This has been one of my favorite trips that I have ever experienced, mind you I love those touristy day trips but I'm not sure if they are for everyone. After a couple of days laying around, sleeping off the jet lag and trying to feel normal, we decided to take our first day trip from Dublin. Our journey startedat 6:50where our bus picked us up and headed for Belfast, about two and a half hours north. During the ride our tour guide, Tara, gave us a condensed glimpse into the history of Ireland, starting at the stone ages and ended with the millennium. Usually I am not the biggest fan of a lecture bright and early, but for some reason this morning I was wide eyed and ready to learn. When we arrived in Belfast, we had about a half an hour to explore which meant a cappuccino to us. Next we headed off in search of the Dark Hedges. This row of trees along each side of the road has been there for over 300 years. It is the set for some films and shows, including Game of Thrones. When we stepped out I was amazed at the sheer size of the each tree but then again they have been there for over three centuries. I was surprised because I was expecting literal hedges lining the narrow path, but instead they looked to be massive light trunk trees almost resembling the Whomping Willow (sorry for the Harry Potter reference, but it's all I could think of). As we continued to head west, we stopped at the Bushmills whiskey distillery (at 11 in the morning) and were each given a taste. I'm not a whiskey drinker by any means, but it seemed to go down pretty easy. This distillery is the oldest licensed distillery in the world, dating back to 1608 when it was licensed by King James. I enjoyed this short stop because this was not something I would have chosen to see, so it really was different for me. Our next stop was Giants Causeway, but we pilled over for a quick five minute look our over the bay and to see Dunluce Castle. A little history on Giants Causeway before I tell my experience; this unique rock formation had two different explanations. One is that it was formed by the perfect temperature and conditions during a volcanic eruption that each rock came out in this hexagonal shape. The second, more interesting in my opinion, is an ancient myth about two giants from Ireland and Scotland. The Irish giant, thinking he was mighty and tough, went over to Scotland to pick a fight. He carved each of the stones into a path that stretched from Ireland to Scotland, each in a hexagonal shape. When we reached the other giant, he realized that the Scottish giant was two times his size and then ran home. His wife decided to help him hide from the other, gave him some sleeping pills and dressed him up as a baby. When the Scottish giant got to Ireland, took one look at the baby who has a full beard and enormous muscles he thought "if this is what the Giants baby looks like his father, there is no way I'm going to fight him!" He ran on home, pushing the stones inter water so that the Irish giant would never be able to get to him again. That is why today there are these same hexagonal stones in Ireland and in Scotland. Giants Causeway was one of the more beautiful places I have ever been. The water was a baby blue, the mountains surrounding were covered in green foliage and the rocks were all like large stepping stones, each a different height to create mini mountains. We brought a sandwich along with us on our trip and ate it on some of the stones, highly recommended! With the tour that we were on we had two and a half hours here, so we are our lunch and then just explored around the area. Our next stop wasn't too far, the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge. This was probably my favorite stop of our tour, not sure exactly why because I was beyond freaked on the bridge, but the views on the other side were amazing. Our tour had a couple of hours here as well, so we went straight for the bridge. This area is used to be very confusing for salmon, they thought it was a river so they would go through then get stuck at one end. The fisherman started to catch on and would put their nets to the other end and catch many salmon with just one throw. The views were gorgeous from this spot, like Giants Causeway, baby blue water and green grass all over the mini island. I loved seeing the northern area of Ireland with just the simple trip through Finn McCools tours. I highly recommend this trip to anyone traveling to Ireland, if not with this company then with any company! Ciao for now!