Downhill Strand, Northern Ireland

Today we drove North to B.’s Aunt’s cottage along the coast of Northern Ireland near Castlerock. It was about an hour north of Lurgan. We stopped in Atrium at a massive outlet-mall for some unsuccessful shoe shopping. The stores were pretty much the same major brands as in North America. Once arriving at the cottage we sat outside for awhile enjoying the view looking towards Mussenden Temple. After dinner we drove down another crazy one lane road downhill to a beach. Yes! Ireland has beaches and they are huge with soft sand. The beaches there are called ‘strands’ and we were on ‘Downhill Strand’. ⚠️ (link now 404 😕 - Jan/24) The sand appears to stretch on forever into the distance. The area has a long cliff running along the beach. It is very picturesque. The sunsets here aren’t very spectacular. We did notice how late into the night there was light however… Ireland is much farther North than I thought, there was light close to 11PM at night! We ended the evening watching some BBC at the cottage. There was an interesting political roundtable on, every time George Bush was referred to negatively the audience applauded. –smirk- The cottage is fairly modest but has three bedrooms, living area, kitchen and washroom; small and cozy.