Great ruins make for greater glories.

May 16, 2006

All is good, I'm on the PADDYWAGON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Got into Derry last night, got lost for a bit, then spotted a big green hostel! Because of the shit-show day, I only had euros on me, so I couldn't go out and buy anything. Instead, I relaxed, did some laundry, and read my book on Central American history and legend! What a fucking dork! Oh, turns out I didn't miss Giant's Causeway considering I'm sitting in the car park right now! Got up at 7:30 this morning, finished drying my clothes, and had some cornflakes and toast. Then we all boarded the bus with our driver Conor who is goddamn hilarious. There's a few old people on this bus even though Paddywagon's website clearly states that the tour is geared towards younger people. Conor is really good with the history of Ireland, but every fourth word out of his mouth is 'fook'. On the way out of Derry, we drove 'round a roundabout where Texaco had put up some signs that said 'MUFF' on them, who knows why. Anyway, Conor pipes up, "Three muffs in a row! Not a bad way to start the morning!" As we went on, he told us some history about the British occupation in WWII, and some of the shit that went down in Northern Ireland. We passed a bar where, one Halloween, some kids in balaclavas came in, said 'Trick or Treat', and shot the place up. He went on to say that a disproportionate amount of young girls were killed in Derry in WWII. Reason being, young boys who weren't old enough to shoot the shit out of the enemy, would get drunk and sniff glue, steal cars, and speed through town with a bunch of girlies in the back. In those days, the streets were full of British road blocks, and when the kids, high as kites, would hit one, they would floor it to get through as fast as possible. Of course, the soldiers would notice just in time to shoot up the back of the car where all the girls were sitting. The bus carried on through PORT RUSH (!!!!!!!!) which had amazing cliffs towering over sandy white beaches and the clear Atlantic Ocean, and we saw Dunluce Castle which perched precariously on the edge of a rock face. At one time, the castle had fallen under English power, and the original owner, Mr. McDonnel got pretty choked about this. So, he got royally shitfaced with a bunch of his men, smuggled into the castle, and slit the throats of all the guys inside to reclaim his castle! And who says you can't accomplish anything while shittered. We drove through Bushmills, a staunchly loyalist Protestant town, where Conor said, "Someone once threw me the brown eye." We have Republic of Ireland written on the side of the bus, so people throw shit at us all the time in the North. On to Giant's Causeway. The rain held off just long enough to have a really good wander about. It was truly incredible. The rough coast was specked with hexagonal chunks of rock, built up in towers and layed flat like cobblestones. I was mostly excited because I was walking where Led Zeppelin once walked! Dork! Back on the bus, we just passed a bunch of sheep and Conor said, "Awww look at all the little lambs! They're too cute to eat!" and some Aussie chick up front said, "Nae, they're not!" Just visited a pub called the Fullerton Arms, had some lunch, played pool, drank Guiness, and my face is kinda burning from the beer, but I feel grand! Onward ho, we visited an absolutely breathtaking group of island where you got to cross a rope bridge to get to the other side. I met some like-minded people who decided it would make the experience more interesting if we JUMPED across the bridge, so that's what we did, about 200 feet in the air. Good craic! The water below was eggshell blue, the scenery was out of this...well...country. It was surreal, you really had to be there to appreciate how beautiful it was. Terns were nesting in the crevices of rock and beaking off at eachother, circling over the clear ocean.....(everyone say 'ahhhhhhhhhh')
In Belfast now. High and Dry is on, just woke up from a nap to Conor singing, hahaha. Going through another bout of I-don't-wanna-go-home. The Titanic was built here, and the Crown Hotel in city square is the second-most bombed hotel in the world! Happy Days!