Saturday, June 29, 2013

Day #16, #17, #18 - Northern Ireland

Hi everybody!  I apologize for not posting for a couple of days, but the lack of time and internet connection has made that a bit difficult.

Ah, where do I start?  Oh yes, the Creevy Pier Hotel!

When we woke up and finished stuffing all of our junk back into our suitcases, we walked down to the pier one last time before leaving.


After saying good-bye to Creevy, we began the long journey to Portrush, Northern Ireland.  To break up the drive, we stopped at Rossnawlagh Beach.




We also had a late lunch at a little cafe called Toni's, where I got a meatball-with-melted-cheese-sub, which was probably the best sandwich I've ever had.


A few hours later, we stopped again; this time at the historic and supposedly haunted Donegal Castle.




At the front desk, we were told that there were two ghosts on the bottom floor.  (At first my dad and brothers thought that she said two goats, so they ran around the castle looking for goats.  Classic Eldredges.)  Apparently, two different people at two different times reported that they saw two people "huddled in the corner".

So of course we looked all over for them, but we didn't see anything suspicious.

And, a little while later, we were relieved to find out that we finally crossed the border into Northern Ireland!

When we checked into our hotel in the lovely city of Portrush, we were so tired that we decided to call it a day and save the rest of the exploring for the morning.

The next day, we got out of bed nice and early to head over to the famous Giant's Causeway!

The weather was beautiful, if you call freezing rain and strong winds beautiful.

We took a tour of the place with our awesome guide, Neville, who we were lucky enough to get a picture with:


Despite the dreary weather, the rock formations were absolutely incredible, especially the fact that they are all completely natural and not man-made.




Here's a picture of me on top of a huge pile of rocks I climbed onto:


...And the sneaky hitchhiker that I discovered after I got down.

My nickname is now Slugbutt.
When we returned to Portrush, we noticed a few arcades around town and Holden and Jack went berserk, as we expected.

When we went inside, we saw that there were both adults and kids playing the gambling machines.  And my family and I, being from America, where children aren't allowed four feet within range of those machines, thought that this was illegal.  Turns out that there, people of all ages can play those machines!


We had the time of our lives in those arcades!

Today, we went to the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge, which is very close to the Giant's Causeway.  It was built a long time ago by a salmon fisherman so that he could check his nets more easily.  The weather was about as good as it was the day before, so getting across the bridge was quite an adventure!



On the island that the bridge led to, it was so windy that I lost my balance and nearly fell off the cliff several times.  If you spread your arms out, you would really feel like you were going to blow away!

Something very random also happened while we were there, too.  When my mom and I were washing our hands in the bathroom, we saw a girl who looked very familiar.  My mom asked, "Do I know you from somewhere?"  Coincidentally, that lady is our dog Sadie's groomer, and she traveled here while on vacation with her friends.  She came to the same exact place on the same exact day at the same exact time as us!  All in a completely different country!  Weird!

After we were all nice and soaked, we piled into the car and drove for a couple more hours all the way back to Colette's house in Blainroe, which is the same place where we stayed when we first began our trip!  Our loop of Ireland is almost complete!

Sadly, our trip is almost over, but once we get back home we will be able to see all of our wonderful friends back in California again!

Well, thanks for being patient time and time again when I don't have time to post anything.  The blog is almost at its end, so enjoy these last couple of posts while they last!

Oh, and I will try to post an update of what we did today, too, so be ready for that!

Slainte!


-Megan

9 comments:

  1. Hey Slugbutt! :-)
    that rope bridge looks scary, but fun! I can't wait to hear about how those rock formations got that way - the geology there is amazing. Too weird to run into someone from Santa Cruz while you are there!
    We get to see you soon - yeah!! :-)
    -Lori

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  2. So let's see...

    What does the maximum penalty of 3000 (whatever that is) equate to in US dollars?? I'm assuming that would be for a dog of Sadie's size.

    You go to Toni's (very Irish) get an amazing sandwich and...no picture. Com'n O'Megan! A picture is worth a thousand words!

    So were there goats or ghosts or ghosts of goats...I'm confused.

    Umm...freezing rain and both your brothers are wearing shorts?

    Any idea what 'Caused' those rock formations??

    Nice pic! Like mother like daughter!

    Oh, I thought those were some new type of designer jeans.

    I see your parents didn't venture out onto the rope bridge. Maybe they new something you didn't??

    Why of all places would you meet someone you know in a bathroom?? That's just weird. You should have meet them at a restaurant or something.

    Keep us updated!!

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  3. The rock formations were made over a period of millions of years, first of all. You know how when mud cracks, it forms pentagon shapes? Well, that's how those rocks started; when molten lava cracks, it makes the same shapes. Then, the lava cools very slowly. A few million years later, it naturally separates and looks somewhat like a beehive. I hope that answers your question!

    Oh, and to answer your questions, Matt, a fine of 3,000 euros is equal to $3,905.70.

    And my brothers refuse to wear pants, even when it is pouring rain outside. Don't ask me why, I think they're crazy too.

    My parents DID go across the bridge, they were just the picture-takers. (Although they did seem a little scared...just kidding.)

    I'll try to update again after dinner, so look for that later. Bye for now!


    -Megan

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    Replies
    1. Well maybe Irish lava does, but Hawaiian lava isn't in pentagons.
      Did you bring any home?? Or is that frowned upon???

      $3,905.70?? Now that is a pile of crazy!

      Well you're brothers are a bit odd I suppose. Maybe they can go on that TV show...'So You Think You Wear Pants?'.

      Well I didn't see any pics of them crossing it so I'm guessing there was a weight limit or something.

      What's for dinner?

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    2. Some guy actually used to sell rocks from the Causeway to people all over the world (legally), but they stopped that a long time ago because people were scared that soon all of the rocks would be gone. Plus, how are you going to discreetly drag a 20-pound rock all the way back to your car without getting caught??

      We already signed them up for that show, they find out if they were chosen next month.

      *Sigh...* You are so stubborn Matt.


      -Megan

      P.S. My dad says hi. :)

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    3. Hi Tim!

      Oh ok cool, we'll vote for them if they make the show.

      Well all I can say is that guy was a genius! Way ahead of his time. A Steve Jobs of Ireland. And what happened to him?? The man shut him down!! Remember this O'Megan, it will serve you well...Fight the Power!!

      What's for breakfast???

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  4. Hi Megan
    Great reporting and great photos---hope you are not still wearing that slug!!
    Bernedette and family are at your house tonight---they will play ball with Sadie in the back yard which should make her very happy.
    Give my love to Colette and all the relatives you see in Dublin!!
    Love
    Nana

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  5. P. S. Get your parents to take you to a pub---maybe for lunch! It is legal in Ireland ~

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  6. We have all been to many pubs for both lunch and dinner; that's where my mum and dad get their Guinness! :)


    -Megan

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