Belfast > Dublin

Yes. We said it. Belfast is superior to Dublin (Maybe because we had a heck of a tour guide in Northern Ireland, Mr. Kieron Circuit). 

Started in Dublin on Friday with breakfast from Centra (like a high class 7-11) with fruit and cheese. Then we became tourists yet again! Toured around the whole city in a matter of hours. Highlight of the tour was the Guinness factory tour, where we both became Master Pourers of the black stuff (certificates in hand)! Jess tried her first Guinness and drank half a pint before surrendering to the "ashtray flavour" of the beer. Graham was pleased to get more beer. Here's the proof:

Then toured the Temple Bar district at night - grabbed a pint at each bar to compare their pours against ours. We clearly win! Dinner was a bag of crisps and a plate of chips. Yum!

Woke up Saturday morning, enjoyed a hard boiled egg at the hostel and were on our way to Belfast. Saturday we met up with Kieron (The Irish, for any Calgary ppl that know him), went for a Harp at te oldest pub in Belfast (White's from the 1600's), toured his old stomping grounds, and enjoyed some more pints. It seems that the Irish know how to make delicious beer. Sat on a patio at The Bar With No Name to wind down the night. Great people watching!

Highest viewing point in Belfast here:

Sunday: woke up to realize that the Irish must be terribly hungover on Sundays because the whole city is shut down! Still ended up finding a great Fry for breakfast and headed to east Belfast to tour Queen's University of Belfast... Far superior to the Ontario version. 

Kieron toured us up the coast to the Giant's Causeway which was an incredible drive. Got to meet his mom and grannie in their hometown of Ballygally - incredible views from their house! Had about 900 mussels each for lunch in Ballycastle (+ Smithwicks) and continued our tour up some wild roads. Luckily Kieron's turbocharged Fiesta made it look easy :)

Here are some pics of us at Giant's causeway, and we agree that the journey was just as amazing as the destination itself! Said farewell to Kieron in Belfast and hope to see him again in Canada soon! (If you're reading this Kieron, thanks for your excellent hospitality... And clear grammar that we can understand).