Ulster Weekend

Today we returned from an eye-opening weekend in Northern Ireland. Here's how it went:

Friday we (barely) made it on the train because I got confused and thought that we departed at Heuston Station. We got to Heuston Station and looked around only to realize that we actually departed from Connolley Station and needed to be there five minutes ago. A very obliging cab driver raced us to the correct station and we did make it to the train on time, with only a few tears on my part.

Once we arrived in Belfast we were greeted at the train station by my friend Allyson. Allyson and I went to high school together, and we rarely see each other because we attend colleges that are thousands of miles apart. She is studying in Belfast this year, so we decided to take advantage of our proximity and visit each other while in Ireland. Ally helped us find our bed and breakfast, the Avenue House. It was lovely. Our proprietors were so kind and hospitable. They made us tasty breakfasts and engaged us in lively conversation. Peter and I would stay there again in a heartbeat, and we highly recommend it to anyone who seeks a place to stay in Belfast.

Nothing in Belfast is open past five except for eating and drinking and places of debauchery. Since places of debauchery were out of the question for the night, we went to The Bridge House which had cheap drinks and cheap entrees. Good food. We played cards for way too long and indulged in Bramley Apple Pie for dessert. Not as good as Grandma Rew's apple pie, not even close. Bramley apples are flavorful but this version of the pie doesn't have any cinnamon or spices in it, which is pretty much my favorite part of apple pie.

After sitting there for a few hours catching up and getting schooled by my fellow card players, I decided I wanted chips. I wanted chips badly. Ally and Pete refused to walk to find a decent chipper with me, so I had to get chips from The Bridge House and douse them with malt vinegar. I also found a packet of Heinz Mint Sauce while I was burrowing through the condiment bar. I decided that I would bring it home for Alanna. That's your Christmas present, Alanna. Just the mint sauce. Hehe.

We then went to see Stardust at the Movie House Cinema in Belfast City Centre. It was cheap, and even with the soaring exchange rate it was less expensive to see a movie there than at home at the Portage Theatres. Also, it was awesome. Probably because it was based on Neil Gaiman's novel, and everything that Neil Gaiman does is fantastic.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and thought that our stomachs would grumble of hunger all day because we had to leave the B&B before general serving time. But our lovely proprietress gave us tea and toast and fruit and yogurt, so we left with contended stomachs for our Northern Ireland Coastal Tour. First stop: the rope bridge.

The Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge was originally used by fisherman to cross to an island where they could observe the spawning patterns of salmon and figure out where they needed to take their boats. The rope bridge is rickety enough to make you gasp as you cross, but naturally Peter felt the urge to swing and jump and make everyone queasy as they watched him teeter over the sea.

Once on the island we enjoyed the spectacular views. This particular view of three sea caves made me think of Pirates of the Caribbean, Ireland Style:

And of course we had to take the mandatory cutesy picture that makes everyone gag because we are so adorable:
The Paddywagon bus (yes, it was a bright and tacky shade of green with a leprechaun logo) then took us to Giant's Causeway. This was the highlight of the weekend.

There is a great legend about the formation of Giant's Causeway that is too detailed to tell here, but you should Google it because it's really neat. The unusual hexagonal rock formations are actually volcanic rock the bubbled up through a lesion in the sea floor.
Again, copious photo snapping ensued.
That's me sitting on the giant's boot. Judging by the size of the 'boot,' giant experts say that Finn McCool, the giant who built the causeway, would have been 27 feet tall. And he was the tiny giant!

This is the coastline:

And this is Pete literally bounding up the rocks in excitement:
Then we went to Derry to see another area where conflict happened during The Troubles. We were too exhausted to take the walking tour, so instead we went to visit some of the many Halloween shops. Derry is the Halloween capitol of Europe. Pete tried on a great mask:

And mourned Luciano Pavarotti:

And then we saw Potted Potter at the Lyric Theatre and slept, a lot, after a long day.

Sunday got weird. We took the black cab tour. Saw some incredibly interesting Loyalist murals:
And some equally interesting Republican murals:
I'm really glad that I got to see the walls dividing the Protestant and Catholic communities so that I could better understand the atmosphere of post-Troubles Belfast. The tour would have been much better, though, if our guide was not a seriously crazy anarchist who hated Protestant Loyalists and was slick enough to be a used car salesman.

Sunday afternoon was spent getting some much needed rest. After supper, as we were walking back to Ally's dorm, we got egged. Some teenagers drove by, yelled "Brit Pigs!" at us and threw eggs. It was gross. Egg all over my jeans, in my shoes, and on poor Ally's brand new expensive wool coat. Not the nicest thing to have happen on my last night in Belfast. But...looking back, it does add to the perspective of the remnants of hostility that remain in Belfast.

No class the next two days! But that doesn't mean recreation, it means getting down to business and writing those mid-term papers that are due. Then I leave for London on Thursday morning.