Blogs from Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 22

Hello all! It has been quite a while since my last entry. This is due to my return to the United States to spend time with family and loved ones during the holiday season. I returned to Belfast this past Saturday and have been busy putting the finishing touches on semester papers. Though they are not due for a couple of weeks I am leaving for Morocco on Saturday, where I will be for seven days, and am sure not to get any work done while I am there. So these past few days have been filled with research, writing, and preparation for next semester's classes. While it was nice to be home for a couple of weeks I find myself very happy to be back in Northern Ireland. It is truly a wonderful place and ... read more

As we had the luxury of a car for a month over the Christmas Period, we decided to take advantage of it and cruised up to Northern Ireland for a few days. We started off the trip by picking up Joe and Mandy who had flown over from London and proceeded to have a look around Belfast. The following day we headed and on a scenic drive up the Antrim coast to arrive at the Giant's Causeway, just before closing. The Giants Causeway is one of the most visited sights in Ireland and despite the cold weather it was an impressive sight. It is a collection of a huge number of individual hexagonal columns to create a path into the sea, this has been formed over many years through erosion and tectonic movements, or if you ... read more

King James I started the Troubles when he conquered Ireland, threw the Irish Catholics off their land, and replaced the Catholics with Scottish Protestants. The Irish responded by killing thousands of Protestants and wiping out an entire Protestant village. Later Oliver Cromwell arrived, conquered all of Ireland and killed many Catholics in the process. Between 1969 and the Irish Republican Army (Catholic terrorists) and the Ulster Freedom Foundation (Protestant terrorists) set off many bombs and killed more than 3,000 people. Let me first start off by saying that every trip from here on out has started out with me saying to Jason, “Bloody hell, it’s fekkin' cold”. Because it really is. Belfast is a lovely little town on the coast of Northern Ireland. From Catholic pubs to Protestant rants, we received by far the warmest welcome ... read more

I have made it back to Belfast safe and alive after a casual weekend in London taking in a few of the sights and Christmas cheer, although I was slightly disappointed at the Hyde Park markets.... maybe I missed something. I've spent the first few days re-acclimatising to work and not being able to do what I want when I want. Luckily I arrived back here with enough time to see the Belfast Christmas markets which were slightly more what I was thinking an xmas market should be. Lots of mulled wine and great food in front of city hall. If all goes as planned I will be back on a plane to Sheffield on Friday night to spend christmas in England and hopefully get a bit of snow.... read more

It has been some time since my previous entry, so needless to say, things have been quite busy. The semester is winding down which means presentations and term papers are on the horizon. It has been a couple of years since writing my last major paper so it is safe to say I am rather anxious. Nevertheless, my past three months in Northern Ireland have been nothing short of wonderful. The academic side of things has been both challenging and enlightening. Furthermore, it has fostered a keen interest in a few things I might like to pursue at a later date. And of course the recreation has been grand! However, we have now moved into the infamous Irish winter. The days are short, and getting shorter, rainy, and the sun rarely shows its warming face. Yesterday ... read more