Ireland – The only place in seven months which can spell and understand my name on the first go. Not being Irene, Irina, Aaron or Ear An has been great. We flew into Belfast from Glasgow on the 28th of August. Flying was much cheaper and faster than taking the ferry across. We had two days here in the city before beginning our two week road trip. Belfast had a really relaxed vibe and we enjoyed learning about the industrial history of manufacturing there.

We arrived in the afternoon so had a walk around, had burgers for dinner and an early night. The following day we were up early to visit the sites and the Titanic museum. The history of ship making in Belfast was fascinating as was learning about the titanic in more detail than just the movie. After a hard day site seeing it was time for our first pub crawl (3 pubs is our pub crawl limit due to cost restrictions and ability to handle liquor). We visited the oldest pub in Belfast, a second traditional one and a third modern bar. We both like the Irish pale ales as well as the red ales. After three pints it was home for a M&S pasta and bed for a big day the following day.

The next morning we picked up our sweet Nissan Pulsar (a downgrade from our brand new Ford Fiesta but still fine) and made our way towards Giants Causeway. On the way we drove through the dark hedges which are some cool trees made famous by featuring in Game of Thrones. We had these grand plans of parking at a lesser known spot and doing a scenic 7km walk to the Giants Causeway rocks. The weather forecast looked cloudy with some showers in the late arvo so we packed our sandwiches and raincoats and set off. 20 Minutes later into the walk the heavens opened and we got completely soaked, ruining our one pound umbrella and my iPhone RIP. Back in the fogged up car we decided to continue to Giants Causeway by driving, feeling sorry for the soggy backpackers who caught the bus out.

Dark hedges

The walk before the torrential rain

Giants Causeway is an incredible, natural basalt rock formation caused by an ancient volcanic explosion 60 million years ago. There are many legends that go with the name of it, my favourite being the Irish Giant who wanted to fight a Scottish Giant so built the Causeway so they could meet. Go pro in hand, we tacked the very slippery rocks along with other wet tourists hoping we wouldn’t be like the lady who slipped and smashed her camera on the rocks. The formations were spectacular, even in the weather.

Me looking like a piece of giants Causeway

Back at the car we changed into dry clothes and made our way to the Bushmills Distillery for a tour. The tour was informative as well as warm and cosy. As Matt was driving I got to have both 12 year old single malts at the end 🤑😛.

Black and white to mix it up – 2 whiskeys down, puffer jacket is a vibe.

That evening we stayed in Derry where we had fish and chips for dinner in a cosy BnB before heading to the Galway in the Republic of Ireland 🇮🇪 the following day.