After breakfast (just porridge, toast and coffee, which turned out to be rocket fuel), we headed for the Giant’s Causeway a few miles away to the west. It was run by the National Trust, and like Clovelly in North Cornwall in 2003, and Hadrian’s Wall in 2004, they charge quite a lot to park and see the visitors centre, and try to keep it secret that the attraction is actually free to all. The only thing they can enforce is the parking. Our B&B owner said that if we just have a coffee in the old hotel there we can get a voucher stamped and use the car park as hotel customers.
As we approached the nearby village, there were double yellow lines on both sides of the road for about 2 miles out. No parking. I was going to miss seeing the Causeway rather than pay. The National Trust, a private organisation, didn’t build the Giant’s Causeway, why should they get to charge people to see it? Anyway, it all worked out. We parked at the hotel and walked through a short vehicular tunnel to bypass the visitors centre and walk down.
Internet here at the Belfast House B&B is too slow to load many photos, so just a couple for now.
An observation about Northern Ireland is that the towns, and houses in the country generally look neat and prosperous, just as they do in the South. Belfast does look as if it has fallen on hard times, with the loss of so many industries, jobs and population.
After lunch we decided to go to Londonderry. It turned out to be quite a large city spread over hills on either side of the River Foyle, with a couple of bridges across. The usual problems finding a parking spot. We saw a railway museum and on impulse, pulled into its car park.