Posted from the public library, Ballymena

Once more I don't have the connections to upload pictures to this blog!

Giant's Causeway is a series of cliffs along the Antrim coast, with 300-foot-high (at least) basalt columns going straight down, and overlooking the hungry ocean. The spanish armada vessel La Gitana crashed there in 1588 and all but five were lost. I took the best 4-hour walk ever along the top of the cliffs & I pretty much had the whole massive area to myself! I went barefoot cuz the trails were mainly grass! I then contemplated that the earth is a zillion years old. The cliffs looked like this, except I was looking from above:

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (hungry ocean)

After the causeway I went for the quiche for £4.98. Irish keyboards have £ where your @ is in the US. I headed in the direction of Giant's Causeway on Wed.(bout 45 mins from B'mena) but ended up on the wrong road, which Karen said is nearly impossible! Yet I managed. I drove up a scenic bypass up Glendoe, one of the Nine Glens of Antrim which was just as rewarding!

Belfast is where they built the Titanic you know. Our bus tour guide on our red tour-bus thru Belfast pointed out some marketing genius, which was a Thai restaraunt called THAI tanic. What is not brialliant about that?! THAI tanic! Nigel (friend of Karen's) & I were on that bus tour & which included the area of the Troubles (the Unionist and Nationalist neighborhoods). Other grand sites on the tour: the Parliament building, Queens College, & comsmopolitan Victoria Street. Belfast now has a ton of construction going on, since the peace was signed several years ago, and there has been investment going into the city.

The bus really FLEW and I barely had time to photograph the fantastic political murals. But I did so look for them on a future post. The bus goes fast (stopping only for lights etc) but you can hop off & get on the next tour-bus any time. But Noboby seemed to do that.

After Belfast, Nigel and I then took the hour-drive up to Bushmills whiskey distillery. It's about a half-hour tour & with a shot of whiskey at the end. We went for the 12-year single malt, available only at the distillery. Over ice & with water. Part of the Bushmills secret is they use water from the local rill which flows through or over basalt. The distilling-room and oak-barrel rooms there smelt fantastic! Irish whiskey is distilled 3 times, scotch 2 times, & bourbon 1 times.

This post must be brief because Karen will soon be serving up sausages & champ (mashed potatoes & scallions). In England they call it bangers & mash. I had champ & meatballs w/gravy for lunch yesterday at Balloo's Cafe so Karen is now up for showing me how champ is really made.