Travel, Wine & Shoes

From Galway, with a stop at Sean’s Bar, we headed to County Antrim and Bushmills.  

The Bushmills Inn

Quietly luxurious boutique hotel on the Causeway Coast
Set against the backdrop of the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, The Bushmills Inn is the perfect retreat for those who crave the unconventional, yet still expect exceptional service. The welcome is warm and the fire always lit.
Originally a Coaching Inn in the 1600s, this 4 star boutique Hotel and Restaurant is steeped in Irish history with a myriad of places to hide from the world. Step back to a time steeped in charm. From inglenook turf fires to hayloft snugs, there’s something to find behind every door.
The Bushmills Inn Website

What a beautiful hotel!  The highlight was they raised the Canadian flag because we were the furthest travelled guests.

A night out at Finn MacCool’s!

Old Bushmills Distillery

Bushmills is the world’s oldest whiskey distillery and were licensed to distill in 1608.  They are the only Irish distillery still using malted barley in all its whiskeys.

Dunluce Castle

These castle ruins date back to the 16th century.  A couple interesting facts:

• Believed to be the inspiration for Cair Paravel in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia
• The castle appeared on the inner gatefold of Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin

Giant’s Causeway

The Giant’s Causeway is a series of about 40,000 hexagonal shaped interlocking basalt columns which were formed by an ancient volcanic fissure eruption.

The Myth
As legend has it, Northern Ireland was once home to a giant named Finn McCool (also called Fionn Mac Cumhaill). When another giant – Benandonner, across the Irish Sea in Scotland – threatened Ireland, Finn retaliated by tearing up great chunks of the Antrim coastline and hurling them into the sea. The newly-created path – the Giant’s Causeway – paved a route over the sea for Finn to reach Benandonner.
However, this turns out to be a bad idea as Benandonner is a massive giant, much bigger than Finn! In order to save himself, Finn retreats to Ireland and is disguised as a baby by his quick-thinking wife. When Benandonner arrives, he sees Finn disguised as a baby and realises that if a mere baby is that big, the father must be far larger than Benandonner himself!
Following this realisation, Benandonner rushes back to Scotland, tearing away as much of the Causeway as he can in his haste to put as much distance between Ireland and himself as possible. And thus, the myth of the Giant’s Causeway was born.

Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge

In County Antrim, there is a rope bridge that links the mainland to the island of Carrickarede ~ it is 20 metres long and 30 metres high. 

---

---

Happy Travels

Northern Ireland