One of my absolute favorite things that I did while I was in Ireland was hiking the Cave Hill. Since the first day I met Roibeard he has been telling me all sorts of stories about the Cave Hill. It was so wonderful to finally be there in person. I have to say I wasn't expecting it to be quite as steep as it was! We made it nearly to the top, but the to get to the tip of the "nose" you literally have to climb and drag yourself up in the mud and we were with Roibeard's 8 year old niece, so it just wasn't going to happen.
Cave Hill is historically known in Irish as Beann Mhadagain. It is a basaltic hill that forms part of the southeastern border of the Antrim Plateau. The nose that I mentioned above is known as "Napoleon's Nose" as the hill top itself looks like the profile of a man's face (or Napoleon's face). It is rumored to have been the inspiration for Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
The views of the city below were incredible. It is said that on a clear day you can see the Isle of Man and Scotland, but I personally didn't find that to be true. Maybe if you have really good eyes. Which I do not.
This was definitely one of my fondest memories of our trip! It was worth it just to see Roibeard so happy that day.
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