Blogs from County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe

After two days exploring the Causeway Coast and Glens we drove down to the city of Belfast. Straight down the A44 to the A26 then around Ballymena on the M2 before picking up the A26 continuing south. North of Antrim we connected with the M2 again heading west towards Belfast Lough. We drove along the lough into the Titanic Quarter of Belfast where we parked the cars under the Titanic Experience building. We had made excellent time arriving at about 10.15am. We purchased our tickets with a 10.40am time stamp but were allowed straight into the exhibitions. The Titanic Experience only opens at 10.00am and already it was busy! The Titanic Experience is located beside the Titanic Slipways, the Harland & Wolff Drawing Offices and Hamilton Graving Dock – the very places where Titanic was designed, ... read more

Today we started at the National Trust operated Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Free entry with our Australian National Trust cards saving us £31.00!! Swinging 100 feet above the sea the bridge is made up of planks strung between wires. The bridge allows you to cross a 60-foot chasm – the mouth of an ancient volcano - to the island of Carrick-a-Rede. For hundreds of years salmon fishermen strung a net from the island in an arc to a boat to catch the fish swimming around the island. In those days they crossed to the island to tend the nets and land their catch on a single rope strung across the chasm. A much easier crossing today. Out on the island there are hundreds of sea birds nesting and bobbing around on the ocean at the foot of ... read more

Thursday, we went to our next new country Northern Ireland. We woke up in Belfast. Our tour was supposed to be later that day. We went down to the shore excursion check-in and got on an earlier excursion. The guide for our tour was very knowledgeable and explained the history and unrest of the area. There is still unrest today but it’s more between the people that want a united Ireland vs the people that are loyalist to the crown. Sections of town have peace walls separating the neighborhoods to keep others out. In some areas there are gates that are closed in the evening and sometimes on weekends with a no-mans land in between. He explained how the murals seen on many walls show the political leanings of the area. We heard about when Queen ... read more

Well rested from an early to bed night, it was easy for the crew to rouse themselves. Carl and I feasted on the hotel buffet, Alex lounged, and the others visited the grocery store for provisions. Hustling to leave at 9 to get to the station for our train ride to Belfast, the front desk had some confusion on the outstanding bill on our rooms. Quite odd as we paid before AND were told we received a €50 refund due to the late room availability. She noticed our agitation and let us go to catch the train with the promise to call if she couldn't resolve it. Laura guided us on our walk to the Connolly train station not too far away. As I returned to the group with our tickets from the machine, we realized ... read more

Belfast is Northern Ireland’s capital. It was the birthplace of the R.M.S. Titanic, which famously struck an iceberg and sunk in 1912. This legacy is recalled in the renovated dockyards' Titanic Quarter, which includes the Titanic Belfast, an aluminium clad museum reminiscent of a ship’s hull, as well as shipbuilder Harland & Wolff’s Drawing Offices and the Titanic Slipways, which now host open-air concerts".― Google And that's the guided bus tour availability in a nut shell.... Its the Titanic or the Giant's Causeway or O.M.G. the Game of Thrones filming sites. Once these... in your face attractions. ... 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