August 15th. The Northeast Circuit

 Last night I could not go to sleep for a long while. As I sat in bed writing the blog I suddenly smelled warmed up pillow - it smelled of old pee. Maybe it was in my head, but Dan and kids had nodded off I could not get myself to lie down. Finished my blog, responded to all work and outside emails, and finally researched and booked hotel for tomorrow. It is called the Knock Hotel. It was the only one available and they were so new that there were no reviews for them. And hopefully no one peed on their pillows yet. So much for the spontaneity. Good old fastidious me. And then I could sleep somewhat.

In the morning the breakfast was served by a really sweet middle aged woman. She was very nice as was the rest of the staff and I felt guilty for some reason.

We did a walking tour of the city suggested by guide book we were using. It completely focused on exploring the bitter war between Protestants who wanted to unite with the UK and Catholics who wanted to split, a war that lasted for 40 years.
It was kind of strange to be reading about it. I still have to learn more but this kind of war seems typical for the Middle Ages but to have this in our times just sounds crazy and barbaric.

The tour consisted of the long walks across the town to see respective neighborhoods and their murals. Murals were interesting at first but got old after a while. We also saw 6 meter wall that divided the town for 40 years. What seemed clear was that each side was equally poor and for whatever reason, driven by whatever leaders those people just went on killing each other.

The tour did not cover any of the interesting areas of town, including the churches with some really fascinating architecture. The largest city hall I've ever seen. Luscious Art Nouveau Harlem coffee was so inviting. It seemed that the town froze in time a long one ago and is only beginning to recover now. But after the murals those other things not seem that interesting.



With a sigh of relief we picked up on our journey and got out of the city. The first stop was Glenariff forest. It is a beautiful location in the mountains overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The most scenic Red Fountain trail was closed so we just walked several km downhill to the horseshoe waterfall. On the way we saw lots of raspberry bushes and helped ourselves. There were other people on the trail too and they too ate the berries. Isabella managed the whole trip without any complaints. She is starting to sport some serious calves.

Next we headed to Cushendum. Spent some time on the beach collecting colored wave beaten glass. There are beautiful caves on the beach that were formed by erosion of volcanic rock. One of the caves functions as a private driveway to the villa on the beach. The gate on the other side of the cave was locked so we could not see where it goes. We got ice-cream from the convenience store. If you get a pack of four, it is one pound for the whole thing.  If you get just one, it is 1.50-2 pounds of just one. Don't know how this works.

Next we drove for a number of miles on the serpentine road that ran along the coast enjoying the incredible views. Every time we think - this is it - the most amazing view in the world, ... only to see the next one even better a few miles down the road. The grass in so many  different shades, dark waters, and bleating sheep that resembled mini maggots from afar looked out of this world. It was very fortunate that hardly any cars were on the road at this height of the tourist season and we were able to negotiate narrow one lane paths with a great degree of comfort.

Carrick-a-Rede, a rope bridge above the  30 meter precipice between the main island and tiny uninhabited tiny one was the highlight of the trip. It is tortuous to those afraid of heights but the views are some of the best here.

After a brief stop at Dunsany castle, we arrived to our hotel at Portstewart. Contrary to my worries today it was everything we had hoped for. Now that we are done with dinner at the nearby uninspiring York, and kids a asleep in a large comfortable room upstairs, we are sitting in a living rooms downstairs enjoying the coffee and burning fireplace set up by hospitable owners. This was a good day!! I am about to collapse in the armchair. Good night!