Day 9

Here we are at Day 9, and our exploration of Northern Ireland continues.  Claire attempted a traditional Irish breakfast and pulled it off with great flare.  Once fuelled, we drove to the Carrick-a-Rede Bridge and braved the crossing.  It was quite busy today so nit was a bit of a wait to get across.  The bridge is quite an experience especially for those of us who don’t care for heights.  The wind and the people moving on the bridge made Liam and I nervous.  Owen and Mom travelled across like it was nothing and even challenged each other to go across with holding on to the hand rails.  Once on the island, you can still see the fisherman’s cottage used to this day to bring in the salmon nets.  Once my heart slowed down, we carried on down the road.  We did a quick tour down the coastal path and took a look at White Park Bay and Dunseverick Castle on route.  The weather was not cooperating so we decided to tour Bushmill’s Distillery.  We had never toured a distillery before so it was very informative.  Did you know that Bushmills is the oldest licensed distillery in the world? (Established in 1608) We learned the difference between Scotch (One of my Favs) and Irish whiskey.  The Scotch is only distilled twice and dried over peat fires to give it its flavour where Irish whiskey is Triple distilled and dried using only clean fresh air.  We had a sample at the end of the tour and Claire and I sampled two different ones and compared.  We chose the 200 year anniversary whiskey for our purchase as it is a limited production from 2008.  We headed west and toured the ruins of Dunluse Castle.  The castle dates back to the 16^th century, home of the MacDonnell clan.  It was the highlight of the day for Claire as it was her first full castle that we toured however I’m sure it won’t be our last.  We returned to the cottage and Claire and Owen cooked us a lovely meal with one of the cooking sauces we purchased at the market.  Our hopes are to get away early tomorrow and have another full day of adventures.  Cheers until tomorrow.                    

Scenic view on the way to the bridge.

Liam on his way to the bridge.

Mom in her triumphant crossing.

Enjoying the scenery.

Carrick-Rede Bridge.

Ruins of Dunseverick castle.

Old Bushmills distillery.

At the end of the tour.

Ruins of Dunluse castle.

More ruins of Dunluse castle.

More ruins of Dunluse castle.

Cave underneath Dunluse castle.

Cheers!

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