As promised: more shoe gazing! I took one day to get out of Belfast a see some sights in the country. Because of my time constraints (and because I wasn’t about to rent a car and navigate left-sided-one way streets and weird markings on my own) I hopped on a tourist bus. Carrickfergus Castle was our first stop. I got inside and took a few photos (of my feet) before getting kicked out because I didn’t want to pay. All in the name of photography!
Here are some photos of the outside:
I Love the wee vines creeping up the side. So green in contrast with the dull brick. || The forbidden gates! Wide open! With the sun beckoning! £10 please!
Next stop:
The whole point of the bus tour was to get to The Giant’s Causeway, but Carrick-a-Rede and its wobbly rope bridge did a good job at rivalling the main attraction. It hit all of the points for me when I think of Ireland and the landscape. Ocean? Check. Rolling green hills? Check. Limestone cliff things? Yep. Those too. I went snap happy here and had to stop so I had enough room on my memory card to take photos for the rest of the tour.
Right?
I walked across this. It wobbled but I didn’t look down. The real danger is on the other side: mud. Mud everywhere. Mud is super helpful if you want to slip and slide around. When you are on a tiny … rock disguised as an island, well things can get dicey.
The aforementioned mud.
The only thing that would have made me love this more is if there were sheep on this grass. I saw so many sheep!
And then:
This place. I think what made the experience even crazier was the weather. All day it had been quite pleasant. The closer we got to the causeway, the whackier the weather got. By the time we got there, it had clouded over and it was windy and just generally unpleasant. As I walked down the road that lead from the main entrance and visitor centre, it started to rain. At the bottom when the rocks were finally in sight, it poured. Sideways. It was dark and cloudy and just … terrible. Five minutes later the clouds broke, the rain tapered, there was a DOUBLE RAINBOW, and the sun came out and shone on the rocks in the most magical way. I mean. Ireland, right?
There are people up there!
This was such a cool experience. The only part that I missed was having someone along with me to share it with. Good excuse to go back though I think. I can imagine staying a couple of nights in a seaside cottage in one of the hamlets we drove past… In the summer, of course.
Northern Ireland, I love you!
The tour I did was Allen’s Tours. I highly recommend it for £16! || You can see all of my photos in one place on flickr.
As I mentioned before, I feel super lucky to have been able to go to Belfast for Build. The prospect of hopping the pond got me super amped up; especially because in my mind, Ireland would be one of the most photogenic places I’ve visited to date. It didn’t dissappoint, but I may have overloaded myself (physically and psychologically) by bringing three cameras. Three.
I probably could have made do with two.
There are so many adorable alleys lined with pubs and restaurants. Belfast is a picturesque city with a sleepy feel that I think has to do with everyone’s laid back attitudes.
St. George’s Market was the lunch venue on Conference Day. Not many vendors were open other than the food stalls but this one had some awesome fruit.
And some awesome hand-painted signs.
So many bridges, so little time! I’m thinking about New York a lot lately. Hard not to.
At this point I feel it safe to say that I live a charmed life. Not even semi-charmed. I’m talking all the way charmed here.
Next month I will be traveling to Belfast to volunteer with Andy and the Build team during the conference week. I’ll also be attending the events and learning a bunch of stuff and meeting some awesome makers and designers and creatives. AS PART OF MY JOB!
I know it makes no sense. SoHo is not in Brooklyn, but we ventured over for a day to shop and go to Prune for brunch. It poured rain on and off which was a bummer, but I blew most of my trip budget at the shops and the brunch was the best meal of the trip - hands down.
