God made whiskey so the Irish wouldn't rule the world.

Trip Date 3/25/10



After the driving yesterday, it was nice to plan to stay in the area. After waking up to a morning rain, it was decided to bypass the morning bar, and head straight to the source, the famous Bushmills Whiskey Distillery. On a cold North Sea day, what better to warm up than a tour of the warm factory among the cooking ingredients and warm post-tour liquids? We were taking through various parts of the facility by someone who seemed to have been doing this a long time and seemed to quite intimately know his whiskeys. After the tour we were able to try various whiskeys, including a 12, 16, and 18 year old samples. Never having ever consumed the stuff, I really wasn't sure what to expect. The straight shot was of course strong, but mixed with a little Coke or even water, it was much more smooth and easier to take on. I was once given a bottle of 18 year old Whiskey by my friend Alina and at the time didn't recognize the distinction, but after trying them, I can now definitely differentiate between the years and see why the later products are so much more expensive.

After leaving the distillery we headed to Ballintoy Harbour to see and smell the sea before scurrying of to Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. This is a famous tourist site in Northern Ireland and definitely a pretty spot. Because it was a but rainy, there were very few people there, which allowed us to play around and on the bridge as long as we liked without interruption. Normally there are so many people there that it is impossible to get clean pictures, much less pause and enjoy the view. By the time we walked the path, the rain and all but stopped. It was actually kind of fun to bound across and check out the island on the other side and we hung around for quite a while taking pictures for other folks and just playing around in general before heading back. Though it was a bit foggy, on a clear day one may easily be able to see Scotland.

After swinging low, the next stop was nearby Kinbane Castle. It wasn't in my guide book, but I had already put into the GPS the coordinates after having seen the location on Google Earth. It was my first ever real castle experience. Though there was not a lot to it, the experience was pretty exciting due in part to the still remote nature of it and the fact that so few people probably get down to this point.