Ireland Adventures

Along with England and Scotland, I got to visit Ireland. This was my first time visiting this beautiful, rugged, and green country, and I wound up absolutely loving it. It's safe to say that every place I visit becomes a new place I love in some way, but there's something about Ireland that I just can't quite place. I think it's a solid mix between the history, the surprising - but delightful - modernity of the cities juxtaposed against the lush countryside, and getting to go there with awesome people.

Belfast

Our first stop after getting off the ferry across the Irish Sea from Alloway was Belfast. The city itself had a Boston-like feel to it, and it was easy enough to get to various places.

Here's what all we did there:

• We did more church work in the area. :)
• We hit up Pizza Express (my favorite pizza chain in the UK).
• We got to visit the Titanic museum, located right on the shipyard where the Titanic was built and launched.
• We visited various Belfast sights, including City Hall, the Parliament building, the Linen Hall Library (my personal favorite in the city), and St. George's Market (think the Pike Place Market in Seattle, but more indoors).

Giant's Causeway/Antrim Coast

Throughout our Belfast adventures, we took various excursions to the Giant's Causeway area and sights along the Antrim Coast, including the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.

This is where the amazing countryside is.

We also made stops by Carrickfergus Castle and Scrabo Tower (which was closed the day we went) as we traveled along the coast.

Dublin

Last, but certainly not least, my favorite city in Ireland, Dublin, was our final stop on our whole UK/Ireland trip.

Here's Dublin by day (including St. Paul's Cathedral + Trinity College's campus)...

...and here's Dublin by night... :)

And that wraps this trip up! I hope you guys liked this little series of UK travel adventures. :)