Our insanely perfect last night in Northern Ireland

  Well, after I said yesterday was going to be an uneventful day, we had the most ridiculously, supremely perfect last night in Northern Ireland imaginable.  

    First we went to Bushmills Inn, our favorite local pub (indication of nester personality- a favorite pub in under 2 weeks) for one last pint of Guinness and one last cocoa for the girls.  We snuggled into one of the little rooms, the girls pulled out their travel books to work on, and Michael and I downed the black stuff.

    We had forgotten that it was Saturday, so it was an excellent surprise when we suddenly heard live, traditional music from the other room.  We'd only heard live music once so far, so it seemed the perfect cap on our two weeks up here. 

We listened for a while, but couldn't stay forever.  We had a parade to get to.  Yep, that's right- a parade.  Turns out that every year on the 16th, all of the local bands (around 45) put on a parade, beginning at around 8:30.  (Another house swapping plus- friendly neighbors give you the local scoop when they pass you on the walk).  We missed the beginning of it, listening as we were, to the live music in the pub.  But we caught the last half hour or so.  And as band after band marched by, what should suddenly appear arching over the bands?  A rainbow, which just got bigger and bigger,and brighter and brighter, until it was essentially a double rainbow.  Which really seemed like the perfect cap on our two weeks here in the North. 

    Unfortunately, it was the one time I didn't have my camera.  But noticing two guys taking photos with what looked like a smart phone behind me, I tucked away my introversion, put on my pretend extrovert pants, marched over, and asked if they would email me a copy.  They were extremely friendly and complied. The above picture is the result.  

    I also want to really briefly mention the people in the marching bands themselves- mostly men, with a few women scattered through.  They were covered in tattoos, some of the women had blue or green hair, they were young, old, and everything in between.  And everyone came out to watch this parade, not just older folks and parents with their kids.  The guy who shot the photo for me had come from England to see the bands (though he had grown up here).  And it occurred to me- there was at least a pretty good chance that in Ireland, being in a marching band is kind of...badass.

        As we were walking back to the house, Michael mentioned it had probably been a pretty sunset.  Then it struck me- I'd  wanted to see Dunluce Castle at sunset since we arrived because it was supposed to be amazing.  The girls were always in bed, though, since the sun sets around 10:30 here.  But we were still up!!  So we literally ran back to the house, hopped in the car, and flew down the road to Dunluce.  We made it just after sunset, and it was absolutely beautiful. 

    I knew that now, we had had the perfect cap to our two weeks.

    But then we pulled out of the parking lot, facing the field behind us for the first time,.  And there we saw, hanging large and luminous just above the horizon, the moon, in a wide open sky.  And it was completely full.

And that was the perfect cap on two unforgettable weeks in Northern Ireland.

Tomorrow I'll write about Carrickfergus castle, David's parents, and our arrival in Dublin.