February 18, 2019
Neither Alaina or I had classes on Monday, so naturally, we decided to explore Northern Ireland! We decided to check out Cushendun, a village protected by the National Trust. The village is located along the Antrim coast and you can actually see Scotland from the coast.
And when I say a village, I mean a legit village. It was a bit of a shock to see a town so small, and in reality, Alaina and I walked around almost the entire village in a day. It was a beautiful place, but unfortunately, the places we wanted to visit were closed because it was off tourist season. Although we couldn’t visit the tearoom we wanted, we ended up having an impromptu lunch on the beach. Sitting a bench on the beach we saw a small dog, a gorgeous, tiny dog just running laps around the entire village. He was not interested in us at all, and he continued to run his little marathon at least six more times.
It was nice getting out and exploring more of Northern Ireland, plus, the bus ride to Cushendun was beautiful. I am not going to lie, I enjoyed the journey more than the destination.
February 19, 2019
Today was another one of firsts. Or more accurately, the first real Irish language class.
Learning Irish was pretty fun and the approach that the professor took was honestly so helpful. Seeing Irish as it is spelled, as an English speaker, is mind-boggling. For example, to say “hello” in Irish is written “
February 21, 2019
Two of the girls from France and I went to the Ice Wharf. It’s always interesting to hear other people talk about their own countries and to hear a different and insider opinion on the world. I got to learn about Brittany, the region where they are going to university. and some of the history of the region.
February 23, 2019
As someone afraid of heights and bridges, I don’t really know why I signed up to go for this trip. The ResLife office, for the lovely price of 10 GBP, arranged for a trip to those that signed up to the Gobbins. The Gobbins is in Islandmagee and is an almost 3-mile walk on the side of a cliff along the Antrim coast that has existed since 1902. In case you missed, that I’ll say it again….a walk on the side of a cliff.
I’m not going to lie. I was shaking and had to focus on the path in order to not pee my pants. However, I got over the initial shock and on the whole, it was not that bad. The path and bridges were not too high up and looked to be very, very sturdy. Our guide was a very kind Scots-Irish man who regaled us with witty stories about the history of the Gobbins and some of the wildlife there. From smugglers hiding contraband in its caves to deaths of some WWII soldiers along its cliff-edge, the Gobbins has seen it all.
But, instead of me rambling on about how amazing it was and all of that, here are some pictures from the walk.
We also had to go through a cave where they had this system (still not sure how that worked) that kept the cave from filling up with water.
If you suffered from claustrophobia, this wasn’t for you.
February 24, 2019
Another day, another day trip. After the Gobbins I just stayed in Coleraine with Alaina for the night. Today we decided to visit Ballycastle, a coastal town we passed on the way to Cushendun.
It was nice and also very, very cold. We walked around town and little at the stores and shops. We had lunch at the famous Morton’s which has the best fish and chips I have ever tasted. 10/10 would recommend, it uses local fish and it’s super fresh. I had the battered cod and chips, and trust me, I don’t even like fish all that much and it was still good to me.
We went and found the Bonamargy Friary. Bonamargy was a Franciscan friary built in the late 15th century and was used as a church at one point. As creepy as this sounds, it was pretty cool to see the different gravestones and just how much they varied in age. Some graves were from the 1500s and then there was one of a man that died in the 1970s. The oddest thing is that right next to this historical and protected site is a golfing course. As Alaina and I explored Bonamargy, we were also making eye contact with people golfing a few feet away.
And of course, what is a cold day without some ice cream. Morelli’s Ice Cream Shop is pretty well known and we just had to try it. A nice scoop of lemon-lime ripple while sitting by the beach in February in Northern Irish weather is not the most ideal, but it was a nice view.
If we didn’t do that then we would have never seen the guy leading his pet pony on a leash for a walk on the beach. I have to say that, that was the highlight of the entire trip.
Until next time…
