Holiday in Northern Ireland.

Had a lovely break in Northern Ireland with my son Imran and his wife and children.  We went at the end of May but haven't posted anything until now as I came back with  cold and developed a chest infection so haven't felt like doing much.  Think I have now shaken of the nasty Irish bug.

We flew from Birmingham to Belfast on the Monday morning, only about an hours flight so not too bad.  We picked up the hire car and headed into Belfast City.  Spotted the Titanic Exhibition so thought we would go look round.  We had lunch and then noticed that the tour took 2 hours so we decided to give it a miss as we had a long drive to our holiday cottage in the north.

Grandson Zachariah next to the statue of Titanic Figurehead.  Not exactly Leonardo!

We stopped briefly in Belfast city centre and wandered round a continental market where there was a carousel.  

Afterwards we set off to our holiday accommodation.  It was a long drive as we took the Causeway Coastal Route instead of the direct route via the motorway.  Instead of an hour it took us almost 3 hours but it was a spectacular route.

This is where we stayed.  A lovely 4 bedroom cottage which is only 10 - 15 minutes walk from the Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre.  It was very nicely furnished with everything we needed. 

The black rock, on the corner by the door, which I think gives the house its name looks suspiciously  like one of the rocks from the causeway. 

The cottage was on a narrow lane which had only 4 or 5 other houses so was very quiet.  Behind it there was a field which had rabbits hopping around it. 

That evening we walked up to the Causeway Visitor centre but as it was getting quite late we thought we would visit the Causeway the next day.   We did go for a short walk though. 

At the end of the lane we crossed the railway line which runs from the nearby village of Bushmills.  Unfortunately the steam train which runs here only operates on weekdays during in July and August and we weren't there at the weekend so were unable to ride on it.  I think Zach would have enjoyed a train ride. 

The views along the coast are spectacular.

Near the entrance to the visitor centre is this fabulous Victorian post box, unfortunately someone has put the recycling bin right next to it.

The Causeway is on the other side of this hill.  The waves were very high and the coastline is so rugged it must be very dangerous.

This is where we had our dinner that first evening, I had fish and chips which were very nice.  It is a listed building which was built as a school house in 1850. 

This first day had been a very long one as we got up before 6 and had a long journey so we were glad to get into bed that night.  I think Zach slept for almost 12 hours.