Day 14 & 15 - Omagh to Newtownabbey via Giants Causewayta

Got up early yesterday morning and did the heritage tour of Omagh, great place. Found everything except the plaque commemorating Jimmy Kennedy's birthplace. A great singer/songwriter, good old Jimmy! Saw the smallest street in Ireland - Michael Street, no reflection upon our boy but! Didn't realise that Omagh had suffered their terrible trade by when a car bomb went off after the Good Friday Belfast agreement was signed on 10 April 1998. 31 people died and they have erected this beautiful memorial to them. A series of mirrors around a garden that when the light hits them properly, they reflect to this glass heart that has been built on the very spot the bombing occurred. It was really sad and quite emotional, the lives lost! A woman and her unborn twin daughters, a 20 month old child, all innocents. Very sobering! Left Omagh and headed off to the Ulster American Park. A bluegrass festival was on there so we wandered around and looked at the stories of the Irish immigrants who headed off to America. At the same time listening to some music. The proper music didn't start until later in the day. Couldn't help myself but, had to have a Prosecco at the Bogan Bar! I was obviously a fish out of water at this bar, it was difficult to fit in so I just downed my champers and kept going! No bogan in this family! Arrived in Derry about 230pm to a lovely B&B . Booked in and the fellow took us downtown. Walked the walls of the old township, what an amazing build! The story of Derry was also astounding - Sunday, Bloody Sunday in 1972, the inquest finally held in 2010, detailed in the Guidhall. What history!
Headed off a bit late this morning. First stop along the Causeway Coastal Route was a place called Downhill Demense, built by the flamboyant Earl Bishop Frederick Hervey. Absolutely stunning, perched on the cliff tops. Had a great chat with a Scottish fellow selling coffee there. It was so freecking cold! Off then to Dunluce Castle, again what can I say, these buildings just astound me, we love them, the history, the magnificence. From there to Bushmills whiskey distillery and then onto the Giants Causeway. Again an amazing place! Went on to Ballintoy Harbour, the first of our Game of Thrones stops. Mind you not that we watch the show but there are some amazing locations here where it was filmed so we have to be groupies and seek some of them out! Also saw a couple of other places but unfortunately the rope bridge was closed due to severe weather conditions, my heart was broken! I didn't get to walk this flimsy rope bridge strung between two cliffs and thousands of feet in the air whilst a Gale force wind was blowing, disappointment personified!
Onto Newtownabbey for the night and then a couple of days in Belfast tomorrow.