Galway was a cute town.
We got a tiny little hyundai, automatic because the combination of driving a manual and driving on the wrong side of the road would probably have been too much to deal with, and set off.
Everthing is backwards!
Our first stop was Bundoran where we were scheduled to couchsurf. On our way there we stopped in Mullaghmore, took some pictures of the local castle, and spent some time enjoying the coast (even though it was cold and rainy).
You couldn't get very close to the castle unfortunately.
Our first hosts were from Slovakia (Liva and Martin) and welcomed us into their home with a slice of apple pie and tea! They're place was beautiful and literally a stones throw from the ocean.
Us and Liva
Us and Martin
The next day, rested and showered, we headed north along the coast, making a pit stop in Killybegs for some fish and chips (a recommendation from our workaway hosts).
Mmmmmm...
Martin recommended that we stop at Slieve League cliffs. We had to drive through some very rural Irish countryside (the signs were all in Gaelic!) until we finally arrived. The cliffs were beautiful (said to rival the cliffs of Moher) as well as the area surrounding them.
Eventually we had to mozy on over to our next couch surfer's house in London Derry (or just Derry to the people of Ireland. Calling it London Derry may get you a mouth full of fist).
On the way we ran into a bit of a road block. The farmers paint the sheep for some reason that eludes us.
We stayed with a guy named John, a very successful sports gambler (its what he does for a living), and he made us a delicious dinner and treated us to a drink at the local pub.
The next morning John took us to the "Free Derry Wall" where there are some pretty amazing murals painted on the sides of buildings depicting scenes from the bloody struggle Ireland went through to end British oppression.
John still hung over from the night before.
We then left Derry and headed towards the Giants Causeway. We had expected to get to Giants Causeway fairly early in the day but there were some pretty cool places along the way that we couldn't pass by.
The first was an old stone estate called the Hezlett House that sat right on the coast. The interior of the building was transformed over time into a well trimmed lawn. At the back of the estate, through some cool turrets, there was a long path down to a domed library that sat on the edge of the coastal cliff.
Our next sidetrack was Dunluce Castle, a 16th century coastal stronghold that is now in ruins. We didn't feel like paying 8 pounds per person ($24 total) to get in so we did the perimeter of the castle instead which was pretty amazing in itself.
There is a cave beneath the castle (called Mermaid's cave) connecting to the ocean that was used as a hidden port.
Finally! We arrived at the causeway. The causeway is a grouping of hexagonal basalt stones that were naturally formed by an ancient lava flow. The tallest one is 30 feet high!
Close by was the Carrick rope bridge. The bridge extends from the mainland across a coastal gap to a nearby island that fisherman frequent.
We bought only 1 ticket to cross the bridge (5 pounds!) and headed down. When we reached the bridge Amy started to cross it. I told the attendant that I was afraid of heights (not really) and he told me if I could make it down the ladder to the bridge, he would take me across. Free ticket! I happily agreed and headed across.
We left the bridge and headed into bushmills to try to do a tour of the whiskey distillery. Unfortunately it was closed :( so we met up with our couchsurfer David. David was a carpenter and teacher and welcomed us in with a home cooked dinner and a nice bed. He even made us a traditional Irish breakfast the next morning (sausages, eggs, potato and soda bread, mmmm).
Our couchsurfing hosts were perfect examples of how the people in Ireland are extremely welcoming. All we could really hope for was a couch to crash on, but everyone we stayed with gave us our own rooms and cooked for us!
We left fairly early to catch our ferry to Scotland and thus concluded our Irish Adventure.
Ireland looks amazing. Did anyone talk about the legend of the Causeway? It's pretty weird!
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