Tuesday morning, 3 February 1998, I wandered around Dublin visiting the famous landmarks of the city. Statues of heroes Daniel O’Connell and Charles Stuart Parnell, the Garden of Remembrance, and the tribute to the working gal Molly Malone, among others. I’d purchased a roll of black & white film in Galway and used half of it on Inishmore and thought it would make some cool city photos as well. Unfortunately, that entire roll of film came out blank, which is why there are no photos in this post.
From Connolly Station I took the sleek Enterprise train north to Belfast. I had a moment of panic when the guard at the Belfast train station asked for the tickets of disembarking passenger, but he waved me through after I rummaged unfruitfully through my bags. I transfered to the Northern Ireland railway which was much less plush, in fact it reminded my of New York City subway trains from the 70’s.
At last, I arrived in Portrush, a seaside town obviously quiet during the offseason. I once again panicked that the only hostel in town would be closed for the season, especially since there were no more trains out of town that night. Luckily MacCool’s Portrush Youth Hostel was open and a nice woman named Leslie welcomed my. In the lounge a met a 20-year old Polish woman named Joanna who was sitting with her back against the radiator because she was cold. Joanna was traveling with John, a 40-something English expatriate now living in Santa Barbara.
I’d planned to hire a bike to travel to the Bushmill’s distillery and Giant’s Causeway the next day, but they informed me that the only bike shop in Portrush was closed. Instead they invited me to join them in site seeing in their rental car. How very nice!
Panorama of the Mountains 