The Bowden Family Holiday 2014-2015
Ireland and Northern Ireland
The feeling you get when you are about to set your feet in a new place is always a thrill, but when it’s a new country it turns into a buzz you can feel right down to the bone. Ireland and Northern Ireland are my next countries for the next week. This trip I am joined by not just my sister, but my mum and dad who have come over from Australia. We have 7 days to circumnavigate from Dublin and head anti-clockwise up through Northern Ireland and then along the coast all the way around and back up to Dublin. We have nothing planned firmly except our first night of accommodation and the car which was booked the night before. True Bowden travel style, winging it and hoping we fly free.
The first glimpse I had of Ireland was coming down through the densest fluffiest clouds to see Dublin city lights shining bright. The second memorable sight was the large group of about 10 men standing at the arrivals gate waiting for friends…..each with a fresh pint of Guinness in hand!
We picked up mum and dad who were getting off their third flight for the day. After a flood of hugs and a quick catch up we were on the road towards our first family holiday in 9 years.
Before we could hit said road we needed to pick up our rental car from Sixt. Easy enough until you add some indecisiveness about whether to upgrade car type and then mix-ups down at the pick-up depot. We drove away in the third car we were offered after we changed our satellite navigation system because the one we were given started speaking to us in Italian.
Mum doing a great job navigating because our GPS was crap
Our first nights accommodation was in a large family room in a hotel in central Dublin. When we arrived their was a mix up with the booking….apparently we didn’t have one! After some back and forth they gave us a room and took our money. We rounded off our first night with a Tesco tapas style feast and Christmas time again! Thanks to Nan and Pop, Uncle Brett, and Auntie Robin for your thoughtful gifts…..AND Santa, for finally finding us!
Day Two: We decided, because we were flying out of Dublin we would come back and do our tourist stops at the end so we could get on the road faster. Today we would drive up to Northern Ireland with a stop off at Newgrange. This is a 5000 year old tomb/stone circle/large mound that holds a small burial/tomb-chamber at its centre. We took a tour out there and made friends with the bus driver who was the friendliest old lady….on that note, everyone who was Irish was super friendly. Newgrange is an interesting location with very little is known about why it was built. The only fact that they feel they are sure of is the connection with the sun cycle. There are two other large landmarks similar in the area, but they were closed for the Winter unfortunately. The spot is an interesting place surrounded by mystery, but controversially the exterior has been completely rebuilt with stones found in its surrounding.
Spirals and swirls have been carved into the rock. This stone was the entry stone to the inside chamber.
Reproduced image of the sunrise during Winter Solstice. Entering the tomb you don’t realise you are walking uphill, making the end of the chamber parallel to the box opening at the top of the tomb entry.
We continued our drive up to Northern Irelands capital, Belfast where we headed straight for the Titanic Quarter. It was here that Harland and Wolff built and launched the infamous RMS Titanic. Today the museum is a must see for anyone interested in large boats, the history of Ireland at this time, or just history in general. The museum is spread over seven floors with plenty of things to touch, engage with and read (don’t worry there is an audio guide that tells you everything too), and it even has its own ride!
We were beat by the time we had finished but still had to find accommodation. Interesting fact: our English phones (with Giffgaff) worked in Northern Ireland but not Ireland. So, we were able to go online and find beds for the night. We ended up in a fully decked out two bedroom apartment with a massive living and kitchen area for €50! Great price and location close to everything important, highly recommend the Titanic Apartments Belfast.
Day Three was a massive day. We started in Belfast then headed up along the Wild Atlantic Way and back down to Londonderry/Derry. Today was our most planned day and I made sure we knew where we were going and directions to each place, so it all worked out really well (even with the icy roads and paths literally trying to pull us down!)
Belfast has a lot of history and in our rush we only touched on it. This morning we visited the statue for C.S. Lewis, author of the Narnia series. Here I found out the deep seeded connection to religion that these books hold…. When told this, the books take on a whole new level of meaning and I’m saddened to realise I never drew the connections myself.
We headed back to the Titanic shipping docks where we took a moment to visit the monument. On this ground where the titanic was shaped and put together stands the names of all the victims of the well known nautical disaster.
Finally it was time for my most looked forward to destinations of the trip! We drove towards the North along the Wild Atlantic Way, a scenic route that makes you want to stop frequently for photo moments. With my pre work and directions we made it to our first stop: Dark Hedges. Located on a small back country road used for tractors to haul their weekly manure run you find the haunting Bregagh Road. Here stands large trees growing upwards and inwards toward each other to create a tunnel of branches down the road. Surrounded by farmland we arrived after navigating icy roads and squeezing through narrow ‘alleys’ to see the sun start to creep across fields and through the trees.
Next stop up the road you can find: Carrick a Rede. A suspended rope bridge out to an off coast island that was used by fisherman to get to the migrating salmon in the area. Set up high above the water, the wind rips through your hair as you descend the steep 20 or so steps to get to the bridge. For some, the experience of crossing can leave them a little jelly legged looking down through the gaps and watching the water swish far below with the wind threatening to blow them over the rope railing.
View of the bridge across to the island
Celebratory photo after we made it across the bridge
Taking a moment to feel the wind
The Giants Causeway was our next stop. There were moments when I didn’t think I was going to make it out of here alive. The first reason being, I thought the giant would arrive at anytime and think of me as a delicious treat. The second reason, that it was like walking on ice from start to finish. I have lived in ski fields and walked on icy roads and paths many times in life with only a few memorable falls….this was a league of its own, with the wind whipping up the water onto the rocks and freezing it thick and solid. To begin the experience you have to walk downhill to the waterfront = ice road #1 It was a constant search for gravel or grass to avoid butt taps. We watched as people slid by us and others who were tentatively slipping and sliding with limbs flailing everywhere. Along the walk our audio guide gave us a full history, stories and information about this magical part of Northern Ireland and as I listened I was transported in time. I dreamt of walking with magical creatures and joining them as they carved up the rocky coastline.
We walked out over the Causeway and onto the rocks…Meagh made it over ice-covered rocks all the way out to the point…I think I managed half way before I was sure if I went any further I would break a bone or two. Nature is an amazing force and the different ways the landscape in this area has been carved and cracked and morphed into the many shapes and styles is truly unique. Highlights included Dad taking a giant slip and slide and making an epic save, and the young Canadian who offered to take a photo for us who first held the camera upside down, then took a video, before finally taking our picture.
Audio guide is a must have to get all the best stories and info
Meagh made it out to the point!
Giants BOOT!
We continued with the icy theme along most of the roads towards Londonderry/Derry. We found the Iona B&B for €58 for the night; Five beds, tv, hot water and a 5 minute walk to the yummiest dinner at Fitzroys Bistro. The restaurant was very busy and seemed very popular, but the barman made the half hour wait at the bar entertaining and pleasant after he handed me my first Guinness of the trip. To make it even better we got 30% off (because it was Monday or Tuesdays) and the meals were above average on the delicious scale!
Dads view for most of the Northern Ireland drive
We woke to more food, our free full fried and continental breakfast included in the room rate. We took a drive tour around the streets of Derry, around the Old town wall, up into IRA homeland and onto the memorials and Free Derry area.
“Free Derry Corner” at the corner of Lecky Road and Fahan Street in the Bogside. The slogan was first painted in January 1969 by John Casey.
From Derry we cruised down to Donegal where we found a 15th Century castle that dominates the town centre and was once the home to the leading clans of Ireland, the O’Donnell Chieftains. In the town centre of Donegal you can also find the cafe Blueberry, where you can enjoy the biggest and most delicious Chocolate pudding of your life!
The Donegal coastline looked amazing in my research and was one of the places I wished we had more time to stop, look around and explore. In passing we drove a small section of the coast around sunset. We stopped to check out the ruin of Leitrim Castle and a quick coastal photos shoot along Donagal Bay during sunset 🙂
Onwards we travelled towards Mum and Meaghs highlight destination for the trip, Cong. The small and charming town is full of little treasures. We went there because the 1950’s film starting John Wayne and Maureen O’hara, The Quiet Man was filmed here. We stayed in a gorgeous B&B called Michaeleens Manor that was completely themed with Quiet Man memorabilia, stories to tell, and they even lent us the DVD to watch! We only stayed here one night but it was the type of town you could implant yourself in and feel welcomed. We finished the day in style with a yummy dinner at the local Ashford Castle restaurant called The Lodge. The following day we took a walk through church ruins and down to the river, we stood on a bridge and found ourselves in two counties at one time (Cong and Mayo), and we wandered the streets and heard shooting in the forest (not sure if it’s rabbit of duck season?!).
The rest of the day was spent searching…..first for The Quiet Man house. Spoiler alert, it has been neglected and left to ruins far out of town and has been since recreated in the town centre. Second was to find the bridge used at the start of the film. SUCCESS! Tucked far away behind “main” roads and a little out of Cong, we found the ‘stone gem’ and the girls were HAPPY.
New Years Eve was spent at Elements B&B just out of Doolin. We had a meal at the Fitz in town and lived it up in the warmth of our B&B with our complimentary chocolate chip biscotti. We started 2015 with the BEST fry up I’ve had in a long time and headed off to see what all the hype was about at the Cliffs of Moher.
This would be our first spell of bad weather. After passing the many hills covered in rocks to get to the Moher (I now realise why there are so many walls built of rocks), we were welcomed to the Cliffs by light drizzle and wind that would have destroyed a tumbleweed. At one stage as we walked it was like walking into a wall… we couldn’t move forward as hard as we pushed, and didn’t even think about leaning anywhere but forwards unless we wanted to be blown onto our butts. On our walk up to the cliff edges the clouds cleared up for enough time to take in the stunning views and take some photos for 10 minutes, after that it closed back in and clouds/fog swallowed the cliffs.
Mum and dad struggling against the wind to get to us from O’Brian Tower
After our windy adventure by the sea we drove through the small town of Adare; another place I would have loved to have stopped to explore with its historical vibe of quaint thatch roof houses. We continued our drive past permanently windswept treelines to Cork. Here we stayed at an overly priced B&B, Cork-Crawford house where breakfast wasn’t even being served!
We were finally visiting Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone to acquire some eloquence. We arrived super early to watch as the sun started creeping towards the treelines and mist was rising off the river. We explored the castles many levels and I was surprised at how sound the structure was. We each took our turn to sit on the ground, lean backwards with the assistance of a rather grouchy man, to hold onto bars as we slid ourselves down and out to give a piece of stone a smootch…..at least there wasn’t as much spit on it compared to the salt mines of Salzburg we had tried a few years back. After we all gained eloquence we went out to the grounds to check out the Poison Garden, here you can find many toxic and deadly plants for the witches out there. Truly a great destination of Ireland.
The many levels of the Castle still standing are astounding!
Next, Kilkenny welcomed us into town with some of the worst main street traffic I have seen and a young boy in wet weathers and bumboots who was sitting atop his mini horse and cart. After our slow drive through town we were finally going over 20km when we decided to head back in and see the Kilkenny Castle. We were greeted with some local…. encouragement after we made a safe turn out into slow oncoming traffic an elderly man (far enough away) honked a few times and shook his fist in an angry manner towards us….needless to say it caused an uproar of laughter that lasted the whole way back into town.
Kilkenny Castle has had many changes to its structure over the years since its first foundations were laid in the 600’s. It is a beautiful building that we were unable to explore the inside of but were able to watch a video of its history. I am one for wrecks and ruins when it comes to the authenticity of castles and was a little disappointed to know that so much had been altered to the inside and out to make it look the way it does today.
Kilkenny Castle
From Kilkenny we made our final drive back to Dublin to round out the trip. The Travel Lodge housed us for the night and had an excellent front of house service, but it was the Green Eggs breakfast that did the trick. Pub meals are always unique when traveling, and I really enjoyed the ones we stopped in across Ireland. It was Sheenans in Dublin that was number one with the smashing Guinness Pie that was served up for me!
For our last day we took a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. Here we learnt all about the history of the delicious drink and the brewing process. The video of how men used to hand-make the wooden barrels was my second favourite part of the day. The first was getting to pour my own Guinness INSIDE the Guinness factory.
Our perfectly poured Guinness. Poor form by the rest of my family….mine is on the right…..
One of the Guinness Classes of 03/01/2015
Last Note: Reading previous reviews about driving in Ireland, they made it sound like a nightmare that would take twice as long as we managed our drives. Dad did an amazing job navigating the small narrow country roads and the icy and wet coastal roads. If you are used to driving in all weather conditions, don’t be frightened of driving Ireland in Winter. Saying that, we do have a reputation of bringing good weather wherever we travel and only managed one day of rain in the week (and that was our driving day).
Top quotes of the week:
Me: “I want an Irish tea please”
Mum: “I had Irish tea this morning …. It was tea and I’m in Ireland”
Me: “That’s a big cow!”
Dad: “He’s UDDERly huge!”
We returned out little driving wagon and had no problems checking in and boarding our next flight with Aer Lingus. Next destination on the Bowden Trip: The land of canals, bikes, and windmills….Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The World Adventures of Melly B 