36. Derry Day 2

Another full day for us here in Northern Ireland. 

We had a full To-Do list and we achieved it all except for 1 (coz it was closed) which we can do en route to Belfast tomorrow.

#1 on our list was to visit the ruins of Dunluce Castle, on the north coast. It was a grand place in its day. It was built right on the coastline but tragically part of it collapsed into the North Channel (which connects to the Atlantic Ocean), and taking many lives with it. The Castle was built in the 1200s by the 2nd Earl of Ulster, Richard de Burgh, on the site of an earlier fort dating back to the time of the Vikings. The former grandeur of the Castle is evident even today.

#2 was the Giants Causeway which was spectacular in its size and is spread over a reasonable piece of real estate. In parts it is unbelievably high. Of course lots of younger bodies than ours clambered to the top of some of the pillars to get their photos taken and 20-30 years ago we would have been there right with them! Today’s photo is me dwarfed by the tall pillars.

#3 was the ruins of Dunseverick Castle, which history dates back to the 5th century. There’s very little left of this ancient site, with most of what had been left disappearing in to the sea in 1978 - what remains are the ruins of the gate lodge.

#4 was to see the Rope Bridge but time ran away from us to complete the whole journey. We made it about ⅔ of the way with steep ascents and descents but after a certain point, we realised we couldn’t go on, as it would have taken the good part of another hour and we had already committed to meeting Norm’s cousin for dinner. However, our trek took in some wild sea vistas and much huffing and puffing on our parts!!!! We weren’t sorry to call it quits at that time.

#5 was dinner with Dot, Norm’s cousin, who has lived in Ireland for the last 30 years, following in her late mother’s footsteps.

All in all, it’s been a great day and we’ve clocked up many steps to do what we’ve done!