Northern Ireland trip

Two weeks spent recently visiting my Aunt and a cousin in Northern Ireland. My aunt lives near Bangor on the south side of Belfast Lough. The house has a great view of the Lough and all the ships that come and go from Belfast. Northern Ireland has a mix of beautiful scenery (Mourne mountains, Giant's Causeway) and old historical landmarks (Carrickfergus Castle, Mount Stewart estate). Belfast is best known for the sectarian violence. It is also a beautiful city bordered by the sea and a set of steep hills and it has a once thriving shipyard where the Titanic was built. The climate is well suited for gardeners as it rains often and the temperature is mild year round. Many of the estates and castles have spectacular gardens. One thing I never got used to was the site of palm trees.

We visited many of the various tourist attractions. We spent a day at the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce castle and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge all of which are on some awesome coastline. Other day trips to Castle Ward, Mount Stewart and into Belfast itself for a bus tour around the city. One of the highlights was that the tall ships were in Belfast for the first weekend that I was there. Seeing them in the docks downtown was ok but seeing them sail out the lough from the shoreline was really something. Too bad that only one sailed down the shore where we were perched. The rest of them hugged the opposite shore (good thing the new camera has a healthy zoom!).



Speaking of shores, a lot of the shoreline is public land that you can walk along. We spent a few days going for walks along the coast taking photos and enjoying the views. In the end we did not make it down to the Mournes to bag any peaks but I figure that can be left to another time when I bring my golf clubs and hiking boots.



Pint of guiness anyone?
 
For more photos, see:
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8643144@N02/sets/72157622138709816/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8643144@N02/sets/72157622018244577/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8643144@N02/sets/72157622139017472/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8643144@N02/sets/72157622025151249/
 
 

Dead weather

For the most part this summer has sucked. Rain, rain and yet more rain. Trying to find a reasonable day to get in a hike has been impossible. With many of my remaining 46er peaks, wet weather is not an advantage: Allen (drown crossing rivers), Santannoni (drown crossing mud pit) or Redfield/Cliff (drown crossing beaver pond between Lake Arnold and the Feldspar trail. There is a small patch of land in my back yard where there used to be a tree that has really appreciated the constant rain but otherwise it aint a good thing.

Last weekend was the Highland games in Montreal. It did rain that day but there was a window of dryness in the afternoon for most of the festivities. It is great fun to watch the various sports like the sheef toss and of course the tossing the caber which had an added element of danger with the muddy slippery field (see videos). Listening to the various bands being judged is awesome if you like the bagpipes.

Then back in July it was Bluesfest, the best music value going. In fact if I lived in upstate New York I would consider a trip to Ottawa to take in the local sights and catch a few shows! This year's line up was not as good as prior years but as always I discovered some new bands like the Black Keys. The highlight by far of the festival was the Dead Weather who rocked a side stage on the last day.