Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2006-02-23 06:13:09 - Graham Ellis
Familiar names - Crossmaglan and Hillsborough, Divvis and Falls - all signposted off the road as I drove from Dublin to Belfast to Larne last night - a course ended at Dublin at 4pm with an airport running dropping off a customer for his flight to Copenhagen, then on through Ireland and Northern Ireland to catch the 20:00 boat to Scotland. So many countries, so little time, and not a chance to stop and explore.
Even in the dark, though, you can see there are things worth exploring; a flatlands in Ireland gives rise to an abrupt line of hills as you drive into Ulster, then down into a great bowl that houses Belfast. Onward, out of the bowl and along higher ground to another drop into Larne, and "The European Highlander" caught with a few minutes to spare. How on earth have I waited for fifty years to even pass through this place so close to home?