the great green north

derry started off our tour of northern ireland. we went to see the bloody sunday monument, the bogside murals, and walked along the wall that contains the old city. unfortunately we didn't make it all the way around, we got rained out, and headed back for the hostel. the hostel had a tv and comfy couches that were way too inviting, and we ditched our plans to go out and instead watched "there's something about mary" with reese, our aussie friend. the next morning we headed off to the train station this time, instead of the bus station, to take our first train to portrush. we arrived in portrush to our first b&b, erna and victor were our gracious hosts for the next 2 nights. the rain finally decided to get in the way so we made the most of it, chatting in coffee shops, and over dinner. our time in portrush took us to the giant's causeway, the bushmills irish whiskey distillery, and dunluce castle. getting from place to place was a bit unsure and ended up involving multiple buses, 2 feet and a heartbeat, and a little bit of hitchhiking. after an eventful day we finished off with a beautiful sunset at the beach! each morning in portrush we were presented with an ulster fry that was so big that even 2 hungry backpackers couldn't finish it! but luckily erna was kind enough to let us take our leftovers along to keep us nourished.

belfast was our last stop in northern ireland. we wandered the botanic gardens, ate lots of candy, and treated ourselves to a night at the movies, which ended up being crazy tuesday, and only cost us 3 pounds. we saw angels and demons.