The Town of Portrush
On the Cliffs Overlooking Portrush
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
Castle Dunluce
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
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