Summer in Ireland

I know what you think...you think this will be a rant about the oh so cold summers in Ireland with days and days of rain and if you get lucky maybe a half day where you are able to wear your sandals. Well think again! Summer has arrived in all it's glory and it looks like surprisingly enough it's here to stay.

When you walk down Grafton street these days you will see smiling people in beautiful (and less beautiful) airy summer outfits. People will stop for a coffee (or a pint) after work on some terrace or they will just sit in a park and enjoy endless picnics.

Last weekend saw the gay pride parade in glorious sunshine; great costumes, interesting characters and lots of happy faces (and funnily enough dogs).

The previous weekend I went to the street performance championship in Dublin. The weather was almost great and the acts from all around the world were rather good. You can find a lot of funny pictures on this photo blog.

Sunny Northern Ireland

For the bank holiday I explored Northern Ireland and I have to say it was rather beautiful and full of sheep (loads of different kinds of sheep;)






We started off to Newry and then headed towards the coast. Lunch in a beautiful village called Newcastle and after that we visited Dundrum castle (rather interesting ruins with a stunning view to the sea). It was very misty by the sea on the day, which gave the castle and it's surroundings an almost supernatural look.


After that a quick evening in Belfast, which showed that even Belfast actually does not look too bad on a super sunny evening full of happy people and a night in Larne (which looks bad even when it's sunny).





The next day was spent exploring the shore: walking to Torr's head, Fair head (stunning views to the sea and beautiful cliffs), crossing of the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (surprisingly short and less scary than its reputation) and then a visit to the Giant's Causeway (very nice, but also somewhat surprisingly small). I liked Portstewart, a small town by the shore, but it only had two pubs that were both hijacked by hen partying people.

On the final day we explored Donegal and Glenveagh National park. Donegal looks completely different to any other place I have seen in Ireland. I loved the sandy beaches and the seaside, but I found the national park a bit dry looking after all that green (and yes that might be because I almost died of a sun stroke).



This weekend it rains like crazy. I am not complaining...at least I finally have time to write up something about last weekend;).