Ireland Revisited: An Unexpected Turn

Day 9 of 35: Thursday, August 12, 2010

The "turn" in the title of this day's post refers to Diane's ankle, but it was more than just a turn. It was a severe sprain -- not a fracture, as at first diagnosed in the hospital at Coleraine late this Thursday night, but of sufficient severity to cause significant pain and mobility restrictions for her throughout the remainder of our 2010 Ireland adventure.

Other than that, this was a spectacular, wonderful day. Really -- we both remember it as one of the three or four most exhilarating days of our entire trip, right up until she fell off that stile. The day's story has been told in detail in this blog before, so instead of repeating it here, I'll just refer you to those posts via these links: Part 1 and Part 2 about this day, and Part 3 about the following two days.

The exhilaration was the product of great scenery: the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle, and the almost heartbreaking beauty of the northern County Antrim farmland. It might also have had to do with the breakfast that fueled our day: Mabel Dunlop's fabulous Ulster fry. (Americans, note: "bacon" in the recipe means back bacon, not the strips of belly bacon we're used to.) The Seaview may be the only B&B we've ever stayed in where the "breakfast" part actually deserves its equal billing with the "bed" part.

Here are just a few teaser images from the good part of August 12th; many more are in this day's slide show over on sharrington.net. Remember, for the ones below, you can see a larger image by clicking on the picture:

Approaching the Giant's Causeway

Diane (in yellow) dancing on the Causeway's column tops

The Causeway enters the sea -- Scotland straight ahead.

Entering Dunluce Castle

Dunluce Castle ruins

View from Dunluce Castle (detail)

North Antrim farmland

In north Antrim

Waterfall and cliffs, County Antrim

Cattle by the sea

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The full slideshow from the good part of this day can be seen by clicking here.
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Next: August 13, 2010 -- Pause
Previous: August 11, 2010 -- Armagh to the North Coast of Antrim
Beginning of the series: Prologue, August 2