customers to move between the two bars without having to walk outside. We floated between the Irish music and the rock band was performing. A few of us went to one of the nightclubs in the city called Sugar for a few hours as well. Overall, another great, jam-packed day.
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