Debzee

Larne: population 37. Last night we went to a little pub called the Station Bar. We had a pint of Tennants in these really neat beer glasses with embossed letters. So I decided to ask the bartender if he could sell us a couple as souveniers. We ended up chatting with the bar owner, Stephen, and his three pals--Paddy, William and Eamon. Fabulous guys. Good looking. And, unlike a few of the guys in the bar, these fellows still had all their teeth. Wouldn't let us buy a drink. Stephen gave Rose and me some really nice football jerseys... and not one souvenir beer glass but the whole damn case! He even delivered it to our B & B this morning so we didn't have to make our way back last night carrying 24 glass pint ... read more

A follow-up to my previous post... Later on that first night, Rose and I got back to Paddy's Palace International hostel and found the door locked. A very grumpy man opened it and informed us that the front door was around the back (that's Belfast for ye)... so we apologized and tiptoed up the 150-year-old stairs with its 150-year-old handrail that had clearly not been washed in as many years..yecch... We opened the door to our dorm which smelled like the great unwashed masses. Rose threw up her hands and said, "that's it; we're outa here!" She hauled our suitcases back down the 150-year-old stairs, out onto the 150-year-old street. There we were, out on the street at 1 a.m. in a not-so-posh corner of Belfast, with two suitcases in hand and nowhere to sleep. I ... read more