We arrived at our first stop of the day! It was a rope bridge nearby the beach. I think the cliffs we were on were called Carrick-a-Rede. It was very beautiful. Very windy and cold.
Wish you were here. I'd push you in.
The path felt long. It was up hill, it was downhill, there were stairs, there was mud and puddles. We got to the bridge after maybe a 10 or 15 walk. I tried to get a picture while walking across the bridge. Not holding on to the side and trying not to drop you phone was a little adrenaline rush.
Hold on Short Round while I cut this rope
On the other side was this cliff that offered a stunning panoramic view of the oceans and cliffs. Maria got what I consider a very nice picture of me.
Find sober living at Rope Bridge Rehab
The ground was slippery which was all the fun since you were standing on a cliff. My foot slipped twice but I never fell. I sat on the cliff for a little while before it got boring.
Then I left. I went back over the rope bridge and back up the path. It was so tiring. I had to stop to catch my breathe. It starting raining and the wind was hurting the inside of my ear. I wanted to be the first person back because I'm competitive about weird things. I was the first back. Then I just waited around for everyone else.
We had sweets in the gift shop. I had a caramel bar and it wasn't very good. I was bummed about that and Maria gave me her fifteen. A fifteen is this:
I'll take 14 more please.
It was so effing good. It was like cookie dough and had big marshmallows and candied cherries in it and coconut sprinkles. Holy shit it was my favorite dessert in Ireland. I don't know what it was or why it was called a fifteen.
We got back on the bus and went to the Giants Causeway. We were given little audio devices and you pressed certain buttons once you reached the right point and the guy on the device would talk about what you were looking at. It was basically a walk along the beach, being pointed out certain rocks that looked like other things but were still rocks. It was cold and windy.
Brr!
Then we got to walk out onto the rocks of the sea! The rocks were really cool.
They were perfect for climbing! Well, almost perfect. The wet rocks were slippery and some had seaweed hanging on and they were very slippery. I jumped from rock to rock getting closer and closer to the water.
Pictured: a lady who never slipped. Also she is a liar and slipped twice
Tom had warned us on the bus earlier not to go too far out or else we could slip and get wet or hurt. He said some people get really hypnotized by the ocean. I had never really thought of it that way, but I do get hypnotized. I went out as far as I could go without swimming to the next big rock to climb, then I just sat there and watched the waves. I took a few videos because when I leave I like to watch the waves over again and listen to the sound. Maria called me over and we went to some more cool rocks.
Whoa.
And I jumped along those too. I was having fun. It was like being a little kid again. We had the option of walking back up the path or taking a bus for 1 euro. Because I'm cheap and already had a lot of energy from the ocean I walked and made Maria walk with me. It got to raining again and the water hurt because the wind blew it at you pretty hard. The wind wasn't strong but it kept pushing me off balance and I had to have my hair tucked it.
We passed Tom on the way and we all got to talking about what Maria and I would be doing while the group went back home. He already knows we're staying and country hopping. He gave advice on Oslo and now I'm feeling a lot more comfortable about going. I was never uncomfortable about it. There was some anxieties about certain parts but for the most part I've been excited about this country hopping we'll be doing.
They had food back at the gift shop of the Giant's Causeway. The line was long and every table was full. I got an egg sandwich and chips and ate it outside until the bus came and I could get in there and eat.
Before I even got to my chips (I mean crisps, excuse my American tongue) we were at our third stop, The Bushmill Distillery! It's said to be the oldest distillery in all the land because it was opened in 1608.
Our tour group got divided into 2 and we were not allowed to take photos. Since taking photos is part of the way I remember what to journal, this may be hard to read.
Our guide took us through the distillery. We went into one room where they did stuff with yeast and it smelled like yeast. The fermentation room smelled terrible to me. It reminded me of vomit but Maria walked it and exclaimed "Oh! It smells like apple juice in here!" To each their own I guess.
It was awesome! We saw where they had barrels of Bushmill aged 1 year, 5 year, 10 year, 15 year, and 20 year By year 20 the angel's cut was half. She must be very content. With some barrels apparently they make patio furniture out of them. Whiskey scented patio furniture is something I would buy. We lastly saw the bottling where they put the caps on.
At the end they gave us a half shot of a Bushmill of our choice. I had the Bushmill 12, aged 12 years and sold only at this distillery. Very cool! I sipped it and thought of me old man. They had a gift shop around the corner. I decided to get something for Big Papa K and found a nice jar of Bushmill marmalade.
Goes great with an Irish coffee
It cost 3.25 pounds! I don't know if that's good or not. I think so!
The ride back to Belfast was chill. I read a book. Once we got back to our hotel Maria and I booked a taxi to take us to the airport tomorrow. Then we, along with Kaitlyn and Mia, went to another touristy store and I stood around. We saw some people from our tour group there and they were going back to the hotel for the night. We said goodbye forever to them.
Us four went to Victoria Square, a shopping mall. It was like 4 or 5 stories. This wasn't touristy stuff. It was name brand swag. My domain. I took them all to the top so we could make out way down each floor. The top was just a viewing area of Belfast since we were so high up. Belfast isn't a pretty town. Everything going on was in our location. The next floor was food so we got a table at a place called Wagamama.
I got a pad Thai dish and it was alright.
Notice the cilantro shoved to the side. Fecking gross
I paid nearly 10 pounds for it. We tried paying for our meal together and the other three girls were a mess. By the time everyone was done figuring out basic math I had to explain that they left a shitty tip and had to put in more. Silly Americans.
Maria and Kaitlyn left and Mia and I stayed to shop. We only had 30 minutes before the mall closed at 9. Everything was out of my budget but I found a Lush store and that was exciting.
Lush is like a body care store where they sell soaps and lotions. They're famous for their bath bombs. I picked out the prettiest bath bomb. It's basically a ball of gold sparkles. It cost 3.75 pounds and whatever it touches it leaves a mess of sparkles. I love it. I'll have to find a bathtub to put it on. Whatever it goes it it will destroy with glitter.
Destroy
Back at the hotel, plans were being made for the last night out. Maria got all dolled up and did her hair and makeup while I debated putting on fresh deodorant. I decided, nah. The "party" was in the hotel bar and it was super lame. It was the usual four of us and three other ladies. They all sat around and played on their phones. I ordered a double vodka soda and drank all that then part of Maria's cider. We finally left around 10 to go to a karaoke bar.
I have actually never been to a karaoke bar because I thought they were kind of stupid and obnoxious. Turns out ya girl Calla's got intuition because this place also sucked. It was a total taco fest, there must have been 3 or 4 guys while around 30 women in this small underground bar. It was underground because some people tried to hit those high notes and bad things happen. Kaitlyn sang a song, some country thing, and she was legit the only person I didn't have to put my hands to my ears for. Maria tried to get me to swing dance and I failed. Four of us did a shot called Deep Throat (complete chick bar, good lord) and it was awful. I had several drinks before the 6 of us (somewhere in the mix one of the other 3 girls left, I don't know) got out of there.
We walked around town drunk asking strangers for directions to the next bar. That was actually pretty funny. It was like 1 person would be telling us to keep in down and behave, 1 person was yelling at passerbys for directions to City Hall (why city hall? I don't know), 2 were laughing hysterically, 1 was singing a song from Frozen, and 1 was considering peeing on the sidewalk. Silly Americans!
We made it back to the hotel and hung out there before Maria and I went to bed. It was really early, only 12:30. I fell asleep literally as soon as I hit the bed.
Ginger count: 15! Guess they're all in the south.
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