Day 21 21.04.2018 Saturday
One week ago Intern europe invited us to join their tour to the Giant’s Causeway with “Allen’s Tours – (Giant’s Causeway Tour | Belfast Bus Tours | Private Bus Hire Belfast)” for 14 pound. We met at 9:30 a.m. in front of the intern europe office and walked to the bus which was at the Allen office in Belfast. Inside of the bus it was very hot because the air conditioning system didn’t work. So instead of a climatized bus we had a sauna.
We visited many sites of Northern Ireland. We reached our main destination “Giant’s Causeway” after 3,5h of the bus tour. Beforehand we visited the “Carrickfergus Castle”. But it was only a small stop for 20 minutes. After that we went over the Magheramorne Quarry which is a known location of “Game of Thrones” because they filmed their scenes for Castle Black, Hardhome & the Wall there.
The busdriver always spoke to us on the way. He talked a lot about the history of the areas, always mentioning “Game of Thrones” locations and making jokes.
As I know we also drove over the fantastic Antrim coast road with the Irish sea and the Glens of Antrim. I think I could see the Ballintoy Harbour which is also a “Game of Thrones” location. We passed a] town named London-/Derry to get to the Giant’s Causeway. The driver was very touched by the “Glens Hedge School Cave” because this cave provided shelter to local elementary school students in the 18th century. During that time education was carried out in ‘hedge’ schools. They’ve been called this way because classes were held outside.
Before we stopped at the Giant’s Causeway we grabbed a small lunch at the The Giant’s Barn which is only 2 minutes (by bus) away. I really enjoyed the tour to the Giant’s Causeway with the bus because you could see a lot of Northern Ireland and it’s landscapes. Compared to Germany The cliffs and hills were astonishing and it is amazing that you have the ocean and beaches just right next to huge mountains.
It was very beautiful to look at, even though I could see most of the locations only from the bus and only for a short period of time. Finally we arrived at the Giant’s Causeway. It’s stone columns are shaped like hexagons and there formed by nature due to volcanic eruptions.
The weather was sunny but windy. The stones are great and the water was very fresh. The
area itself was very relaxing. Unfortunately we had only 1½ hour for the last stop.
Because of the short amount of time left, we didn’t make on top of the cliffs. Therefore we spend more time at the stones. The walk to the stones took us around 20 minutes. After that we visited the “Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge”. Crossing the bridge costs 8 pound. I did not want to spend the money, so instead I just enjoyed the view from the side and the atmosphere at the bridge as well as the sunshine. When we arrived at the bridge there was a large queue to cross the bridge. I think Giang had to wait about 15 or 20 minutes for her turn. Me and Domenik enjoyed our walk in the green area.
Last but not least we visited the “Dark Hedges”. Some of you guys might know that this area is also a “Game of Thrones” location. I don’t know why, but for me they looked just like a regular road. I think it might be cooler if I was there at winter. After that we drove back home. On the way back home we took a faster road which took us only 1 hour. Back in Belfast me, Giang, Domenik, Phi and Jenny had dinner. It was a very beautiful and tuff day.
