2012/03/13 - Wut is 2012 for 200 plz

Erm...

Hi.

: )

A smiley face always seems to make things less awkward and disconcerting. It's not that I haven't been active or doing anything - quite the contrary. After Xmas break, I worked hard to complete my essays for my courses followed by a whole lot of nothing. Since my work was due at the beginning of the finals' period, I basically had an extra few weeks of break before second semestre started. During that time, my old flatmate, Natasha, and I planned a trip to the north coast of Ireland. We decided to hit up Portrush and day trip from there. We visited several places including the White Cliffs, Dunluce, Bushmills, Mussenden Temple, and Derry. It was a fun four days. It was also nice to get away from dull Belfast. We were super lucky - the whole trip was sunny and beautiful! Very rare for Ireland. It was just so nice to have sun - I miss my vitamin D.



Portrush itself is incredible quaint and cute. The buildings are all sorts of colors and the town is very easy to navigate, thanks to being very small. Since Natasha and I went during the middle of January, we didn't encounter any other tourists. No, really. We were the only tourists in Portrush. We were the only people at our hostel, save for the gentleman who worked there. Our hostel was located basically right on the coast. It was a minute walk to the Irish sea. It was incredible! And only a two hour train ride from Belfast. Nat and I took time to explore the little village and ended up calling it an early night - there really wasn't anything to do. I blame winter. Spring/summer looks like it'd be the appropriate time to head to the north coast.

The next day, we woke up early, ate some breakfast and made our way to the East Strand. We watched the sun come up as we began our very long trek for the day. It was so nice! We were the only people on the beach, save for a few people walking their doggies (or riding horsies. Lots of hoofprints in the sand.). Three miles later, we ended up at the White Cliffs of Dover (of the famous song type). We climbed all over the lava rocks and limestone before we noticed that the tide was coming in. Oops. haha After that, we made our way back to the main rode and walked a couple more miles to Dunluce. I saw this castle back at the beginning of the school year, in September. I couldn't really enjoy it though since there were a million other students (okay, okay. A couple hundred at most.) running around. This time, it was just Natasha and I! How cool. We ate lunch in a 17th century ruin. It was really cold though - we picked a sunny but incredibly windy day. Brrrr. After refueling, we decided to be adventurous and walk to Bushmills. That put our total mileage at 8 miles. Oh god. As someone who is out of shape, that was a crazy day. We ended the day at the distillery with a free sample of Irish whiskey - my poor stomach did not appreciate that much. It was so ironic too, when we took the bus home... I think it was less than 20 minutes and we were back in Portrush. We should have planned our day a bit better. Ah well! Still, it was amazing and I don't think we'd have the same experience if we switched the bus ride with the walking. <3

Next day, we took a bus to Mussenden Temple and the Downhill Demsene. This overlooked the Atlantic Ocean. Two bodies of water in one trip. Pretty cool. The Mussenden Temple was built in the late 18th century and is part of the Bishop of Derry's estate. Again, we were the only people there. So cool! Nothing like eating lunch while overlooking the ocean and having a ruined estate in the background. Sigh. <3 Amazing. After the Temple, we caught a bus to Derry. We didn't spend a lot of time there, but we did go into the Tower Museum, walked along the Wall, checked out St. Columb's Cathedral, and ate dinner in the oldest restaurant/pub, the River Inn (omg, I ate a delicious enchilada. So good.).

Thus ended the trip to the north coast. We came home the next day and promptly passed out, haha. We packed a lot into three days. It was intense, but so much fun. <3 I'm incredibly glad that we didn't have to fight with other tourists to take photos or see cool things. January is a good time to travel for a few things. If you don't mind the cold or the high chance of bad weather, that is. 

Natasha! on the train back to Belfast. For more pictures from this trip (also full views of them too), check out this [link]

Next entry, I'll talk about my trip to Venice! YES, Venice. As in Venezia. As in Italy. As in Carnival. <3 Best birthday trip ever. Until then, keep on keepin' on.

Cheers!