First, they don't use Euros like the rest of Ireland. We had to get some Pounds Sterling today at an ATM. Now I have Euro change in the right pocket, GBP change in the left. The GBP coins aren't clearly marked, either.
Second, all speed limits are in miles per hour here. This wouldn't be an issue (I have a better idea of how fast 50 mph is than I do with 80 kph), except that the Hyundai rental doesn't know what a mile is. The speedometer, the odometer, etc., kilometers only. So... maybe tomorrow I'll make a cheat sheet of mph to kph conversions, so I don't have to convert in my head, which requires a few hundred yards sometimes.
Third, gas is even more expensive here than in the rest of Ireland. We'd been seeing regular gas (I don't think they have different grades) for around 1.10 to 1.20 euros/liter... which is $5.61 to $6.12 PER GALLON. Here, in the UK, it's more like 0.99 GBP per liter, which is closer to $7.50 per gallon, according to Google. Yay, crappy exchange rates! With any luck, the full tank that we just got in Donegal will last until we get out of the UK. (It's not like the Hyundai uses a lot of gas, anyway.)
There is a real risk of getting a speeding ticket by accident here; they're big on cameras, everywhere. There are cameras at intersections, "speed limit" cameras randomly in the middle of nowhere, cameras in town on buildings, cameras everywhere. And you thought the Patriot Act was bad...
The weather started out cloudy, but before we left Donegal Town this morning, we toured Donegal Castle. This castle was another of those built in the 15th, then destroyed by the English, then rebuilt again castles. This was was nicely restored, at least in the main tower, and the tour guide must have been a history major or something, because she was very good, and couldn't stop talking about the history of the place.
Following that tour, we left Donegal on a drive through some amazing mountains and countryside, stopping eventually in Derry City (or Londonderry, depending on which side of the border you ask). Derry is a rather large city, and we briefly considered a bus tour, but didn't want to wait that long.
We walked around the walled part of the inner city, and along the top of the wall for a bit (the wall being about 5 yards across, of course). This walk offered some great views of the surrounding city, as well as the old sections of the inner city. It had rained for a bit on the drive to Derry, but was generally nice while we were there.
After Derry was some more lovely countryside, as you can see in the pictures. The ones with lots of sky in them were taken by Sabrina, some of which are intended to be stitched into panoramas later.
When we arrived in Bushmills, along the coast, the first place we headed was the Giant's Causeway. The name comes from some strange folklore about the creation of the rock formations, but it's quite a sight. It was mostly cloudy, but didn't rain.
We did the abbreviated walk down along the shore, and took the shuttle back to the visitor's center, so we could see a few more things before end of business hours. Unfortunately, the Bushmills Distillery has weird hours for their guided tours, so we weren't able to taste any whiskey today. We did, however, go down the road to another castle.
Dunluce Castle was built out on a rock outcropping, into the ocean a bit. (One wall fell into the Atlantic, and a new one was built a few feet away from the edge.) It was eventually expanded to include a few buildings and a courtyard on the mainland, and connected with a drawbridge. Again, it was partially destroyed by English and Spanish canons over the years, and has remained largely unrestored.
Dunluce is one of the best castles we've seen so far, I'd say, especially since it had a cave underneath it. If not for the falling rock signs and the rising tide, I would have gone in. Also, it started raining again, and got windy, so we retreated to the car.
We went back to the Giant's Causeway, because it turns out our hotel is pretty much next to the visitor's center. The view out the window is spectacular, although I'm worried we're going to be awakened too early by the loud conversations of the nearby sheep.
The weather turned nice again (it changes faster than it does in New England), so we went for a walk along the upper path of Giant's Causeway, in both directions.
After a quick dinner in the hotel, during which we met some very nice, fellow tourists from Germany and from England. Tomorrow we head to Belfast, with a stop or two along the way.
Today might have set the record for most pictures taken in one day, I'm not sure. Feel free to set my math straight, if you like; you can start on the 5th picture of page 79 in the photo gallery.
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