We piled onto the bus at the crack of 8:30am and were on the road shortly after that. The further we got from Dublin the more the scenery changed; the chimneys of the endless rows of houses turning into trees, and the parking lots transforming into vast, green fields with sheep. By the time we reached our final destination of the day it was almost dark, but it didn’t hide what seemed to be the most quintessential Irish town any of us had ever seen: Ballintoy. There is a single street running through this valley town; a pub for each side of the drive, houses and fields scattered in between, a single, white church, and finally the hostel in which we stayed for the night. Even behind our hostel there were fields with sheep, many of the students jumping at the opportunity to get a closer look at them.
The next day we were able to see much more of the countryside. Down a ways from our hostel, there was a road that led to a small harbor. Here we saw the picturesque cliffs that form the border between the green land and the ocean, as well as small rock islands within the water. The air was whipping around as it usually is at the coast, but it certainly didn’t take away from the breath-taking scenery to behold. From the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, to the vast Giant’s Causeway and all the way to the Dunluce Castle, Northern Ireland is full of some of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.
Jordan Wheeler on the Carrick-a-Rede Ropebridge
Kaisa Jarrell, Brooke Stuart, Genna Kozlowski and Jordan Wheeler enjoying the Champlain Northern Ireland Tour.
Kaisa Jarrell, Graphic Design Major, Champlain College class of 2012
