Blogs from County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 39

Not holding my breath but am due to collect my van on Thurs and all being well I'll be on the road from the night of 3/5 - (as some of you may know - in my innocence - i had hoped to be knocking at Bulgaria's door at this time!! ) My first leg will be motoring down from Stranraer (Scotland) to Cheshire .H ere I intend to buy yet more orchids at Deva - in for a penny......, call with Joan and Den and then cross the country to Sheffield.Visiting with Brett and Kathy and hopefully John and Jan . My dad's efects I am hoping to leave with J+J to see if Johm can find a suitable home for his memorabilia in a library or the like. Following the end of the Spring ... read more

Well it's April 16 and it is my last day in Ireland I am flying over to Scotland later this afternoon. Ireland has been so much fun, I really do love it here, I definatly plan on coming back one day. The last few weeks here have gone by so quickly because we have been on the go almost everyday. Last weekend started with the Marble Arch Caves on Saturday. They were really neat to go through, it's amazing how people used to dig through them with barely any light at all, I would imagine it would have been quite scary at times. There was a boat ride at the beginning which was quite neat as well. It's amazing to see and learn about the things that grow in the caves and how long they ... read more

I ALWAYS PASS THESE PLACES EVERYTIME I visit the Queen's University to watch international films at the Film Theatre and to swim at the Physical Education Centre (just at the far end side of the Botanic Gardens). The area is commonly known as the 'Queen's Quarter' offering mix of traditional and contemporary cultural and artistic atmosphere, including Victorian and Edwardian buildings, and modern restaurants, clubs, and cafes. The Queen's Uni is the oldest tertiary institution in Northern Ireland founded in 1845 and established by Queen Victoria. It offers a diverse of courses both undergrad and postgrad studies. It has a Visitor's Centre located in the redbrick Lanyon Building which is a focal point for tourists to get valuable materials about the place and offers some gift and souvenir items. And at the back of the ... read more

LAST APRIL (2007), ANOTHER MEMORABLE EVENT was held at the city hall - a week of Titanic celebrations. This was the 4th year that the city hall held this exhibition in commemoration of the Titanic. This exhibition presented the development of the ship - from construction until the present day and beyond. There were images, artifacts, talks/seminars and stories presented during the whole week of celebration. This is the main reason why I decided to explore (since I was not able to attend last year centennial celebration) unguided this Portland stone made political icon of Belfast which was opened in 1906. The construction started in 1896 with the cost of £360,000. I always visit the city centre during weekend and not really bothered to visit the city hall ground and to see its grand interiors. ... read more

We took a couple of days to drive from Cork to Belfast in a hire car with Patto and Jen. On the first day we did a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory where we saw craftsmen blow, cut and engrave the crystal. We also headed to Kilkenny but unfortunately when we went to a local pub it appeared they were all our of their signature brew! We had a Smithwick instead which is made at the same factory and similar to Guinness but easier to drink. We stopped at a small town called Athlone for the night at a local B&B. The next day we went to the 5000 year old Newgrange passage tomb, where the sun shines in only on the morning of the winter solstice and the hill of Tara, which didn’t ... read more