The Journey Day 5 Belfast, Northern Ireland

September 7th, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Assembly Building. 

Inside City Hall 

In the morning, we took the bus to the city center. Our host told us that you can take any bus and it will eventually take you to the city center, but it is best to get a bus that says city center on it, which is what we did. We stopped at Cafè Nerd Nero for coffee and pastries. Then, crossed over to city hall for a free tour. The tour was about 45 minutes and the rooms were very beautiful. I was very interested to learn about the government. The city council meets just once a month at 6 pm, because they have jobs! Also, they have a different way of designating a town, a city or a village.

Grand Opera House

After the tour of the City Hall, we crossed the street again and went into the Info Center. Kelsi bought a lot of Flax Fox tea towels there, and I think she would have bought more, but she didn't know if she would have enough room in her bag! Let me tell you that if she could do it again she would have bought more towels and prints in Belfast. She thought there would be more in the other cities, but there was not! I believe she might even return to just get more towels. I looked at the postcards to see key places to visit. 

The Crown

When we were done, we went towards Grand Opera House. It was cute, to look at, but we weren't seeing a show, so we didn't go inside. Across from the Opera House was an old highly decorative bar called The Crown Liquor Saloon. The bar has been around since 1885 and was bought by the National Trust. I think I looked a bit wide-eyed when I went in because a patron asked if it was a lot different than what I was used too. We took pictures, but it was a bit too early for drinks. 

Then, we walked on towards Queens College and the Botanic Gardens. We ran into the college first, but we didn't realize it because the area we were in was not on the postcards or travel sites. So we kept walking until we ran into the gardens. The gardens is very different then the Botanic Gardens in Arizona. It was greener! There were a Bowling Green and Rose Gardens. It was a very nice walk. After exploring the Garden was went into the Ulster Museum which part of the gardens. We went through the gift shop first, and I think Kelsi bought more towels! 

Queens College

Then, we viewed the museum starting with The Troubles and moving through history from history to nature and science and finally to art. The museum was huge! By the time we got to art we were getting tired! So we explored only one floor in that section, but we saw much more trying to find an exit!

From there, we went back towards City Hall to catch a bus to the Titanic Quarters. We then partook in the museum there. It held a lot of history about the city, and it's fame of ship building. It also gave information on the titanic everything from the actual events to the media - TV, movies, and music - fame of the ship. There was much and more to see. Our tickets included a tour of the SS Nordic which is a relative of the Titanic. She was also used in WWII. I didn't know it at the time, but I guess the Titanic Quarters is where they film some of Game of Thrones, and there was filming going on while we were in Belfast. So, I'm not sure why we didn't try to witness some of the filming, or see more of that. Oh well, tomorrow we have a Game of Thrones themed tour of the Causeway.

Cave Hill, with Castle

After the Titanic Quarters we caught cab to Belfast castle on Cave Hill. Which is actually very close to where our room is. We had dinner in the castles' cellar tavern. I had a beef and potatoes dish with veggies. Kelsi had a burger with chips. We both had beers. I had cheesecake for dessert and Kelsi had rocky road bar. I'm not sure what the bars were, but there were a few flavors of them, and the bartender told us that they were common. After dinner we explored the Castle a bit, the grounds were pretty and so was the hill, but we couldn't climb to the top of Cave Hill, because it was getting dark. The Castle has a good view of the city all the same so that was nice. Sometimes weddings are held at the Castle there so the rooms were set up for the groom, bride and etc. What a fun place to have a wedding! 

Belfast Castle

When we finished at the Castle we walked down the hill to the back down to the church, William and Mary, that we had seen the day before on our way for pizza. It was pretty on the outside. We tried to go in the church, but they wouldn't let us, they were having a weight watchers meeting. Pooh.

When we got to our street we stopped for ice cream at Yoggieberrie, the shop that was closed after our pizza the day before. I know we had dessert at the Castle already, but it was a long walk! We were unable to get ice cream the day before. It was a bit too early to get back to our rooms. So we lingered over the ice cream. The ice cream was good, though it may have been yogurt. I'm unsure if a place called Yoggieberrie has ice cream!

After the ice cream we called it a night. Tomorrow, we have to get up early for the tour of the Causeway. 

The Journey Day 4 Dublin to Belfast

September 6th, 2016 Dublin Ireland

Cell Door

We got up at 8. We had breakfast at Third Space again. We liked it so much the first time! This time, I had porridge with a latte, and Kelsi had pancakes with bacon with a cappuccino. I liked the porridge it was creamy and had fruit, but I like the Full breakfast more. I just thought, that perhaps I should eat such a hardy breakfast three times in four days! Kelsi said she liked the pancakes, but since I think in the end she preferred the granola, because she wouldn't stop talking about it for the rest of the trip!

Kilmainham Gaols

After breakfast, we went straight to the Kilmainham Gaols. Which was an old prison and courthouse. I have visited jails before, notably Alcatraz. However, the tours are different. At Alcatraz the tour is self guided with headsets, this one had a tour guide, she was excellent. She was very knowledgeable and she seemed to like giving the tour. Another difference is the types of prisoners that were at the jails. Kilmainham had prisons that were as young as seven and women many of the crimes included begging and petty theft. Alcatraz was first a military prison and then a federal penitentiary. The Kilmainham Gaols and Alcatraz both had some notable prisoners. Alcatraz housed some infamous criminals, while Kilmainham Gaol housed and excuted Irish revolutionaries! The biggest difference that I noted was that not one time during the Kilmainham Gaol tour was it suggested that the Gaols was haunted.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Shark Bag!

When the tour concluded, we walked across the river to grab a bus to St. Patrick's Cathedral. This time we managed to get off at the correct stop! It is huge! It was also very beautiful. However, there are a lot of full sized informational panels that got in the way! The panels did provide a lot of information, but I thought it took away from the original beauty of the Cathedral. However, one very exciting feature is Jonathon Swift is buried there. I was thrilled to see that. I tried to explain A Modest Proposal to Kelsi, but I think I did a bad job of it. 

Next we went to Dublin's Castle. We got turned around a bit and needed to go back across the plaza to get tickets. We decided to have lunch at the Castle's first. I ate the Irish hot meal of the week which was a beef pot pie with salad and bread. The pie was really very good. I have had savory pies before, but they were all microwavable, this pie and the others on my trip were much better. Kelsi had French toast and bacon, sounds like breakfast. Better than the food was the beautiful view of the gardens! It was a partly sunny day and sitting outside on the balcony was quite nice. 

Dublin's Castle

When we finished eating, we walked across the plaza to purchased tickets to see the apartments. They were very interesting, but a lot like the Cathedral it was more like a museum. The information is useful because then I know what I am looking at, but sometimes it would be nice to just see the room as it is. Also, Dublin Castle was renovated over the years, so it was difficult to know what the castle was like when it was in use as a castle. Of course, I want to take out the carpet in my house, and add hard floor. So I guess understand the want and need to update the castle. There is a walking tour of Dublin Castle, and I think that would have been good, but we still needed to go to Trinity College and see the Book of Kells.

The Book of Kells is a very old copy of the gospels. It was originally housed at Abby of Kells, but moved to the Dublin and Trinity College for safe keeping. There is a lot of information about the Book before you get to see it. They also have copies of the art and scripture prior to the book. Which is pretty important, since you cannot turn touch the book, there is no way to see all of the art. The Book was written in Latin, and I liked looking at the latin script and picking out words that I know!  

We didn't know that part of the tour included a long room full of old books, bought by the college. I didn't try to count them, the number of books is impressive, I was told 200,000. The shelves went up to the ceiling and they were covered in books! Unfortunately, I couldn't touch any of the books, let alone read them. The room also contains marble busts of many writers and philosophers.  

We also visited the science hall and went to the optics exhibit which was quite an eye opener! Kelsi even had her eyes checked. I guess she may need some glass. Although, the science exhibit changes, but people should visit if they can. It was free and fun.

That was our last stop in Dublin. After that we returned to our room to pick up our stuff. We took an Uber to the Train station. We caught the 4.50 train to Belfast. One last thing to say about our experience in Dublin. Our Airbnb Host Vini was really great. He has a few places in Dublin, and is very professional.

September 6th, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland

We arrived in Belfast in the evening, our airbnb host had contacted earlier that day to say that we could only check us in from after 7pm to 830pm. It was fine with us to have a late check in because we needed the time to finish up Dublin, but it was quite frustrating that we had such a narrow window. She said that her mother was sick and she was going to take care of her, that's why she only had that short time to meet us. This was quite a different experience then our host in Dublin, but we did as instructed. We took a cab from the train station to the house. When we got into the cab, the driver said the house was far from the train station, but it was only 10-15 minutes! I guess living and driving in Phoenix changes the definition of far. 

When we arrived at the room we had to walk up a flight of steep stairs with our luggage. I kept thinking I would fall or drop my luggage, but luckily I did neither of those things. We met our host Yvonne. She laughed at me because I was wearing summer clothes! Well, in her defense it was evening, and cool out, jeans probably would have been better than shorts, but in my defense Dublin was warm that day! She talked with us for a while. She has a lot of rules for her room, not all of them are listed on her host page, however she was very nice and friendly. She provided us with tea and biscuits! (How British, is that?) She also recommended places we should do, see and eat around town. She is familiar with a lot of the fun nightlife things to do in Belfast. She recommended for that night that we walk to the end of the road, pick up a bottle of wine at the store and take it into the Pizza shop. The pizza shop doesn't have wine, but they will allow you to drink it in their shop. So, that's what we did, after I changed out of my summer clothes!

When we went up to the shop, we had a trouble at the store, the door opens out, but we kept pushing! It took us a while to figure out which wine we wanted, and in the end we took the recommendation of the clerk! We may or may not have tried to push our way into the pizza shop as well. The pizza place was called Pizza Works. The waitress was so nice. On the menu there was rocket listed as an ingredient. We didn't know what that was, so we asked the waitress. She tried to explain it to us, but we must have looked even more confused, because she brought out some to show us. It is argula. We ordered bruschetta with rocket, cheese garlic knots, and pizza. Mine was spicy Hawaiian, Kelsi's was new Brooklyn. All the food was very good. I love jalapenos so I like most dishes that contain them. We ate and drank everything! 

After dinner and drinks we went over to the gas station to get pins and band-aids because Kelsi had some very outrageous blisters. I felt bad. We had done a ton of walking over the last few days, and there would be more to come. She said she felt much better after she got rid of them! So hopefully she can enjoy our stay Belfast.

The Journey Day 3

September 5th, 2016 Dublin Ireland

Christ Church and surrounding area

We were up and out in time to get breakfast at Third Space, one of the restaurants recommend to us by our host. It was the place that was closed the night before. I ate a mini Irish breakfast. It was similar to the one I had on the first day, but I thought the pudding was better at Third Space. This may have more to do with the fact that I had never ate Irish pudding before, now that I was familiar with it, I knew what to expect. However, I thought the pudding was spiced better. Also, the baked beans weren't quite as sweat, which I liked. Kelsi had granola and a muffin. She must have liked the granola because she talked about it a lot afterwards!

Christ Church

 After breakfast we went towards Trinity College, but we stopped at Christ Church instead. It was very beautiful architecture. The style seemed romantic to me, but it was too early for that to be the case. It was renovated with a romantic style. Inside, we also visited the crypts. It was kind of weird that the crypts were kind of like a museum. There is even a gift shop down there!

From church we went to college, but apparently we failed at our attempt. The line for the Kells book was so long!  Because of the length we decided to look at exhibits in the science and zoology buildings. The Zoology exhibit is only open in the summer, the science exhibit is not open Mondays! So we left. One thing of note, we talked to a college student at the information center near the Kells book. He was eating a Nature Valley bar and I told him they taste good heated a bit in the microwave. He told us about the exhibits in the other buildings, but he didn't say they weren't open! After my great tip and everything!

Park, and Clock Tower

We caught the bus from Trinity College to the street we were staying. That way we could navigate to Guiness Storehouse. We could spot Guiness above the buildings, so it wasn't hard to find. We ended up on the near side of the building which wasn't the entrance. So we had to walk around. From there we took tour, we learned the history of the beer, and history of the advertisements, we also learned how to pour the beer, we learned how to taste the beer and received complementary pint. After the tour we went up to the top of the building. You can see the most of the city from there. After we finished our pint we went to get lunch. It took forever because there were a few locations to eat. The first place we tried had a wait, so we went down to get hamburgers, but they only take cash! So we went back up to the first place. We both had burgers, but I didn't get the chutney on mine. The burgers were pretty good. We also had more beer! 

After that our plan for the day was kind of thrown off because we wanted to go to the Gaols, but it was booked. When I was planning the trip, everything recommended to wait to get to Dublin before booking any tours. Which probably is good advice, but once you arrive you should book your tours and not wait until the day of. Instead, we went to Phoenix Park which was beautiful, but we didn't end up spending a lot of time there. 

On our way back to our room, we took the bus, but we missed a stop or two...or several! So we had to back track! By the time we ended up at the room it was almost at the time for the pub crawl. We had to rush to the duke to make it there. Which would have been easier, if we didn't get lost on the first day. We did make it, but thanks to Kelsi. We were there right on time, and ushered in to the start of the show. We were supposed to arrive early to check in and pay, but at least we were there. At the Duke the guide performed a two person play Waiting for Godot. It was so funny, but the room was crowded and a bit hot! Also, because we were just barely on time, we didn't get a beer at the Duke!  Ah well, after the play we went down to the street to go to the next site. There we were able to pay up and so everything was all right. 

Guiness Storehouse, Waterfall

The tour was great! I highly recommend it. If you like literature then you will really like it, but if you don't it is still a good tour. The guides perform a few skits along the way. You get to visit historical sites and also historical bars. The tour group also do a Lit Walking tour if the pub crawl part of it doesn't appeal. There was also a quiz at the end, and Kelsi almost won the whiskey prize, but Jim Morrison got in the way!

When we finished the tour we stopped to get gelato, which was so delicious! However, when we left the gelato shop we weren't paying attention and we started walking the wrong way! We didn't exactly get lost, but we did have to turn around to get back to where we once belonged!

  

In conclusion the day was a bit of a scramble! We did somethings we didn't plan, and did other things we didn't plan! Oh well, the mixes ups were a bit entertaining. I also enjoyed the fact that we just laughed off mistakes, without getting upset. Tomorrow we will have to make up for the sites we missed and then we have to get to Belfast!