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Greetings all:
So, here I am, ready to go to bed soon, very tired. What a crazy busy 6 days so far! By the way, in case you are wondering, yes, Michael is at the pub. And no, we are not caught up in the G8 crap happening in Edinburgh, although we did almost miss our ferry to Northern Ireland because of it. The city centre where Michael and I were staying was nearly completely blocked off (also where the Celtic Connections tour picked us up). Every street our tour bus drove down was closed off. We made it just in time (literally!) to the ferry.
I found Northern Ireland most interesting, probably because all my life I have heard of the unrest and violence that has happened there. It is interesting how as soon as you enter a village or city area, you know if Catholics or Protestants live there just by the flags flying in the streets. Belfast was especially interesting, and we visited a number of street sites (very cool wall murals for both sides). The Orangemen parade was to be happening in about a week, so many flags were flying. Northern Ireland has a wonderful landscape - very, very, very hilly - my little out of shape/low capacity lungs almost didn't make it sometimes, as our group members seem to wanted to walk very fast. I, on the other hand, preferred to go slow to keep my breath and enjoy the wonderful scenery on the way up these huge hills. Oh yeah, my childhood fear of climbing has been revisited this trip as well, as sometimes I was just very frightened to climb high! Oh well - I did it anyway! We also learned lots about the politics in this area of the country. We went to where 'Bloody Sunday" occured in Derry (also called Londonderry by unionists). As we drove out of Derry, we listened to "Bloody Sunday" by U2 on the way. Very good for mood setting.
The last couple of days have been spent in Southern Ireland - also very green and hilly. My favourite town was Galway - we had a couple of hours to run around and finally shop! Prior to getting to Galway, we got to ride on the top of the bus - no, it wasn't because we were smelly. Our tourguides took us by the 12 pins hills on a winding, bumpy, one lane, non-main road, put 6 of us on the top of the bus and drove down the road. The view was amazing! At the end of the road, we switched and others went up on the roof. Mmm, I wonder if my travel insurance covered this?
Now we are in Dublin - very industrial looking and not very pretty. We got ripped off at the Guiness brewery tour - we go to the top, sat down with our included pint of Guiness (Michael was to get mine), and were soon told that the brewery was closing down for a private function and we had to leave!!! We all went and complianed, but to get our 14 Euro back, we have to go back next morning. So if you go there, check with management to see if the brewery is open for the full time - no one told us!
I wish we had more time to explore on our own here and everywhere else. Overall though, I have enjoyed the tour, but not the hostels. I am definitely a hotel person, if only for the nice bathrooms! Anyway, we head back to Edinburgh tomorrow - I'll try not to stir up trouble with the protesters and get arrested. Until next time...
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Mother Superior
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Sooooo Jealous!!!
Wow it sounds like you are having a fabulous time! Have I mentioned that I am now green? With envy! Enjoy the rest of your trip I see you when you get back.