Belfast and the Wicklow Mountains

From Derry we had a short drive to Belfast, and so opted to take the scenic route along the east coast of Northern Ireland.

The drive started out foggy, and I was beginning to wonder if our choice of routing was such a good idea after all, when the fog finally lifted and revealed one of the prettiest coastal drives you'll ever see. Reminded us of Hwy. 1 along the California Coast. Stopped for coffee in one of the "Glens" along the way - this one being the village of Glenarm.


Then it was on to Belfast...and probably the biggest (and most pleasant) surprise of the trip. I debated long and hard about coming here at all before finally booking a place, thinking that Belfast was just another industrial city without much charm. Also had recent history in the back of my mind, with concerns about safety and security so soon after the riots and sectarian violence that plagued the city up until 2006. Boy was I wrong. Turned out that Belfast was a truly delightful place. We stayed in the Titanic Quarter - basically the old Harlan and Wolf shipyard area that had been pretty grimy for years after the yard closed, but which is being redeveloped with a vengeance now that the Troubles have passed. The centerpiece is the Titanic  Museum that was located only about 5 minutes from our apartment.

The Harlan and Wolf shipyard is where the Titanic was built (their motto: "She was fine when she left here!"), and the museum turned out to be really world class. Some very fine exhibits, film clips and interactive displays tell the story of the great ship's construction and launching in 1912. All of the displays were quite good, but the one that we both enjoyed most was a collection of archived video and audio clips from several of the survivors - both passengers and crew - telling of their individual recollections of the night she sank. Really well done all around.

The "Nomadic" was one of Titanic's tenders - also built here - and operated by the White Star Line from the French port of Cherbourg. It was this ship that ferried many of the doomed passengers (including the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown...but not Jack or Rose) out to the Titanic before she departed for Cobh in Ireland and her date with the icevberg. The ship in its dry dock was just below our balcony. Also here were many of the old H&W offices, including the great engineering drawing room where ship's designer Thomas Andrews oversaw the construction of the vessel. 

We very much enjoyed our 4 days here - walked our legs off and even jumped on one of the "Hop on, hop off" buses for a more comprehensive look at the city...something we hardly ever do. They still have some spiffing up to do, but I have to say that we found Belfast to be a terrific place - reminded us both a little of Sydney...which is high praise indeed.

Continued our survey of the pubs of Ireland. This is the inside of the Crown Bar, one of the most venerable in the city. It sits right across the street from the Hotel Europa, which at one time held the distinction of being the most bombed hotel in the world during the Troubles. Thankfully all of that is in the past now.

Now all of the fighting seems to be waged with art work, with "Loyalist" and "Republican" murals laying bare the respective sentiments of the various neighborhoods. Our tour guide assured us that we were quite safe wandering around in the different areas - that both sides liked the tourists, they just didn't like each other very much. Small comfort that.

This "Peace Wall" was erected years ago to keep the two sides apart. No one seems in much of a hurry to take it down.

One of the Loyalist murals.

And one from the Republican side.

This one celebrates the event that started it all - the defeat of Catholic King James by William of Orange in 1690 and, yes, that was 324 years ago - long time to hold a grudge, eh?


Departed Belfast on June 21st for our second-to-last stop - in The Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin.

Stopped along the way in the village of Carlingford - just across the border - another charming little hole in the wall kind of place. Here's Rita standing in front of the gate in the city walls...from the 13th century.

Main street on a quiet morning.

King John's castle was located just north of town and used to command a defensive prospect over both the village and the surrounding area...back in the days when the English were more concerned about the local Irish population than they were about Viking raids.

Our cottage in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains. Made for a great base to explore the National Park - once home to every Irish bandit & revolutionary in the country due to its remote and inaccessible location. The Brits finally tired of the chase and built a Military Road into the back country in the mid 1800's to facilitate moving their troops around. The road is still the only artery thru most of the forests and mountain passes in the area. As usual, it was a narrow (one and a half lane) mountain road that made for some exciting encounters, but by now I was an old hand at this and went barreling along like a real local.

Beautiful view out the back of the cottage. Only neighbors were about a half dozen pheasants in the surrounding fields.

The monastic site at Glendalough was only about 20 minutes away - for my money the prettiest valley in Ireland - and we kept coming back here to hike the trails above. Here's Rita in front of the round tower. Arrived around 8:45 AM and had the place to ourselves until the first tour buses began arriving at 9:30, at which time it started to get pretty clobbered. 

St. Kevin's Bed is one of the extremely well preserved ruins at the site.

Had to gain about 1500 ft. of altitude to access this boardwalk along the valley rim, but once on it there was smooth sailing for a couple of miles.

Nice lunch spot along the way. Just beyond this point we came across several herds of Red deer (about 50 animals all told) grazing along the hillsides. All females - they stay separate from the males until the breeding season starts in September.

Another stop one day was the tiny little village of Glencree, where we found this old German POW cemetery from WWII.

A final look back at one of the Glendalough valley hikes - last chance to use the hiking boots and trekking poles before packing them up for the trip home.

Have spent the last 3 nights in Dublin before we catch our return flight tomorrow morning to CSprings - Dublin is a great city with lots of history (and the Guinness brewery), but we already miss the peace, quiet and terrific scenery of the Irish countryside. Been a great trip, and we'll miss Ireland, but must confess that we are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tomorrow night.