An Adventure in Three Parts

Part One: Dunluce Castle



Dunluce two decades ago



Dunluce today

James has been telling me about Dunluce Castle for oh, about a decade. As a wee lad the castle made a huge impression on him, so it was something that we had to visit so that he and his brother could show their wives around the place. James at least had some concerns that it wouldn't be as good as he remembered... Perhaps the most interesting thing about Dunluce is that part of it fell into the sea about four centuries ago: the kitchen, and the dinner, and the servants preparing it.

Part Two: Bushmills Distillery



Next, we went to Bushmills - the oldest, continuous, licensed distillery in the world: it was granted its licence by James I in 1608. We went on the guided tour, which was quite interesting; we saw the mash being stirred, and then the stuff being fermented, then being distilled, and then eventually being bottled. James is disillusioned with whiskey: he had thought that, like beer, the taste might come from how it's made. Instead, turns out the taste basically comes from the barrels it's aged in - in the case of Bushmills, sherry, port or bourbon. James now wonders whether he can just make it at home; if you know where to get used barrels, please let him know. Yes, we did also get a 'free' tasting with the cost of the tour; the girls had a taste of the 1608 heritage whiskey, while the boys all had the 12 year old reserve, which you can only purchase at the distillery.

Part Three: the Giants Causeway



Basalt columns as a cliff



Basalt columns up close

Again, something that made a huge impact on young Pierce boys. Tesselations! So exciting! We walked down a long cliffside trail to the Causeway itself, and had a pleasant time sitting on the tiles themselves.

Note: it has been pointed out to me that I missed a fairly significant feature of yesterday: peat. Shedloads of peat. Cut into brickettes, drying out, stacked into piles. Peat!