(Portrush, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland)
After more than a week in the Republic of Ireland, I am now in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland belongs to the U.K. but the border crossing was a complete non-event as both countries belong to the E.U. It was a long and epic journey: Westport-Knock, Knock-Sligo and Sligo-Derry by bus; a shuttle bus from the bus station to the train station; a train from Derry to Coleraine and finally a train from Coleraine to Portrush. It took more than 8 hours, with a quick shopping stop in Derry, but I enjoyed seeing so many different parts of the island in quick succession.
Derry (also known as Londonderry) was the first place where I had time to walk around a bit. Its city walls are still intact and, as in Dubrovnik, you can walk around the old town on top of the walls. I suppose it would have been logical to do that first. But I had a feeling that the “Abbazappa” music shop in the old town would yield results…and I was right. It was a motherlode of travel-appropriate 45 rpm singles and I am looking forward to playing them all when I get home. It was bit of a frenzy, to be honest, and after paying for them I had to rush back to the bus station in order to make my connection.
The train trip from Derry to Portrush followed a beautiful route along the sea. I’m staying in Portrush for three nights; it is a seaside resort town with a long history of welcoming travellers. Thanks to the efforts of a friend back home, I was able to meet up with a family in Portrush for dinner. They had never met me before but gave me a great welcome to their home town (as well as a great dinner). The hospitality I saw in the Republic of Ireland is also quite apparent here. Afterwards, even though it was almost 11:00 p.m., I was able to take some photographs of the shore (see this post’s “cover” photo) without any lighting difficulty. These long days really fool you – it just doesn’t feel like it is time to wind down for the night.
The next day, I met up with an old radio friend from my undergraduate days at Queen’s. He lives in the nearby town of Limavady and offered to give me an off-the-beaten-path tour of the area west of Portrush.
Among other places, we visited the “Downhill Demesne” and Mussenden Temple complex as well as the top of Binevenagh Mountain. Binevenagh, in particular, is extremely difficult to find so it was great to have a local guide. There is no way it could have been reached by public transportation. Binevenagh also confirmed that the Republic of Ireland does not have a monopoly on steep and spooky cliffs. The views were great – we could see all the way to County Donegal in the Republic.
As we hadn’t seen each other in 20 years, my friend and I had a lot of catching up to do. Obviously, a lot happens over two decades, but it was more remarkable how little our personalities seemed to have changed during that time.
Next up on the itinerary are some of the more traditional sights on the Northern Ireland coast. These will be a little more crowded but it’s not really high season yet. I just hope the notoriously fickle weather cooperates – a couple of these places are really exposed to the elements!