"There are only two kinds of people in the world, the Irish and those who wish they were."

I was starting to get very comfortable with Spud (so named because, in just the right light, our sewing machine on wheels looks like a large peeled Irish potato), so it was time to get out on some of the winding coastal roads that surround the Emerald Isle. Rental cars in Ireland are often times returned with missing mirrors and scrapped up side panels, and it was easy to see why as our trusty GPS had us navigating narrow lane ways that were ostensibly two lane roads. And I'm guessing that Irish property owners will reluctantly allow the government to take what they need to build their roads but not an inch more- to emphasize their point they will build rock walls or grow thorn bushes that butt right up against the road (there's probably no Gaelic expression for 'shoulder of the road' since it's not needed).

When you're not anticipating a truck careening around the blind corner just ahead and are able to look around , there's no mistaking the fact that you are in Ireland. While in the countryside, green is the dominant colour- other than the odd recently plowed field almost everything is a shade of green (I'm sure if they could figure out how to breed green sheep, goats, or cows it would be a done deal). While winding through villages it was hard not to notice the excessive number of pubs with very Irish names (O'Brian's, Murphy's, Paddy's, O'Connor's, etc)- I'm not sure what the pub-to-person ratio is in Ireland but my own observations would suggest that it's about 1 pub for every 10 people?? 
 
Our road trip eventually led us to Northern Ireland's most famous geographic landmark- the Giants Causeway. This natural phenomenon looks almost man made and, I suspect, as a result of that, an Irish legend/story resulted. The Causeway story tells us that 54 foot tall Finn McCool lived happily on the Antrim coast with his wife Oonagh until he discovered he had a rival in Scotland known as Benandonner. After frequent taunts, Finn finally challenged Benandonner to a proper fight and decided to build a causeway of enormous stepping stones across the sea to Scotland, so that he could walk across without getting his feet wet. But as he approached and caught sight of the great bulk of Benandonner, Finn became afraid and fled back home, with Benandonner hot on his trail. Finn asks his wife to help him hide and she disguised Finn as a baby and pushed him into a huge cradle, so when Benandonner saw the size of the sleeping ‘child’, he assumed the father must be GIGANTIC. Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway as he went in case he was followed.

For those having trouble envisioning a giant Irishman (not difficult for me since I knew Mike C in his bodybuilding days), the Giant’s Causeway is a UNESCO-listed geological wonder. Formed some 60 million years ago by cooling lava, its 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns jut into the sea. 
 
Since booze is obviously a big part of the Irish experience we also wandered over to nearby Bushmills Distillery. I hadn't heard of the award winning Bushmills before which just about got me escorted off of the property but at the end of the tour we were offered up some samples. Since DH doesn't drink this normally works out quite well for me as I get a double helping, but since DH also doesn't drive in left-handed countries, I was left with a couple of sips while pretending to be able to distinguish between the drinks. I hope we can find a pub after parking the car for the night.