Giant's Causeway
 

The Cousin Picture at the Giant's Causeway
 

BW Babe and the Harpist at The Giant's Gate
 

Bushmill's Distillery
 

A Red Phone Booth at Bushmill's
Me, BW Babe and the Harpist

The Guild Hall in Derry

The Pub Venue in Derry

Jamming with the Locals at the Clarendon Bar
 

Word of the Day

Teenanswer - Any answer to a question that doesn't properly address the question, like those of a teenager.

We left the hotel in Belfast at around 8:30 AM. Our tour bus drove through areas that we'd been previously with our driver/tour guide Liam. We drove by the Carrickfergus Castle and Batt told us that Carrick in Gaelic means Rock....so Fergus' Rock Castle. Interesting. We also drove by the Ballygally Castle where we'd stayed. The bus continued down the coast where we enjoyed seeing the Glens of Antrim. While we drove, some of the musicians in the back of the bus started playing Carrickfergus while one of the men sang.

I wish I was in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrand
I would swim over the deepest ocean
Only for nights in Ballygrand
But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over
And neither have I the wings to fly
I wish I had a handsome boatsman
To ferry me over my love and I

My childhood days bring back sad reflections
Of happy times there spent so long ago
My boyhood friends and my own relations
Have all past on now with the melting snow
So I'll spend my days in this endless roving
Soft is the grass and shore, my bed is free
Oh to be home now in carrickfergus
On the long rode down to the salty sea

Now in Kilkenny it is reported
On marble stone there as black as ink
With gold and silver I would support her
But I'll sing no more now til I get a drink
Cause I'm drunk today and I'm seldom sober
A handsome rover from town to town
Ah but I'm sick now my days are number
Come all me young men and lay me down
Come all me young men and lay me down.

Our first stop of the day was to be a tour of The Giant's Causeway. We were delayed in arriving due to some roadwork but finally arrived at our destination at 11:30 AM. The self-guided tour took almost the entire two hours allotted. We were given radios to listen to the explanation as we hiked. What a beautiful day for a hike! Some of the group took the bus back from the Giant's Gate but BW Babe and I hiked back...beating the bus by a good ten minutes.

We boarded our tour bus again and continued on to the nearby Bushmill Distillery. Whiskey. We weren't sure if they could take us today for a tour but Batt pulled it off. Of course, we couldn't all go on the tour at the same time. The tour guides at Bushmill broke us up into groups of eighteen or less. The tour was very interesting. BW Babe, the Harpist, Lord Douglas, Mr. D and I all felt that our earlier tour of the Bladnoch Distillery in Scotland provided a great chance at comparison. Irish Whiskey versus Scottish Whiskey. Actually, I must say that I preferred the taste of the Bushmill whiskey sample that I received...but...I'm still not fond of whiskey.

After the tour, we all boarded the bus again and continued on to the city of Derry for the next couple of nights. With such a large group of people, we had to split up. Some of us are staying at The City Hotel, and some of us are staying at The Tower Hotel. BW, the Harpist and Lord Douglas, Mr. D and I and a bunch of others are at The Tower Hotel for our two night stay here in Derry. I must say that it was quite the hike uphill from the pub where the musicians played tonight.

It's a good thing that BW, the Harpist, Lord Douglas and I all came prepared tonight to stay for the musical venue. I'm not at all sure that I'd have enjoyed hiking up the hill to our hotel room twice in one evening. As it is, it looks like we'll be making several trips up that hill tomorrow. *sigh* Oh well, we enjoyed listening to the musicians in the group jam with the locals here in Derry at the Clarendon Bar (Pub). We didn't stay too long. All of us were a bit tired after our day of touring. I know that BW Babe and I were even more tired after hiking up that hill. Maybe we should have taken that bus at the Giant's Causeway instead of hiking all the way to and fro, but...it was so beautiful outside today and the views were magnificent so...I'd do it again, despite my swollen ankles.

Random Quote of the Day

If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.

John D. Rockefeller (1839 - 1937)