Blogs from Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe

We said farewell to Malaga/Estepona on a warm, bright sunny morning and took a 2 1/2 hour flight to Dublin where we were greeted with a windy, coolish day but some sunshine. With our car rental, it was a smooth exit from the airport for the 2 hour drive to Belfast along the M1 highway. A quick Hotel check in and a Steak and Guinness pie dinner capped off a long day. Our hotel didn’t have a restaurant, however around the corner, we found a Tim Hortons and had an Egg McMuffin, hash brown and Coffee. In addition to breakfast, I negotiated with my dietician a donut but discovered the cost was equivalent to $3.50 CDN versus about $1.20 at home, so no treat. The “black cab’ tour of Belfast covered mostly the divided neighbourhoods of ... read more

Causeway Express Tour Today, Renata, Mom and I took an excursion booked through Get Your Guide called the “Causeway Express Tour Shore Excursion.” Belfast Murals Our first stop was Belfast where we saw various political murals and graffiti on our way to the Dark Hedges. The Dark Hedges The Dark Hedges was made famous as the Kingsroad in the HBO television show Game of Thrones whom Renata and I are big fans. Walking around the dark hedges was a real treat. Old Bushmills Distillery After seeing the Dark Hedges, we made our way to Old Bushmills Distillery where we had a taste of different Irish whiskeys. Giant’s Causeway We ended the day at the Giant’s Causeway, the highlight of the tour. The Giant’s Causeway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site along Northern Ireland’s Causeway Coastal route. ... read more

Derry is one of the best example of a walled city in Europe, and the only remaining city in Ireland with virtually complete walls surrounding the inner core. The walls were erected early in the 17th century as defenses against encroaching English and Scottish settlers. Like most places in Northern Ireland, they saw their share of trouble during "The Troubles". The walls were a good 12 feet wide and originally had only four entrances, all of which met at one central square. When the walls were first built, the river came up to the edge of one wall. Land has since been 'reclaimed' and the Guildhall, a waterfront, roads and parks are on the land that was once water. We looked out onto 'bogside' which was the Catholic part of town during the Troubles; the IRA ... read more

Since yesterday wasn't uplifting enough, we spent this morning at the Titanic Museum. Very well done museum, tracing the Titanic from inception, planning, building, furnishing, launching, sailing, sinking, and investigations. --There were no laundry facilities on board so all the linens that would be need for the trip were on board; --I guess you haven't used the bathroom till you've used a Royal Doulton urinal; --Rivets (3,000,000 of them) were driven by hand. Put the red-hot rivet through the hole, two men on one side hammering while another on the other side blocking so the metal would curl back on itself. This worked better if you have a left- and a right-handed man working together hammering; it was faster and they didn't get in each other's way. Returned to the city itself and went on a ... read more

We got to the airport a few hours early so our chauffeur (Hillary) could get back for an evening meeting so we had time to buy and read a Post, eat our sandwiches, fiddle with our phones, and wander around before we even checked our luggage! Security went fine and we got to the B gate concourse in time for a glass of wine and some people watching. Flight was good, our luggage made it too, and we found our group. The first part of this trip is with Road Scholars, to Northern Ireland. Got on a bus and headed north. Cloudy day but could see lots of green and plenty of gorse bushes in bloom. Got all checked in, showered (is there much better than a shower after a plane ride?), found the nice hotel ... read more