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The wet day ends with more fireworks. In the rain. Fortunately there is company with a big umbrella. |
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| Part 8 A Large Day |
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Aug. 15
It's a Maritimes term, I think. I recall hearing that a "large day" means a big-bright-shiny-blue-sky day. I like that. But it sounds like more. I've borrowed the idea. A Large Day is a fine bright big-sky day, but also a day that will be larger than life in your memory, one of those days that you wish could go on forever. It's a day that ranks on your Top 10 List of Best Days Ever.
Our tour begins at Carrickfergus castle, whose construction began in the late 1100s. Further sections of the castle were added into the 1800s. It has now been restored, & our private-tour guide describes what life would have been like for the various residents of the castle. It's fascinating, imagining the people who lived here... |
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| Then, onward up the Antrim coast. Every bend of the extremely narrow & winding road reveals more & more gorgeous scenery. Mountains on one side, water on the other. There are charming little houses every so far which really do look like they're a couple hundred years old. The gardens are overflowing with colour: hydrangeas by the ton, fuchsia or honeysuckle hedges along the roads, & those mysterious "Irish palm trees" (??!) are everywhere. You have to pull nearly off the road to let oncoming cars by. This road is ludicrously advertised as a cycling route. |
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It's soo gorgeous. I want to take pictures of every bend in the road. I want a video camera, to remember every bit of it. I would love to live here. Mountains & sea, both within sight. I think how much I'd love to bike through this ... but there are those killer hills & the fact that there's no place to evade the cars. "Cycle route"?? Hmmm. |
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We drive down a steep lane to Torr Head, from which we can see Scotland 17 miles away. The sea is more Atlantic-blue-ish today. "Health & Safety" dept. would probably not want us to climb to the top of the abandoned building, but they aren't here. |
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We stop for lunch in Ballycastle, & decide that the cod & "mushy peas" are the most Irish thing we can get. I'm tempted by the lasagna & garlic bread, but go for Irishness. It's all good.
On up the coast we go, through picture-perfect little towns & along the very edge overlooking the sea. Headlands come into view, each prettier than the last... |
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Torr Head. Scotland is on the horizon. |
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With Captain Robin & tour guide Bernard. |
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| View from Torr Head. Our road led along this gorgeous coastline. |
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Ballycastle. |
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HOME |
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PAGE 11 |
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PAGE 9 |
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