We drove from Galway to Belfast on Sunday. The change in the land is so crazy from one side to the other...rocks, stone hedges and thick grass on the south west, shrub hedges on the north west- think of the scenery for when you are driving to Kananaskis (minus the mountains!). We kind of relaxed a bit at our hostel - Laggan's backpackers (we LOvED it there!). We saw Queen's University there and the botanical gardens and then came back to the hostel - the owner, William, was treating a few people to a BBQ with his special home-made patties! So delish! We loved the 'helpx-ers' there (people who stay in the hostel free if they work a certain amount of hours a week) and hung out with them, going to a pub in Belfast. People are so friendly everywhere! Met some cool locals who are planning on moving to Calgary - the recession has hit pretty hard here and it seems like quite a few of the Irish are moving to the bigger centers in Canada where they have a better chance at getting a decent job. William even bought us pints and KFC! Sweetest hostel owner ever! We even got a free hot breakfast! When you're a backpacker you learn to appreciate smaller things ;)

We got up bright and early the next morning (Monday, 7th) for our Paddywagon's tour. Apparently if you stay at Paddy's Palace it's free (not 22€). But I still wouldn't change staying at Laggan's! We had this crazy tour guide who almost sounded Scottish- crazy how accents change here when you move from region to region. Of course it proceeded to pour...all day. We stopped at Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which was cool. You got to stand on a little island (in the rain - so unfortunately the view as a bit clouded!) and see the lovely clear water and other little islands.
Giant's Causeway was so lovely! I cannot believe it's natural, no human could have fit all of the steps together so perfectly! The rocks were all slippery from the fresh rain and we had fun walking all over them. 
 
We went to Stroke City next (better known as Derry if you are Catholic and Londonderry if you are Protestant- 'Stroke City' is neutral and depending on who you talk to you could get popped for saying either!) and did a walking tour - learned a bit about Bloody Sunday and religious battles. Apparently there are three things you aren't supposed to talk about in the north: Politics, Religion and Sports. People get heated! 

 One thing I do find crazy here is everyone seems to be so knowledgeable and passionate about their history, unlike us. But, in our defence, our history is nowhere near as engaging! The next day we drove to Dublin, concluding our week-long roadie! We drove about 1,200 km total. It doesn't sound like much - but the driving is long on the narrow, windy roads. But I'm not complaining...I'll trade 'em off for the gorgeous scenery ANY day. We walked along Temple Bar, coined 'Dublin's Cultural Quarter' with it's cobblestone streets full of pubs, restaurants, art galleries, etc...we also saw where U2 got it all started and the hotel they own now because someone wouldn't serve them - they swore that when they were rich and famous they would buy the hotel and fire the person. They kept their promise. 

(9th) We went to the Guinness Storehouse. I use my student i.d. as much as I possibly can to get into things cheaper! It's 7 floors and I would recommend going. You get to learn about how beer is brewed with barley, water, yeast and hops and do some taste tests. Make sure it's up to par ;). They even had food samples...of course I loved the chocolate mousse. At the end you get to go to the very top floor and have a bird's eye view of Dublin with a free pint. Unfortunately, being the non-tanks we are, we did not finish our pints, as we had to sprint to our next tour. 

 This (free) 3 hour walking tour around Dublin to taught us more about it's history. The guides are great, but my only problem is you forget 95% of what they teach you because there is SO much! After our tour, Gina had to go back to Adrian and returned our car in Cork. All in all, a great two weeks together with splendid memories made! Gina - thank you for making my experience a great one :) On the 10th I got up at 3am to catch my 6am flight out of Dublin to Edinburgh, where I am now! Stay tuned for more!

Love to all,
Larae xx