A few summers ago I made a spur of the moment decision and ended up making the trip across the pond to Ireland. I had a friend living in Belfast at the time so I ended up spending the trip in the north. Side note, if ever you visit Belfast via a flight to Dublin make sure you have both Euros and Pounds. I had forgotten that I was going to be in two different currency zones and ended up having to haggle for some chocolate milk.
Not fun.
 |
| View from the Causeway |
Once in Belfast my first stop was a day trip up to the Giant's Causeway,
one of the weirdest looking places ever. According to folklore, the
columns are the remains of a causeway built by a giant who was trying to
get across to Scotland in response to another giant's challenge. Thus
the name. Created from a volcanic eruption the Causeway is made up of
over 40,000 basalt interlocking step-like columns.
 |
| Giant's Causeway |
 |
| Giant's Causeway columns |
Fun Fact: The Giant's Causeway is the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.
 |
| Dunluce Castle |
 |
| View from the edge of the Causeway |
After the Causeway, we stopped by Dunluce Castle. Now not much more than ruins, Dunluce was a medieval castle originally built in the 13th century.
On the way back to the city, like any good university students, we decided to stop by The Old Bushmills distillery. One of the best perks of visiting Ireland is the easy access to a distillery or brewery. Established in 1784, all Bushmills whiskey is distilled at this location.
Fun Fact: The Old Bushmills Distillery claims to be and is generally considered to be the oldest distillery in the world!
After trekking through the natural beauty of the Irish countryside around the Causeway, I went to visit
another one of Belfast's attraction: The Royal Belfast Botanical
Gardens. Originally opened in 1828, the gardens are a 28 acre public
park run by the Belfast City Council. They feature the world renowned
Palm House as well as multiple sculptures throughout the park.
 |
| Botanical Gardens |
 |
| Botanical Gardens |
To cap off the trip I joined my friend at the semi final world bagpipe competition. Nothing caps off a trip to Ireland like listening to some highland music while hijacking a base drum for a photo op!
