Ireland - Belfast / Ballycastle

This morning started with a quick visit to the Belfast City Hall. The marble is beautiful, white with black streaks and they have some nice murals. Getting out of Belfast was a bit tricky, Morag got a little testy - we named our GPS Morag, she's Irish and has a tendency to get annoyed if you don't do what you are told. Unfortunately Morag's knowledge of Northern Ireland is less than perfect (she did ask us to turn the wrong way into a on-way street more than once).

Eventually we made our way to Carrickfergus Castle, a Norman keep just around the coast north of Belfast. It is the best preserved castle around because the royalists keep coming up with money for its upkeep. It is also full of swords, crossbows and trebuchets, everything my nephew could want for his birthday. They do a pretty good job of showing how people lived in the middle ages plus they have a display of cannons through the years.

Just to drive Morag crazy we took the coastal route for a ways. The Irish coast in this area is best described as rugged but beautiful (maybe rugged and beautiful). There are a lot of rocky beaches between rocky headlands. We ventured inland to see Glenariff Forest. It has two waterfalls that are quite scenic and a only a short walk away. It also has a panoramic point where you can see down the glen to the coast.

We spent the rest of the day driving along the coast again enjoying the views. Morag didn't approve of the coastal route, she is less about the scenery and more about getting there quickly. Also, some idiot has been lighting fires all over Northern Ireland, so the part of the drive was smokey. We passed two fire trucks with crews putting out hot spots. We stopped at a number of scenic vistas (just to annoy Morag).

We arrived in Ballycastle (seriously) in the early evening and went out for dinner. It was fantastic - I had a lamb shank the size of my arm. After dinner we went to a pub for a quiet one. We entered just on half time in the Barcelona / Real Madrid game, and everybody left. I'm not sure if it was us or halftime, but they didn't come back for the second half. It was the first time I've ever cleared a pub without trying. Hopefully we'll get along better with the locals tomorrow.