Dublin & Northern Ireland!

Sorry, you guys. I was getting a little blogged out there for a while. But I'm back now, so all is right with the world.

After our adventures in Scotland, Kara and I met up with our good pal Emily in Dublin. After we checked into our hostel, we were able to scope out a sports bar a couple blocks from Trinity College that had the Giants vs 49ers game playing. Because this is being written weeks after the Super Bowl, I don't really need to tell you how the game ended, SINCE THE GIANTS ARE THE BEST AND STUFF. But, I digress.

WOOOO.

Okay, now I can move on.

While we were at this bar (named Woolshed's, if you're interested), we realized that the crowd was a mix of male American college sophomores and rowdy Irish men. So, nothing you wouldn't expect, except that the audience for the football game was overwhelming Irish. This was surprising, since as an American, some of the first questions my students in Turkey asked me was why Americans gave football and soccer their respective names. In an effort to understand why the Irish love American football, I asked the guy sitting next to me, but he turned out to be American and also had no insight into this enigma. Regardless, these Irishmen were loving it.

The following day, our terrible trio had big business to attend to in Dublin. Namely, visited the Jameson Factory and the Guinness Storehouse. We are women with priorities.

We learned about how whiskey is made and all that jazz, and Kara was crowned a certified whiskey expert. Put that on your resume, huh?

This is my first whiskey ever!

After this obviously necessary cultural experience, we trekked onward, consoling ourselves with the notion that it was five o'clock somewhere, so we were justified in drinking whiskey before lunch.

Post-delicious lunch at a pub called Arthur's just down the street from our next destination...

There's avocado on this sandwich. Daymaker.

... the Guinness Storehouse!

Or, the adult-version of the Wonka Factory.

Honestly, every entrance looked like the Wonka Factory.

In addition to learning about beer and stuff, the Guinness Storehouse also had a lot of old Guinness memorabilia and former marketing campaigns on display. I was a big fan of the

I can't figure out how to rotate this picture, so it's staying like this.

I also need to mention that I'm a big fan of Guinness now. It's your prerogative as to whether or not you want to judge me for that.

After our liquor-fueled adventures, we walked around Dublin and had dinner in the Temple Bar. There was even live Irish music sung by real Irish people.

I just liked this sign is all.

The Temple Bar area was decorated with all of these wild giant flowers, the use of which in public places I now fully support.

Because look how much fun those trees look!

After checking out the pretty Dublin night scenery, we headed back to our hostel to rest up on our next day's travels.

The following day, we participated in a little rise and shine action at the very desirable time of 5:30 in the morning so that we could hop on our Paddywagon Tour to Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, I fell asleep on the way there, and have no exciting pictures of the ride to Northern Ireland. Sorry, you guys.

Our first stop, however, was at the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge in Ballintoy, County Antrim. It is thought that fisherman in Northern Ireland have been building these sorts of rope bridges for more than 350 years so that they could catch salmon. The bridge is no longer used for fishing, since the salmon population has since been depleted.

Before we made it to the bridge, which was about a ten minute walk from where our bus dropped us off, I got my first look at the Irish coast, which was beautiful, even in the dead of winter. Luckily for us, though, we weren't met with much foul weather while in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

More importantly, however, is that is it awesome to cross.

Oh you know, just like, a one hundred-foot drop to your death. No big deal.

LOOK AT HOW CRAZY I AM.

Don't worry, no one has ever died while crossing the bridge. But, some people cross it and become so terrified to cross back over that they need to be ferried back to land from Carrick Island.

Just so you know, it appeared as though this thoughtful service is only available in the summer months. Which is why, of course, we were there in January.

Did anyone else know that water in Ireland was this blue?
I'm just taking a consensus on this.

After dancing around death at Carrick-a-Rede, we got back on our bus and headed to Giant's Causeway.

If you didn't know, Giant's Causeway is a geological formation created after a volcanic eruption some 50 or 60 million years ago. The basalt-lava cooled evenly enough to contract and form into these hexagonal columns. Giant's Causeway has been a major tourist site in Northern Ireland since the nineteenth century, when the National Trust installed a tramway people could take to see it.

Pictured: GEOLOGY!

I just really like rocks, you guys.

The thing I find most interesting about Giant's Causeway, however, is the legend that provides a different reason for its formation. According to the legend, Giant's Causeway was built by the heroic warrior of Irish lore, Finn McCool. In some legends, Finn McCool is a warrior, a hunter, or a giant. The legend of Giant's Causeway depicts him as a giant who has fallen in love with and married a female giant named Oonagh from Scotland. Some other Scottish giant, often referred to as Benandonner, got hella jealous and challenged Finn to a fight, for which this massive causeway was built. Bugging out because Benandonner was a giant giant, Finn McCool consulted his wife Oonagh for help... as all men are wont to do in their times of crises. So Oonagh, being a woman, developed a plan for when Benandonner cam back to fight Finn McCool. She had Finn McCool lay in their bed covered in a blanket and told Benandonner that Finn was out hunting, but that he'd be back soon. She offered him cakes (or steaks, depending on your storyteller) made of rock and when he ate them, Benandonner was surprised that Finn McCool could eat such cakes, since he had just broken a tooth. Oonagh then told Benandonner to hold on just for a minute, because she had to feed the baby as well. Benandonner took one look at the giant baby, afraid of what its daddy might be capable of, and fled from the house back towards Scotland. As he went, he tore up the bridge that Finn had built from Ireland to Scotland, and thus, the causeway stands as it is today.

Moral of the story: regardless of the species, women can always be counted upon to think on their feet. Also, rocks are awesome.

It's even on the the ten pound bank note!

After seeing Giant's Causeway, we got back on our bus and headed for Derry.

Before that, though, you should really take a second to appreciate the
leprechaun on the side of our tour bus. 

Derry is the second largest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth largest on the entire island of Ireland. It seemed like a nice little town, and it has been given the honor of being the first UK City of Culture for 2013. Our tour guide Troy was super pumped about it.

Northern Ireland has seen its troubles in the past, no doubt, and it was sad to hear our tour guide, Troy, talk about them in such a personal matter. He talked about how today, Northern Ireland enjoys about 90% peace, but that the remaining 10% is something still to be worked on. He is not old enough to remember the major violence the area has seen in the past, but he is old enough to remember his grandparents and parents talk about their experiences. Although I'm not too keen on Irish history, especially the history of Northern Ireland, it appears as though the religious divide in Northern Ireland, most especially Derry, is still a very severe problem: many are concerned that with the number of Protestants moving outside the city walls, the city will be religiously segregated in the near future.

After our pit stop in Derry, we got on the bus and headed back to Dublin. What a rock-tastic day for the geology lover in us all, am I right?!