Ireland Page 4. We departed Smarmore Castle after a bit of Irish Breakfast... Bacon (more like our Canadian bacon), eggs, baked tomato, passed on their sausage (it has a very mild flavor but the texture is a bit mealy), passed on the black pudding (Black pudding is a blend of onions, pork fat, oatmeal, flavourings - and blood (usually from a pig)), orange juice, grapefruit slices, cereal and toast. Big breakfast! We would call it a Farmers Breakfast. Just down the road we visited the historic ruins of Monasterboice. The site has two church ruins built in the 14th century and or round tower that is 120 feet high. The site is best known is its 10th century high crosses. The round tower is about 35-metres tall, and is in very good condition, although it is not possible to go inside. The passage of time has laid down layers of earth so now the doorway is almost at ground level. The monastery was burned in 1097.[1] The 17 foot high Muiredachs High Cross is said to be the finest high cross in the whole of Ireland. A copy of the cross is in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The plaque at the site suggests they were placed there near the year 968. Two other crosses that are nearly as tall are not as well preserved from the 1000 years of weathering. The other 50-75 four to eight foot crosses would have been impressive in other environments. Here the were drafted and rendered unimportant by the shear mass of the three primary crosses and the tower. From Monasterboice we jump on the M1, their equivalent to our interstate... Except on the wrong side.... Yes I am still uneasy with driving, especially at 120 kph (75 mph). We head north. After 40 or so kilometers, we cross into Northern Ireland, with no more fanfare than a sign indicating you traveled between Oregon and Washington. The significant difference is that we just left the country of Ireland and entered the a United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is on the same status in the UK as is Scotland and Wales. With that perspective Northern Ireland is much different than the north of Ireland. The M1 takes through the heart of Belfast. We decide to blow through this city and get back to the countryside we love. A note for future travelers is that Belfast has a fantastic museum about the Titanic. The museum simulated the original ship in height and appearance (artistically). Each floor represents a deck level in the original ship with artifacts and survivor stories to add emphasis. It is built on the exact site were the Titanic was built and commissioned. The commissioning rails are still visible. I was in the museum 2 years ago when I came to Ireland and Northern Ireland the first time. After we zoomed through Belfast we headed to Glenariff Forest Park. The literature gave wonderful accounts of the hiking trails and view of the wide valley. The referred to it as a Glen. More pasture land interspersed with a small forest. The trees remained us of home and although pretty it was nothing even close to the forests of our west in depth, breadth or length. The forest was about two miles across, medium sized fir trees interspersed with deciduous woods the length of the valley was about 6 miles and ended at the Irish Sea. There were some impressive rock faces that were shear for about 400 or 500 feet and the tapered off to a combination of forest and pasture lands. The entire drop from top to the small creek in the bottom was no more than 1500 feet. Speaking of pastures.... Oh my gosh. Northern Island and a Ireland are a maze of pastures occasionally interrupted by a village or hamlet. Each pasture come right up to the edge of the road and is fenced by hedgerows of privet, fuchsia bushes, or small 6-8 foot trees. The pastures are all about the same size, 10-15 acres, and seemingly go forever as one green layer taking over another green layer. It makes an unbelievable beautiful patchwork quilt of green. The hedges are part of the driving obstacles. You cant see over them. You cant see around them. And the prevent you from dodging oncoming traffic. It is too bad when there are two full lanes. Most of the time there is only room to pass if both cars dig their mirrors into the left hedge a bit. I am sure I will owe Hertz a new mirror on one side or the other before this adventure is over. Our next stop was a picnic are on the seashore called Agnews Field. One picnic table and room for 4 or 5 cars. The grass headland from the table to the rocks of the seashore were on 50 feet away. A quick step down. And you on a rocky beach that lead to tide pools. As I read more about Agnews Field, it was described as a birders paradise. In fact the have a photo contest that, ostensibly, was to be shot from Agnews Field. While we were looking over the tide pools a kestrel landed on the rocks not far from shore. Unfortunately the wide angle lens I had mounted on my camera was not suited for birding; hence, no kestrel images today. Valerie and I took a hike down through a field to walk the ruins of the Layd Church. What makes this ruin so delightful is the surroundings. It is set on a high downslope to the Irish Sea. I am told that on a clear day you can see the Scottish coast from here. The ruins are still very sound at the wall but no roof. I went below and there was a room that had two very short doors. Inside were modern day reminders and artifacts...beer cans. Another large cross commemorating a MacDonald family member of relative model accounts, circa 1800. The church is said to have been erected in 1368, burned and re erected in 1700s. It had a thatched roof and fell away soon after it was abandon in the mid 1800s. On the up from Layd Church Valerie stopped to pick some wild blackberries. She said they werent quite ripe and were bitter. On the next leg of the drive I stopped to take a pastoral image and found some ripe blackberries. I picked a few and she has now par taken of wild blackberries in Northern Ireland. That is only significant in that 25 years ago we picked wild blueberries on the article circle in Alaska. After all this is a 25th anniversary trip. We are as far north as we can get but about 15 degrees short of the Article Circle. Our next leg took us to Torr Head. The landscape rises from the sea at 45 to 60 degree angles. The goat trail road switchbacks and traverses the terrains about 2000 feet above the water. The view is unbelievable. However, even more unbelievable is that there are scattered farm houses along the roads. The 10 to 15 acre pastures persist even here. Sheep graze all up and down the mountainside. It gives this flatland farmer pause to be thankful that my farming family was not from the hills of Northern Ireland. As we travel the goat trail road dodging a few on coming cars, I look over to see Valeries left hand in a death grip squeeze on the door handle. I could only imaging her panicking and reaching down between us and grabbing the emergency brake and jerking. I reached over and gently took her left hand off the door handle and reassured her we were OK. She was not aware of the tension of the drive. We laughed as we settled into a more relaxed time of the drive... The road widened a bit and the actually was a whit line with enough room on both sides to allow two car to simultaneously pass while moving. Valerie grip We found our next stay at the Whitepark House. It is situated near the Giants Causeway. It is a lovely home owned an managed by Bob Isles. The house is exquisitely decorated with an Asian accent. Not to be mistaken, the B&B is all Irish. Bob and his wife have traveled extensively in Asia and have collected many fine pieces of furniture and art. As we walked in we had only reserved one night. After looking the place over we booked two nights here. Bob suggested dinner in Bushmills at Tartines. Are we ever glad he did. It was the best meal we have had and among the least expensive. We shared a dinner salad of finely cut lettuce, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes. It was served with a delicious brown bread. Valerie is our bread-aholic and loved it all. We each grilled chicken done perfectly with grill marks closer together than our traditional US grilling techniques. It was served on a bed of champ potatoes (mashed with green onions and a bit of garlic and butter. The entire serving was served in a moat of cream mushroom sauce. A side of perfectly done fresh green beans garnished with thin slices of lettuce. Desert was a treat. I had a Chocolate truffle topped whipped cream. A vanilla cream and cocoa powder was. Used to artfully decorate the plate. It was finally topped with strawberry slices and whipped cram garnished with a mint leaf. Valeries order was Toffee pudding cake covered with hot toffee sauce. It was served with with a scoop vanilla ice cream floating in the the hot toffee. The ice cream was infused with toffee chips. It was topped with a whipped cream and garnished with a mint leaf. Fantastic meal... It is a really good thing we are doing so much walking. We need it! Its midnight and a big day tomorrow. Cheers.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 04:54:14 +0000
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