Planes, Trains and Automobiles

We left the castle bright and early for our long drive into Dublin. We had a flight to catch, but we also had a few last minute shopping stops we had to make. We parked the car and took a bus into the city so I didn’t have to drive with all the crazy city drivers. We got our shopping done in record time and had a quick lunch before heading back to return our rental car.

A common sight while driving in Ireland.

When we got to the rental car place, we had to repack again because of our newly acquired items, but packing is in my blood so it was pretty easy to make everything fit and weigh what it was supposed to. The dude who drove the shuttle back  to the airport was nutty! We hung on for dear life and thanked the Lord we arrived in one piece.

After checking in, we had one last domestic pint of Guinness before our plane took off. No celebrity sightings this time, but the flight was comfortable and smooth.

We arrived in London in good time and didn’t have to go through immigration so we were swimming in time! We dropped our stuff at the hotel and went into the city for some grub.

We remembered the amazing fish and chips we’d had at a pub right on the Westminster Bridge so we hit that for one last fish and chips meal. After dinner we caught the tube up to Trafalger Square and walked down the Mall with all the lamps lit. Around Buckingham Palace and a short jaunt through Hyde Park later, we were ready to head back to the hotel.

I’m sitting in a crowded terminal at Heathrow International Airport waiting for our delayed flight. It’s hard to not be annoyed because I’m looking forward to getting home. Since our flight was delayed here, we might not make the flight from Vancouver to Portland, but I’m staying optimistic. We’ll probably have to run, but I’m hoping we make it.

This trip has been amazing and we’re already thinking about bringing the boys back someday. There is so much we didn’t see and we think another trip is in order! First thing’s first though… let’s get home!

Rope Bridge and The Walled City

We woke up early(ish) the next morning to get a running start on our day. Our first stop was the Rope Bridge that we’d missed out on the day before. We arrived to freezing temps and strong winds, but that didn’t detour us from walking across a very wobbly rope bridge that was suspended over a several hundred foot drop to the rolling sea below! I thought it was thrilling! If we didn’t have to wait in line so long and if we didn’t have other things on our agenda that day I’d have stayed there a long time and just gone back and forth over the bridge.

Alas, we had to hike back to the car and bust it to the town of Derry (or Londonderry as the non-locals call it). Our stay at the castle came with a tour of the only completely walled city in Ireland. Our tour guide was very charming and entertaining. The tour was well done and we learned even more about the political unrest in the country. It’s amazing that there’s still a huge division between the Catholics and the protestants in the country. I don’t really get that whole thing, but then I guess old grudges really do run deep.

The wall around Derry.

We headed back to the castle for our fancy dinner and we were not disappointed! We each had chicken, something we’d not eaten in over two weeks! It was stuffed and wrapped in bacon and dipped in gravy. What’s not to like, right? We got a bottle of wine and dessert included in our dinner too. I think the funniest part of dinner was the appetizer (also included). I ordered their beef chili. Now, you’d think that beef chili would come in a bowl… not so much. They brought me a plate with tortilla chips, covered in chili and other nacho toppings. It was good, a little strange, but good. Apparently they don’t have a very large representation of Mexican people… the salsa that topped my plate of “nachos” was Pace.

I took my Bailey’s cheesecake to go because I was so full and we rolled ourselves up to our room and made an effort to repack our stuff before our departure from Ireland the next day.

Donegal Castle and the Giants Causeway

The Sandhouse Hotel is a pretty nice place to be. The breakfast is pretty nice because we sit in a dining room that overlooks the beach. They serve you on fancy china too. My fruit bowl was on a pedestal!

After our first breakfast here we went to the Donegal Castle. The coolest thing about that castle was the “bathroom”. It was a fairly large room with a wooden bench along one wall. The bench had a butt-sized hole in it. They said there was a shoot that went to a hole underground. It made both of us laugh… the first indoor plumbing!!











We spent most of the rest of the day relaxing. It was sort of a nasty day anyhow and we didn’t really feel like going out on the beach and getting wet and cold. It was nice to just hang out. We spend a good chunk of our afternoon sitting in front of our window watching a surfing class. We couldn’t believe that these crazy people would put on a wetsuit that went from head to toe and try and surf in the rain in freezing cold water. It was also very fun to watch them wipe out!

We woke early the next morning and left for Northern Ireland. We had a couple of things we wanted to do before we checked into our castle.


Our first stop was the Bushmills Distillery. I’m not really a fan of whiskey, but the tour was very interesting. Apparently Bushmills is the oldest licensed distillery in the world! They are also the only distillery in Ireland that does the entire process on the premises. I was happy that we skipped the Jameson Distillery in Dublin in favor of this one. As we went through the bottling rooms, she explained that they bottle Jameson’s whiskey for them! The barrels they use for some of their whiskey come from the US. They use second hand barrels from Kentucky because it gives their whiskey a unique character.

Of course, the tour came with a free drink. Even though I don’t care for whiskey, I have to admit that it was very nice. We opted for a taste of the 12 year, triple distilled, single malt whiskey. You can only find that at their distillery, they don’t sell it anywhere else in the world.

After the distillery tour we drove a few minutes to the Giants Causeway. It was a nasty day and since we were at the beach it was also very windy. You can imagine the lovely sideways rain we experienced. That part was a little disappointing, but we made the best of it. I took lots of pictures and I hope to frame a couple of them.

We wanted to go to the rope bridge too, but they were closing so we just headed to the castle.









Dungiven Castle was the big finale to our trip. I have to admit that I was a little bit underwhelmed. The outside of the castle was cool, but once we got inside we realized it had been completely rebuilt. It was still nice though. High ceilings, tapestries, suits of armor and candelabras  made the modern surroundings seem a little more old world. It was also a little bit frustrating that even though we were the only guests staying there, they put us in their smallest room.

Despite being in cramped quarters, we enjoyed our stay. It was nice to have a shower that actually had good water pressure… something we’d been lacking since entering Ireland. The bed was also the softest bed I’ve ever slept in! I’m still not completely sure it was worth what we paid, but it was comfortable.