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Sunday was our sightseeing day. During our last trip lasting over a week we had planned to see so many things but did nothing, this time on our long weekend trip we had planned places to see. We started off riding through Portrush and on along the coast road. The views are spectacular, however the road is too twisty and the winds coming off the sea are so unpredictable taking your eyes off the road could end up in disaster. We took a quick stop in a lay-by along the coast road to take some pictures, then continued along to Dunluce Castle.
Dunluce Castle is a ruin of a once quite magnificent place. We joked and said that the Irish can never seem to finish anything to our guide, who took it quite well surprisingly. The place is dramatically sited, on a headland dropping sheer into the sea on the north Antrim Coast, all directions are perfect for photographs, as can be seen in the gallery. Brendan and I were having a great time appearing in a Japanese couple's pictures. The Japanese couple seemed to pose for each picture, the woman would adopt some type of pose with the castle in the background and the man would take the picture. Accidentally at first we would appear in the background of these pictures, but soon took it upon ourselves to play around and pose when they took the pictures, culminating in a huddle on the bridge waving at the photographer. I cannot know if this amused or frustrated them, but they seemed to be laughing and smiling at us when we passed them. Ah well, lets hope it gives them a talking point when they bore the life out of their families when returning home with a couple of million pictures of ach other.
Bored with posing for pictures, we moved on to the Bushmills Distillery. We headed straight for the tour, but had to wait an hour so chose to take some lunch here. Now they may make great whiskey here but they have no idea about food. Whatever it was on the sandwich I ordered was somewhat tasteless, with stale bread. It seemed as if the salad that accompanied this so-called sandwich had seen better days also. We also had to laugh at the quality of service, we can only say on a par with 'Fox's Diner' near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, who are the only other establishment that thinks it is acceptable to 'throw' tea and coffee over the counter when serving. Lunch over and done with and a trip to the souvenir shop later, we started our tour. No cameras or phones were allowed in the buildings, but to be honest we saw nothing that would or could be regarded as secret. The tour itself was quite interesting with all the sounds smells and temperature variations throughout the factory. The tour ended at the bar, a surprise I realise, but the 3 of us had a problem; Brendan does not drink, I was riding and Amanda doesn't like whiskey of any kind. The barman was horrified when he heard this, but persuaded Amanda to try a blended whiskey. Not the best choice to make if you dislike the taste of whiskey, but she gave the drink a good try whilst Brendan and I drank out soft drinks.
Moving along, our next place was the Giants Causeway. The place is steeped in stories of a giant who is said to have constructed the causeway as a bridge over the Irish sea to Scotland. Sadly the mystery of the formation of this causeway was explained in school when I studied geology, but still, the Irish can tell a great story when they want to. The weather was fantastic so we took a walk along the pathways taking pictures of the rock formations as we walked along the coastal path.
Getting late in the afternoon we decided to head back to Portstewart's prom and buy an ice cream before heading back to the B&B to pack up our belongings for the journey home the next day.
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