Ireland 2019
July 4 — Belfast
Castle Ward
I accidentally set the alarm clock for 7:30 when we were supposed to meet dad at 7:30 for breakfast. Oops. No big deal. Nancy and I just didn’t have breakfast. Ray showed up at 8:30 to take us to Winterfell which is actually on Castle Ward. We got there late by an hour. Ray said it was traffic; I think it was a little miscalculation on his part because he said it would take an hour so I recommended we leave with 15 minutes to spare and we still got there late. That said, he is a good driver and very knowledgeable.
The Game of Thrones Experiences was fun. First we met our guide Hugo (from France but has been doing this for a year and a half). He followed his girlfriend from France: she had an internship and so he came too. Sweet. Nancy thought he was super cute but she barely spoke to him.
The first part of the experience was to do archery bare-bow (Martha-Kelly would have loved it). We got 3 practice rounds with 5 arrows. Then we had a competition which I crushed. I got to behead the loser (okay, not really, but I have a fun picture with a rubber sword). The last round we had to shoot every target from the same location. Nancy hasn’t shot since elementary school but by the end she really had the hang of it. Next we walked to all the sites where they filmed. It was gorgeous. Forget about the show and you still could really just climb into the landscape and feel like you were in a different time. Back to the show, it was very interesting to see how they used technology to duplicate towers, remove clocks or a city, or add smoke and darkness, or to create armies. Instead of the 5 tents of soldiers which were actually on site the show had hundreds. The only downside to the experience were all the damn flies. They were crazy.
Castle Ward Grounds
Game of Thrones Winterfell Experience
Next, we went to lunch at Doc’s Good Food, in Downpatrick. It was a small joint and the food was okay. Think a fast food place. It was quick and easy which is what we were looking for.
Then, we drove 2 hours to the Giant Causeway. It is a very interesting place. I can’t believe how big it is and how unusual the rock formations are. I think the most interesting thing is how they let people just walk and climb all over it. I mean, there was a small child (I’m guessing 4) on one of the taller formations out near the water and it just looked so dangerous. Nancy thought Zach would love to try to climb it. There are certainly enough hand holds. The only thing is Dad really rushed us so we drove 4 hours (there and back) for 20/30 minutes. It was gorgeous and I would have loved to walk more of it…maybe next time. Nancy actually didn’t think it was that Giant. She said she thought that each of the hex shaped rocks would be the size of three king size beds stacked on top of each other big. I thought they were huge: perspective and expectation at work.
The drive did let us really see the traditional scenes of Ireland which we had not seen. Lots of sheep and cows. There are more cows then people in Ireland!
Dinner was at a great Italian restaurant just down from our hotel called the Fratelli. I couldn’t decide what to get so Lewis the waiter helped me out and told me that between my options the Chicken E Chorizo Penne was the way to go and boy was he right. It was fabulous. Food win! Dinner was late due to the drive to and from the Giant Causeway but it was nice and I went to bed full.
The Giant’s Causeway
