To read about
the first leg of our honeymoon, Dublin, click here.
Northern
Ireland
Our first stop in Northern Ireland was the village of
Bushmills where we stayed at the
Rest A While B&B. I only mention the name because we had such a
pleasant experience and I want to give them the recognition they deserve. Rest A While is close to town, the proprietor
is exceptionally friendly and helpful (she gladly stored in her fridge the
bottles of beer I brought so I could enjoy them chilled), and the room was as
comfy as the backs of the bleeting sheep outside our window.
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| Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge |
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| Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge |
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| Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge |
Rest A While also provides a bike rental service
which Nicole and I used to great effect, spending an entire day riding the
rugged,
Cliffs of Insanity-esque coastline of County Antrim (
the actual filming location of the Cliffs of Insanity is in southwestern Ireland). Meandering through the rolling pastures
dotted with puffs of white—and the occasional black—woolen ruminants, we
pedaled narrow, winding roads to
Dunseverick Castle, the
Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge,
and the real-life
Q*bert game board known as the
Giant’s Causeway. Indeed, while this particular portion of our
journey featured very little beer, it was my favorite. This rural soul of mine often needs a break
from the stuffiness of the city. Sitting
atop a craggy sea cliff, one simultaneously feels akin to a Celtic warrior on
watch for Viking marauders, a tweed-coated poet inspired by the brutal majesty
of the rock-strewn shores, and an archaeologist/adventurer
à la Indiana Jones exploring hidden caves and ancient ruins.
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| Dunseverick Castle |
Take note: I said the day featured very little
beer; I didn’t say it was devoid of
booze, though. The astute reader may be thinking
to themselves, “They’re in Bushmills, eh? I wonder if there’s any connection to that
famous distillery.” There is! The world’s oldest licensed distillery, the
Old Bushmills Distillery, sits at the edge of town. We took the tour and, while my alcohol familiarity
pertains mostly to beer, I felt I was at least half-knowledgeable on the inner
workings of whiskey since, before distillation, it’s basically hop-less
beer. After the beer stage, though, it’s
all Greek to me. I suppose that’s why
one takes the tour, though: to learn something new. Heck, I didn’t even know whiskey’s clear
before being put in barrels; that’s 101 stuff to a true aficionado, I'm sure. But, hey, I just drink the stuff
(occasionally). We also learned that
Bushmills bottles for
Jameson, that all the barrels used by Bushmills previously
held a different liquid (usually Bourbon or sherry), and that
bungholes smell quite lovely when they're of the whiskey barrel variety. After the tour, we received a dram of our
choosing. I had the spicy
Bushmills Black Bush and Nicole tried the
Distillery Reserve, a whiskey only available at the
actual, physical distillery.
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| Black Bush |
After a very full day riding country roads, we left
Bushmills for Belfast. We were lucky to
get out, too; we left on Sunday morning and, apparently, because the nearby
town of
Portrush is home to numerous nightclubs (and
the home of two crappy roller coasters we rode despite their shoddiness), the taxi drivers are too
pooped from chauffeuring drunk Saturday night revelers that they take Sunday
off. Thankfully, our host at Rest A While
personally knew a driver and basically made him give us a ride. So, once again I say, Rest A While’s a good place
to stay when in Bushmills; they’ll go up to bat for ya.
We only had two half-days in Belfast so we didn’t
fully immerse ourselves in the local scene.
We went to the weekend market at
St. George’s and, most pertinent to the
nature of this blog,
The Crown Liquor Saloon, likely the most ornate pub one
can hope to set foot in.
Across the street from Europa Hotel (which claims the
notorious title of “
most bombed hotel in Europe”), The Crown, a masterpiece of Victorian
design, envelopes patrons in a cocoon of opulence. Impervious to the passing of time, the
palatial Crown is firmly stuck in the 1880’s with intricately tiled floors,
stained glass windows, pressed tin ceiling, elaborate wood-carved lions,
fish-scaled pillars, and bar dividers, and, a treat for those familiar with
a certain bar on Denver’s Colfax Avenue, authentic Irish snugs. Though we were but two people and the snugs
large enough to comfortably seat the Nuggets’ starting line-up, Nicole and I
snuck in and enjoyed the gilded cubicle for a few minutes. We left the door open to signify our openness
to company but I think it’s an unwritten rule that if the snug is occupied even
by only two people, stay out. Topping
off the lavish atmosphere was true, traditional,
CAMRA-approved cask ale—the first
we’d seen on the trip and certainly not the last.
General
musings on Northern Ireland
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If you decide to engage in any outdoor
activities along the northern coast, beware the
stinging nettle (urtica dioica). It’s a prolific, tall, purple-stalked weed
and, as the name suggests, it stings like a S.O.B. when brushed up against. Seriously, for 15 minutes it feels like a
swarm of disgruntled bees on the infected area and it bubbles the skin like a
burn from a cast-iron stove. After a
quarter-hour it subsides but, until such time, it’s a world of pain. I came in contact with it so many times I started
to develop an immunity.
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| This plant sucks |
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On our bike ride worthy of a
Kerouac novel, we
stopped at the world famous Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge
but, honestly, my favorite site was Dunseverick Castle. It’s not the most impressive castle in the
world (it’s not even the most impressive castle in the vicinity [See:
DunluceCastle]). In fact, it’s basically two
rock walls. It’s heap of rubble. And that’s what I love about it.
One feels
a stronger connection to the ancient ones when visiting a structure that’s not
been polished and refurbished by modern hands.
Also, since it’s not quite as awe-inspiring as other castles, most tourists
forgo Dunseverick Castle, leaving alone people such as myself to peacefully sit
by the lapping North Atlantic and contemplate human history, our place in the
natural order, and the legacy we leave for future generations. It’s kind of hard to engage in such meditative
exercises when kids in popsicle-stained shirts, angsty teenagers, and suburban
parents with clicking cameras are running around. It’s for these reasons I also prefer
Hovenweep
slightly more than
Mesa Verde.
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| Into the snug at The Crown |
Aside
from the castle itself, Dunseverick’s setting is a place of grandeur. The castle sits atop a seaside, grassy mesa
which, itself, is surrounded by a horseshoe of cliffs with a U-shaped valley in
between. At the ends of the valley there
are secluded, rocky beaches sheltered by the soaring bluffs and it’s all
absolutely magnificent. And dangerous. Being a fan of the
Moab area, I’m used to
being at cliff’s edge. A
dry cliff’s edge. At Dunseverick Castle, the rim is covered
with wet grass, mud, spongy soil, and sheep droppings—it just begs for the foot
to slip. Plus, those damn stinging
nettles everywhere.
·
Probably the best burger in Europe can be found
at one of the booths in St. George’s Market.
I don’t know how they make “pepper sauce” but it tastes like crushed
black pepper in viscous liquid form. Superb!
Musings on
Northern Ireland’s beer scene
·
Northern Ireland’s Beer Scene? Well, it exists, I’m sure. We simply didn’t get to experience much of it
during our short visit. I drank a lot of
Whitewater Brewery’s offerings while in Bushmills but we never actually went to
the brewery as it was quite a bit out of our way. They have a few breweries in Belfast, too, but
most were not within our general area and one was only a
Guinness outpost. Truly, I cannot comment much on beer in
Northern Ireland as we spent too little drinking time there.
Favorite beers
from Northern Ireland
·
Colorado Red from Thornbridge Brewery. This is actually an English beer and I bought
it in Dublin. But, I drank it in Northern
Ireland so I’m counting it. I bought it
for the name which derives from the fact it was a collaboration with
Odell Brewing Co. Enjoyed at Rest A While.
Stay tuned for the next leg of our honeymoon: Glasgow.
Prost!
Chris
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| Atop a seaside mountain overlooking Giant's Causeway |
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| Most bombed hotel in Europe |
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