Happy May Day/Labour Day everyone!
This weekend, a friend from work Shireen and I decided to do a road trip up to Belfast and the Northern coast of Ireland. It was Shireen's first time up the north. I go to Belfast quite regularly but it had been my first time up the North Coast in probably over 10 years so I was seeing it with different eyes and a camera.
Belfast is a thriving and lively place. It often suffers from an image problem/bad reputation due to "The Troubles", but it is for that reason too that the city is where it is now. The city is trying to forget about the past and so it's flourishing and developing quite rapidly. There's incredible coffeeshops, bars and restaurants opening up constantly, new jobs are being created, and there's a tourism industry that is growing hugely due to these efforts from local businesses and also a little TV programme called Game of Thrones, which is filmed and produced in Northern Ireland.
The plan was to see a little bit of Belfast on Saturday, then spend all of Sunday doing the Game of Thrones tour and seeing the Northern Coast. We left home quite late on Saturday and so arrived in Belfast in the afternoon. We were pretty drained from the drive and needed a coffee ASAP. We stopped in Town Square for a brew.
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| Town Square |
These guys take their coffee very seriously, with their baristas winning at the Northern Irish Aeropress Championship this year. They also do weekly coffee tasting every Tuesday evening at 7pm which is free to come along to. Their coffee is incredible and so are the vibes. Very cool spot and I highly recommend it!
After being brought back to life with some amazing coffee, we took a walk around the city, taking in the sights such as Queens University, The Botanic Gardens, City Hall and the Cathedral Quarter.
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| Queens University |
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| The Botanic Gardens |
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| City Hall |
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| The Cathedral Quarter |
The next morning, we woke up bright and early and drove to Belfast to catch the coach for the tour, which left at around 9 from the city centre. We went with McComb's Travel Coach as the company who provided the tour and I can't recommend this enough, the tour guide was extremely knowledgable about both Northern Ireland and Game of Thrones and he was one hell of a character that made the trip even more enjoyable.
The first stop of the tour was the Cushenden Caves. The caves were formed in over 400 million years of extreme weather conditions. They provided the background for The Stormlands in Game of Thrones, and also the place in where Melisandre of Asshai (The Red Lady) gave birth to the Shadow Assassin.
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| Cushenden Caves |
The next stop of the tour was The Giants Causeway. This is not part of Game of Thrones but was included in the tour and you can't miss it.
The Giants Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking columns made of Basalt, an igneous rock formation which was the result of a volcanic eruption. According to legend, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by an Irish giant, Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool). Fionn was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. He accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet. In one version of the story, Fionn defeats Benandonner, while in another, Fionn hides from Benandonner when he realises that his foe is much bigger than he is. Fionn's wife, Oonagh, disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle. When Benandonner sees the size of the baby, he reckons that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants. He then flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn could not follow. Across the sea, there are identical basalt columns at Fingal's Cave on the Scottish Isle of Staffa, and it's possible that the story was influenced by this.
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| The Giants Causeway |
The next stop was Ballintoy Harbour. This stunning location was used for exterior shots of Pyke and also as the Iron Islands. The coastal nook is where Theon Greyjoy arrives back in the Iron Islands and where he later admires his ship, The Sea Bitch. This is also where he first meets his sister Yara.
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| Ballintoy Harbour |
Just a mile or two from Ballintoy, we headed towards Larrybane Quarry and Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. The quarry was used in Episode 3 of Season 2, when Catelyn Stark is going to meet King Renly. He and his queen, Margaery are sitting watching a fight between Loras Tyrell and what turns out to be Brienne of Tarth. Rathlin Island and Sheep Island can be seen in the background. We also took a walk to Carrick-a Rede Rope Bridge, but unfortunately it was closed that day due to strong winds.
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| Sheep Island |
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| Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge |
The final stop of the tour was The Dark Hedges, which now thanks to the show is the most photographed location in Northern Ireland. This beautiful avenue of serpentine beech trees was planted by the Stuart family in the eighteenth century. It was intended as a compelling landscape feature to impress visitors as they approached the entrance to their home, Gracehill House. Two centuries later, the trees remain a magnificient sight and have become known as The Dark Hedges. The Dark Hedges were used in Game of Thrones as the Kings Road, where Arya Stark escapes King's Landing disguised as a boy.
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| The Dark Hedges |
The tour concluded then and we arrived back in Belfast at around 7 o clock. This tour cost about 45 euro but was worth every penny, as you're out the whole day and it saves you having to drive. I absolutely fell in love with Northern Ireland and the weekend felt a bit magical, and not just because its where Game of Thrones was filmed. It's easy to take our little island for granted, but Ireland really is beautiful and I can't wait to continue to explore it.
Tom.
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