You cannot look upon it without a quickening of the pulse

Saturday we headed up to explore The Belfast Castle and Cave Hill above it. I have been looking forward to this since we arrived in Belfast! My heart longs for the mountains, and to have them right on the horizon in every direction I look is somewhat of a tease each day. On my walk to work each morning, I enjoy the view of Cave Hill, also called Napolean's nose. There is a sense of familiarity in the view of a man's face lying along the hills. There are mornings where I forget I am in Belfast and that the treeline is not actually Grandfather Mountain. One day, I will have to compare pictures of the two men. I think Napolean has a bigger nose! If you can't see the face, the chin is near the light post, and the nose is just above the tree top.

The Belfast Castle was also high up on my list of things to see. Unlike the one castle I have been to, The Edinburgh Castle, the Belfast Castle is still livable, although no one lives there. Events are frequently held in the great hall and in the gardens. There was an amazing wedding reception taking place while we were there! The Bride arrived right about the time we did, which made it slightly awkward. What an amazing place to celebrate your marriage! Dad, start saving! haha. This is the view on the walk up. The castle is just off of the Antrim road, a quick bus ride and walk up from our house, just past Fortwilliam and Macrory Presbyterian. It sits at the base of Cave Hill, a perfect backdrop for the castle! More pictures can be found on the webshots page, which is linked from this blog.
We made it around to the front of the castle to take in the view just before the bride. The castle overlooks the River Lagan, and its source, though we don't know yet what the bigger body of water is. These were the wonderful back steps. I can just imagine some royalty stepping out in her victorian gown for a wee bit of fresh air. There were the perfect place for a picture, but the bride beat me to them. I figured she had more right to them that I did : )

Our Trek continued through the Estate and up to the Cave Hill trail. As we started the climb, I felt like I was back in Boone. I flew up the trail, leaving the girls behind, feeding the need to be high, to see an amazing a view, to be home. I reached the first clearing, to find an amazing view of North Belfast. Not only were there hills and peaks raising behind me, but there were city and water ahead of me. Now, don't get me wrong, I have seen some wonderful views in my life, but this was like nothing I have seen before. I don't think the pictures really capture it, but any visit you make to Belfast is incomplete without a trip to Cave Hill, regardless of your age or hiking ability.

After taking many a picture (again, see the webshots), we continued on a climb, complete with me running ahead to climb a random peak. At the peak the wind was strong. My worries, my lonliness, and my doubts were all blown away. I turned around and was excited to see much more to explore! From the top of the peak, I could see the whole rock face that awaited us, complete with a huge cave! The farther we went, the better and better this place got!

Our next stop was the cave of Cave Hill, atleast as far as our understanding goes. We climbed up in it and I made Alison a little nervous. I had to remind her that after all, I was a Mountaineer. Climbing shoes would have been awesome though!Overall, it was a wonderful afternoon. I am already planning a trip back to explore further and get to the top. I have a feeling that I have found a new favorite place in Belfast.