Day 10- June 20th

June 20th - Peace Cairn and Rope Bridge
Peace Cairn - History

That morning we woke up and left the Inn. Joseph was super psyched because we were by the sea side, and he wanted to go swimming. Hannah thought it was going to be too cold, so we compromised and decided to go to the beach nearby in the afternoon. Hanna had stayed up late researching our next piece of history, so she lagged behind as we walked to the cairn on the cliffs. The Peace Cairn is a memorial for everyone who is injured or killed by the Troubles. The troubles, as Hanna so helpfully told us, is an ongoing state of civil unrest between Protestants and Catholics in North and South Ireland. There are walls set up with barbed and razor wire in cities where the violence was or had been particularly bad. This monument was a pile of rocks, flowers, mementos, and cards that had been left by visitors as a way to remember the deaths. We had each brought a stone from the edge of the cliffs and contributed it to the pile.

Carrick-de-Rede Rope Bridge - Nature

After lunch down in the small resort town nearby, we did our promised beach visit, and Joseph tried to go swimming. Even though it was June, he was soon shivering out of the water. Then we all drove to our afternoon site. We arrived at the island. There is a terrifying bridge first built by salmon fishermen 300 years ago. As we explored the island, we read the signs. Leah was very excited when we learned that Game of Thrones was filmed in part there. She then proceeded to tell us all about her favorite character and how everyone dies. The scenery was beautiful: rocky islands with moss hats and the sea waving below. Finally, we decided to brave the main attraction: The Carrick-de-Rede Rope Bridge. It is a bridge made of a bit of wood and rope that stretches across a 100-foot drop between the main island and Carrick-de-Rede. There is a single building on Carrick-de-Rede, a fisherman’s cottage. We watched the salmon fishery that is still in use

today, and Emily looked for sharks in the water, which are a common sight. So are dolphins and porpoises. After a bit of deliberation because Joseph was tired and didn't want to go, we all went to Rathlin Island, a major puffin breeding spot to look for puffins. There were a few that we saw in their rocky nests, but I'm sure there were more that our untrained eyes missed completely. The puffins were adorable and seemed slightly ungainly, hobbling around on land. Hanna, for some reason, knew a bit about puffins. They apparently spend a lot of time floating in the ocean in large groups called rafts, and come back to land for breeding in February/March. Emily loved them, she thought they were possibly the cutest things ever (behind her cats, obviously). She bought a stuffed puffin at the visitor center gift shop before we left. Off we went to our next destination, the UK.