Cold and Windy Day at Antrim Coast, Northern Ireland

I was really excited to start the day trip to the wonderful Antrim Coast, Northern Ireland. It was a full day trip from Dublin city and I would recommend this tour organized by Extreme Ireland. As instructed in the voucher, I have to wait at The Old Stone Church and tour would start at 6.30 am. Since it is just a few minutes walking from Ha'penny Bridge to Suffolk St., I have no problem reaching the place except that it was raining and definitely cold enough for people from the tropical country.  

Well, apparently I was not the only person to feel excited because there were a number of people were already waiting to  the trip. 

On the mid-way, the bus stopped at a petrol station where we could get our breakfast there. From there, we were brought to the first stop, Dark Hedges. This is a terrific place for those who want to see something different in natural landscape.  The beech trees along Bregagh Road (located between Stranocum and Armoy), formed a canopy which made the place appeared dark (hence, the name) and a bit spooky in the photos if taken at the right angle. This place has gained its popularity as it was featured in the movie, Game of Thrones. I have never watched this movie though.

It was cold here so technically I was having difficulty taking photos of the surrounding. I refused to give in though . After 15 minutes, I returned to the bus. My fingers and toes started to feel numb already. There was heater in the bus, so problem solved.

From the Dark Hedge, we headed to the coastal area, ie the County Antrim. It was still raining so I thought it wouldn't be easy here too. So this place we were heading to is called Carrick-a-Rede which is one of the many tourist attractions owned by National Trust.

Before arriving the tiny island of Carrickarede, a walk of less than a kilometer is necessary. With rain and strong coastal wind, it made things even colder but I could see the glimpse of beautiful scenery around this area. I tried my best operating my camera without getting it 'soaked' and I would say I was glad to visit this place. It is  true what people have said about UK weather, unpredictable and surprising. I did not expect the sun to show up anytime but it just did. The land became a lot more beautiful and I took several deep breath to enjoy the fresh air and picturesque landscape.

The white limestone cliffs made the area looked lovelier. There were several islets but I have no idea what they are called, which made the view even more interesting. Every time the sun came out, I took every opportunity to get the nicest photo, and to warm myself a bit.

It was quite hard to control the exposure due to overcast weather. I still think I need to visit this place again when the weather is so much better and warmer. I think I can spend the whole day sitting here and enjoying the beautiful landscape.

Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge viewed from the higher elevation. 

Remember the saying "every cloud has a silver lining" or 'there is always sunshine after the rain"? Well, this day was absolutely perfect to apply these quotes. Not only sunshine, but there was rainbow too. AND THERE WERE 2 rainbows!! What a lovely moment.

After half an hour, everyone started to walk back to the bus, taking the other route. I was still looking for nice views to feed my camera. With the sun coming out as and when it liked, I had limited numbers of photos of this area. However, the fenced green field looked great. Probably looked better with a big group of fat sheep or goats or cows.

Before getting on the bus, I dropped by a cafe to get something for me, hot chocolate and souvenirs. The cafe was a cozy place to hang out too.

We stopped for lunch in a place which I could not remember exactly where it was. Had a big bowll of potato soup and could not finish it. What a waste.

I was so excited when the driver announced that we were approaching Giant's Causeway. But from a distance, I could see a dark grey cloud was covering the coastal area, which turned me off a bit. But positivity never fades when it comes to traveling. I was still hoping there would be sunshine. Would be pity if I couldn't enjoy the visit to Giant's Causeway even for a minute.

The bus driver did not drop us directly at the Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre. He told us that we could just walk a bit to Giant's Causeway for free, rather than passing through the visitor centre and required to pay for the entrance fee. 

Giant's Causeway is another UNESCO World Heritage site which I have been yearning to visit. The myth of Giant's Causeway is interesting but I am more interested on the geological formation. It amazes me a lot to learn about the formation of hexagonal basalt columns. It all started with cooling of the lava and later cracked to form the hexagonal shape.

For the first time, I saw a foam-like substance on the water surface and some were on the rocks. When the wind blew strongly, the wind would lift some foams from the surface and some got onto my windbreaker. It was quite smelly to be honest. Those foams formed due to the protein-based substances which coat the air bubbles causing them to stick together. This was another scientific knowledge acquisition for the day.

Just like what I have experienced at Carrick-a-Rede, the same happened in Giant's Causeway where the wind blew much stronger and nearly blowing away my beanie and MYSELF. All I need was a strong and steady stance on a flatter surface. The sun came out couple of minutes before I had to leave this magical place.

In less than 1 hour, the bus left County Antrim heading to Belfast, but it stopped briefly close to Dunluce Castle for a quick photo stop. This ruined medieval castle is located on a cliff with steep slope around it. This castle is featured in the popular TV series, Game of Thrones. Well, I have never watched this TV series but I have a thing for old castles.

While the bus headed to Belfast, I could enjoy the view along the route and I could say the views along the route were quire impressive and not boring. A combination of grey sky with a little bit sunshine seemed odd but it looks cool enough to me.

Out and About Basel Old Town.

I had the opportunity to visit Switzerland in June 2018. I know most travel freaks would say it is a bloody expensive country to visit. Well, I can’t deny the fact that Switzerland is indeed really expensive for most backpackers. How did I survive? Let’s just say I had some help from several friends in France and Switzerland.

             After completing some important stuff in UK, I flew to Basel with RyanAir. Prior to my arrival in Basel, a good friend of mine, who was staying in Niffer, offered to pick me up at the airport. By the way, Niffer is a small but charming village in France which is close to Basel. I stayed at Niffer for 4 nights. So basically, I did not stay at Switzerland at all in those 4 days. It was a lot cheaper to stay in Niffer. However, public transportation was not available so my friend seemed to have everything organized for me.

            What is there to do in Basel? As usual, I always couldn’t find enough time to do proper research and plan my trip. I started my day early in the morning so that I would have more time to see Basel. So I headed to the Tourist Information Center at the Bahnhof (it means train station in Deutsch) and got myself a map.

            What I liked about this map was that it provided 5 routes for walking tours. Each route was named according to famous, prominent people who lived in Basel in the early years, namely the Erasmus Walk, Paracelsus Walk, Burckhardt Walk, Platter Walk and Holbein Walk. Each walk caters specific section of the city. One can chose to see the historic heart of the city, medieval alleys, the past and present of Basel, crafts and university section and the broader section which covers both sides of the Rhine river.

Naturally, I have picked the longest route, which is the Holbein Walk, but with some improvisations. This walk starts at the Old Town heading toward the Munsterplatz (the cathedral square) and Old City Wall, make a loop to return to the Old Town.

Marktplatz – Rathaus - Guild houses – Munsterplatz and Munster – Kunstmuseum – Wettsteinbrucke – Obere Rheinweg – Mittlere Rheinbrucke – Eissengasse and “Lallekonig” – Marktplatz

Marktplatz – a market place, where a market selling fresh fruits, plants and food are available in the morning. Nice and cozy place for people watching or perhaps a cup of coffee.

Rathaus – an ornate building painted red which is also serves as the Town Hall of Basel. It’s worth to check out the murals and decoration at the interior compound.

Guild Houses – by definition, guild houses are buildings being used for meetings and other purposes which were historically significant. Many of these guild houses are now museums. The word ‘guild’ itself refers to fraternity, brotherhood, fellowship etc.

Munsterplatz & Munster -  simply means a cathedral square and cathedral which originally was a Catholic cathedral but now it is a Reformed Protestant church. It is the main landmark of Basel with is easily distinguished by its coloured roof tiles.

Residential building at the cathedral square

Kunstmuseum – a must visit for art lovers. It has a huge collection of public arts including Renaissance arts and works from the 19^th impressionists. It is also the largest art museum in Switzerland. Entrance fee is CHF 26.

Wettsteinbrucke -  one of the three bridges in Basel. A good spot to take some nice photos with the minster as the background

View of the church from Wettsteinbrucke

Obere Rheinweg – a pedestrian and cyclist path lined with shady trees which is a good spot to view the lovely scenery on the opposite side of the river. The emerald blue river makes a breathtaking view. One should spend some times during the day and night to see and feel the difference in the atmosphere. It has been my favorite spot in Basel so far.

Mittlere Rheinbrucke – it is called the ‘Middle Rhein Bridge’ and a historic bridge in Basel. I spent more time photographing this bridge at different angles and apparently the most picturesque bridge.

I took some rest, having crazy expensive waffle ( CHF 11) to replenish my energy. There is a McDonald’s at the Marktplatz but my taste buds seemed to reject it.

Next, I picked the Erasmus Walk to explore the historic heart of this city. The Celts and Roman built settlements here and currently being a residential zone, museum and administrative museum district. For this route, one needs to walk uphill but I assure you that it wasn’t that tough. Be careful when walking as the cobbled pathway is not always a pleasant surface to walk on. 

Martinskirche - Rheinsprung – Blue and White House – Augustinergrasse – Pfalz and the view over Rhine – Frei Strasse – Rathaus

Martinskirche - a lovely church with Romanesque architecture

Rheinsprung – a street in the Old Town of Basel. Some nice view can be seen along this street

Blue and White House – 2 semi-detached mansions in Rheinsprung built for the Sarasin brothers (Lukas and Jakob) whom their descendants are the founders of the Bank Sarasin & Cie in Basel.

Augustinergrasse – another street after Rheinsprung with several nice buildings and also the location of the Natural History Museum of Basel. 

Enjoying this view for some reasons.

Pfalz and the view over Rhine – a viewing terrace next to the cathedral which offers a wonderful views over the Basel Old Town.

Freie Strasse – from the cathedral, i walked downhill to this shopping street (with no intention to shop at all) back to Rathaus.

I realized that I still have several hours more left before taking the train to Luzern, so I took an improvised Platter walk to see Basel a little bit more.

For this walk, I wanted to see the Spalentor,  which means Gates of Spalen. It is the most beautiful gate of the three gates in Basel. These gates and a short portion of the city wall become the city's heritage.

Gate of Spalen (Spalentor)

      Several nice buildings can be found for example a restaurant in the former craftsman's district, the building of the Basel University Graduate School at Petersgraben and houses at Petersplatz.

A restaurant at the former craftsman's district

Graduate School of Basel University

Nice houses at Petersplatz

Basel is great for walking and everything can be covered within a day, unless if one plans to visit the museums and shop around. 

Wonderful Autumn in Glendalough and Wicklow, Ireland

I'm in love with Ireland!! That's the first thing I have in mind when anyone mention about this beautiful country. I have a nickname for this country, it's the "Fifty Shades of Green". My visit to Ireland was in autumn, and some said it was already winter. But I guess I was lucky to be able to experience lovely autumn foliage here. In Ireland, I visited couple of places including Dublin (where I stayed throughout the trip), Galway and Kilkenny but my favorite places were Glendalough and Wicklow, which are both in County Wicklow. I didn't expect much for my Ireland trip because the weather forecast indicated that the days would be all gloomy and wet. But it turned out to be interesting and enjoyable especially to witness the wonderful autumn colours in Glendalough and Wicklow.

I joined the daily trip organized by Paddywagon Tours and the pickup was in Dublin city centre. I would recommend this company to anyone who wish to do day trips from Dublin. Shame that I didn't know about this company until I hop on the shuttle bus, otherwise I would have better whilst in Ireland. 

Approaching Glendalough, I could see the striking colours of autumn. This was a good sign for me despite the grey sky and drizzle. The shuttle bus was parked at Glendalough Hotel parking area. After passing the parking area, I was amazed with the view right in front of me, a hill with a mix of green and autumn foliage. I thought of dropping by the cafe and get some hot coffee or tea, but since I have to return to the bus 2 hours later, I thought it would be fine without the coffee or tea.

So I headed to the Gateway, which is the entrance to the Glendalough medieval cemetery. I have no idea that the trip for this day was going to be an interesting one. I didn't read much about this area from the internet and couldn't remember the itinerary. But I guess it was interesting to not knowing things until you visit the place, explore it and acquire the information on site.

The view after leaving the parking area

There are many monuments at the lower valley of Glendalough. Among them are the St. Kevin's Cross, the Round Tower, St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral, St. Kevin's Kitchen and several others. These monuments are located within the cemetery area. The whole valley was founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century. The cross was built by St. Kevin as to assist the pagans, who worshiped the sun and the moon,  to familiarize themselves to Christianity.  

St. Kevin's Cross

At some points, I felt a bit out of control when I couldn't focus on what I should be doing. The surrounding views were superb and I got distracted every now and then. I love autumn a lot so the autumn colours were just amazing here.

Medieval monastic cemetery of Glendalough

St. Kevin's Kitchen is actually a small church, several steps away from St. Peter and St. Paul cathedral. People have mistakenly think that it is a kitchen due to the round tower that somehow looks like a chimney placed on a stove. In fact, no meals was ever cooked here.

St. Kevin's Kitchen, or Church

Heading away from the church, a short walk to the Upper Glendalough Lake was another mesmerizing moment. I was so excited to look at the beautiful autumn foliages. Pity that the sky was cloudy, otherwise I would have got better pictures.

One of the views along the track to Glendalough Upper Lake

The head of this lake was a lead mine which occurred 160 years ago. The valley itself is located 491 feet above sea level. I took the chance to sit there and view the scenery and of course got my camera busy with its shutter.

Stunning view around the lake

I guess I don't really have much things to say but pictures play thousands of words. It would be a great idea to pack my own food and enjoy the views, but that didn't happen though.

Due to limited time, I had to make way to the parking area. I passed a smal river, or maybe a stream. It was super clean and I did think of dipping my feet for awhile. Then again, time didn't permit me to do so. Since it is already my habit to get something as a token of memory for my visit to Glendalough, I dropped by at a small shop selling tourist stuff. It was just several meters away from the parking area. Got myself a fridge magnet and a postcard

From Glendalough, we passed the Wicklow Gap which was half an hour away uphill. The weather was not getting any better and became darker. The pouring rain made me a bit restless as I knew it would be impossible to take any photographs without any protection to my baby camera. She is not waterproof. But when the bus was approaching the spot for quick photo stop, it was drizzling and thank god for that. 

Wicklow Gap is famous for being the filming location of several movies such as The Braveheart and several others. The views along this area were incredible too, despite the gloomy and grey sky.

There were remnants of a structure which most probably was a church. There is an information board close to the site but I didn't bother to read as I was too busy photographing the surrounding landscape.

A few minutes later, we boarded the bus and headed to Kilkenny . On our way, we passed through a village known as Hollywood, which marks the end of the Wicklow Gap road. This place acquires its name much earlier than the famous American well-known city. Correct me if I am wrong though.

Well, if anyone is kind enough to sponsor my trip to Ireland again, I wouldn't hesitate to return to these places again.