More Ireland Please!

The Town of Portrush

From the crowded seas of green to an ocean front view we headed to Portrush, Northern Ireland on Thursday the 18th. What a change of pace! We arrived and checked in to our B&B perfectly located across from the ocean and headed out for a late lunch. After coming from Dublin we didn’t realize how difficult it would be to find lunch just after 2:00. Most restaurants stop serving from 2:00 – 5:00. We finally found a little café that serves food all day and got a quick bite to eat before heading out to explore. Since it was late in the afternoon we decided to walk around a see what the town had to offer and leave the tourist activities for tomorrow.

On the Cliffs Overlooking Portrush

We stumbled upon this row of houses that I was fascinated with. It was hard to get a picture to do these houses justice. If you imagine the cookie cutter housing developments that are popping up all over in the states except these houses are all connected. The only difference is the color of the house or the color of the door. Something about this just really struck me as a typical style of the area.

On the Beach Front

The owner of our B&B recommended a group of restaurants by the marina for dinner. We tried to eat at one of them for lunch and since the food came so highly recommended we decided would give it another try. So glad we did! The food was fantastic and the prices were very reasonable. We shared a bottle of wine for 9 GBP (about $14)! Craziest thing was that I ordered a hamburger. The crispy onion straws made my decision! This restaurant had one of the most amazing desert selections I have ever seen. I think there were 18 different options. We decided on this delicious cake. Even more surprising than me ordering a hamburger, Tyler loved the desert! Think he even liked it more than I did. After a quick walk along the coast we decided to make it an early night to catch up on sleep and be rested for a full day of sightseeing tomorrow.

Our Fantastic Desert

When we first started looking into Portrush, all the websites said it was close to many attractions, the Castle Dunluce, the Bushmills Distillery, and an area called Giants Causeway. Apparently their idea of close was within 20 miles! We didn’t have a car and really didn’t feel like walking that far so we were looking for transportation options. Luckily the owner of the B&B was kind enough offer us his and his wife’s bikes for the afternoon. It was a beautiful day so we decided to take him up on it. Our first destination was the Castle Dunluce, about four miles away. What a great way to experience the coast line! We a great view of the beach, golf courses, and the scenery. We pulled into Castle and realized that it wasn’t like any of the other castles we have visited up to this point. It was basically a few walls and other remnants of what was once a castle. The setting was amazing. It stood on the edge of a cliff looking out over the North Atlantic. We found out that a large portion of the kitchen area had actually fallen into the ocean, taking a bunch of people with it when the castle was inhabited. It was a really interesting castle to visit. Nothing was off limits so you could really explore around the property and really feel what the spaces were like when it had completed walls, ceilings, and floors.

Castle Dunluce

Our original plan was to bike down to the Bushmills distillery and have lunch in the local town. We haven’t ridden bikes for a long time and we were a little out of biking shape. We both decided that it would be better to head back into Portrush, get lunch and then catch a bus. Tyler especially liked this idea because by the time we arrived back at the hotel, he could not sit on his bike seat! We had lunch at a local café and made our way to the bus stop. After a short 30 minute ride we were standing in front of the distillery. What a different setting than the Jameson distillery. This was an actual, working distillery and you could see the actually working going on. We signed up for the grand tour. Unfortunately we weren’t able to take pictures on the tour. They claimed that it was because of the alcohol vapors in the air and that the cameras could be a hazard. The tour was really cool and informative. We saw the whole process involved with making whiskey. One of Tyler’s favorite parts of the tour was the cask room. They had a warehouse full of oak casks where they were aging the whiskey. The smell in that was amazing, rich and sweet. After a few more rooms we were invited to taste their whiskey. I am not much of a whiskey fan so lucky Tyler got two tasters. They had a hot drink with cloves and spices that we wanted to try and they gave us an extra taster, I didn’t care for that much either, but Tyler did!

The Distillery

After poking around the gift shop for a while we decided that it was time to catch our bus back to the hotel. We originally wanted to make it to the Giants Causeway after the distillery, but we just ran out of time. The Giants Causeway is a natural rock formation that is supposed to be beautiful. I would guess it is a lot like Deception Pass in northwest Washington State. There is a rope bridge that we wanted to cross, but I guess it will have to wait until next time we are in Ireland. On the bus ride home we couldn’t stop talking about our dinner the night before. We decided that the food was too good to not go back to the same place. The desserts were enough to draw us in, but the promise of decently priced, good food and wine tipped the scales. It was still a little early for dinner when we got back to the hotel so we decided to take the long way to dinner. We found a cool rock formation that went out into the water. We were a little disappointed that we were able to find any sea life among the rocks so we continued on. The town was really quiet. I guess it isn’t tourist season, and it isn’t warm enough to get people to the beach, so everything felt a little sleepy. That is except our restaurant. The place was hopping! I guess we weren’t the only people that thought it was a fabulous choice for drinks and dinner.

On Our Sunset Walk

After another fantastic dinner, and an equally good dessert we decided to have one final walk along the beach before we turned in. This time was walked along the peninsula that gave an amazing sunset view of the town, beach, and ocean. We were pretty tired after our full day and decided to make it an early night; we had another day of travel ahead of us.

View From our Room

We woke up early to have breakfast, pack, checkout, and catch the train back to Dublin. It was another beautiful day and we were a little sad to be leaving the quiet little town of Portrush. We caught our train and started settling in for a couple hour journey back to Dublin. Imagine our surprise when our train stopped and we were told we had to get on a bus. Apparently there was construction planned on the rail line and we had to take a bus. The bus added an extra two hours to our trip. We weren’t too happy because we were planning on being able to enjoy Dublin for one more day. We finally arrive in Dublin and the city was still packed. This time it was for the Ireland versus Scotland rugby match. The streets were flowing with people dressed in green or blue and in a festive mood. We checked into our hotel, grabbed a quick bite to eat and decided to try to see some of the sights we missed. The first stop was the Dublin castle. What a disappointment. There was only a few parts that even looked old enough to classified as a castle and many parts had been repaired so many times that it almost looked new. At this point we were ready for to get off our feet. We found a great bar that had a pre Easter special, all cocktails 5 Euros. I fell in love with this place because they had martinis on the menu. They also had a lot of the flavored vodkas I love. I had a black cherry cosmo and couldn’t have been happier.

Story of the Kitchen Falling in the Sea

It seems that any new town we go to we find Mexican food. Edinburgh had by far the best Mexican food in the UK and we were hoping the place we found in Dublin we match it. The food was pretty good, but the portion size and prices were ridiculous. Tyler ordered chips and salsa, and it consisted of a small bowl filled with chips and a spoonful of salsa on top. It was almost 5 Euros and very disappointing. I guess our quest for good Mexican food continues. We ended back at the Morgan hotel for another chocolate martini to finish out the night. The atmosphere was very festive and people were having a lot of fun but we were pretty tired from our week worth of celebrating and having fun. We wondered back to our hotel hoping for a good night sleep. We entered through the hotel bar and Tyler couldn’t resist one final Dublin Guinness. The hotel we were staying had a really neat bar and restaurant. A band was setting up in a separate room for a concert as Tyler finished his beer. We kind of wish we could have watched the band, but it was time for bed.

Scenic Stop on the Bike Ride

We woke up early again for another full day of traveling. This time over 13 hours of travel! The only rail line from the ferry terminal to Ely had construction on a segment of it and we had to take another bus. When we went to get on the bus, there were two busses waiting. We jumped on the second bus and were we glad we did. The first bus was going to have to stop at all the train stations along the route to Chester, where we would get back on the train. Our bus went direct to Chester, saving us at least an hour. We were able to jump on an earlier and more direct train to Ely. All together it saved us almost three hours of travel! We had an amazing time in Ireland and really want to visit it again. So if any of you want to visit during St Patrick’s day please let us know because we would love to go again.

Castle Dunluce