Day Seventeen- Carrickfergus, Shopping, and more sickness

I woke up today and couldn’t breathe out my nostrils. Hooray! So I chugged some more cough syrup and was on my way! I ate apple yogurt at breakfast this morning…not a flavor I was expecting to be good, but it was so yummy! I am going to try and find it back in the States…mmm…

I walked down to city centre at 10am to meet up with the class. It was another field trip day today! We all walked over the train station which is right behind the Europa hotel. It is kind of frightening how often the professor has to ask for directions. He is definitely not a planner when it comes to traveling and even though he grew up in Northern Ireland, that doesn’t seem to be coming in handy. We made it to the train station and got our tickets to Carrickfergus!

After a couple transfers (and a run in with paparazzi taking pictures of a baby boarding a train) we made it to Carrickfergus…I was really excited to go here because I’ve heard of this town and the castle, Carrickfergus Castle, in songs and books. The town is definitely an Anglo-Protestant town with the Union Jack flying everywhere. We walked into the town through the arch which used to have giant gates. This gateway would close at 9pm and all the Catholics would have to be home and out of the city by this time. It is so strange to see such beautiful architecture but then it has a kind of sad story to go with it.

We walked down to the beach and sea front and saw the castle. It was very impressive! It is actually Ireland’s best preserved Norman castle. It dates to the 12th century. The castle was built on basalt rocks that jutted into the sea so that it was surrounded on 3 sides by the water. This made it so that it could only be attacked from the front and therefore easier to protect. We took a tour of the castle and learned all about the history and why it was built the way it was. It was really interesting! The castle was actually built in 3 stages, the Inner, Middle, and Outer Ward. We got to see the natural well the castle was built over and we also got to go into the main tower of the castle and see their banquet hall and rooms inside. It was so cool (even if I was coughing up a lung throughout the tour…)!

After we saw the castle, we had about an hour and a half of free time to roam about the town. We went and got lunch at a local bakery/café. I, of course, ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and got a coffee. Megan, Lindsay and I then walked down to the beach and walked around the town. It is a very quaint, small town right on the sea. We walked through the museum and got to see old artifacts from archeological digs at Carrickfergus. There were some gorgeous swords and artifacts from over hundreds of years ago.

We met up with the rest of the class at the train station and headed back to Belfast. Everyone else walked back to the University after we got off the train, but I stayed in city centre for a little while on my own. I needed some time to just be on my own and explore. A little mental health break…I walked around the city and did a little bit of shopping. I was actually able to find some cute things for pretty cheap, so I bought a sweater, scarf, and dress. I put on some music and just ambled back home to the apartments…it was very relaxing. I could get used to city life. There is something kind of neat to be a part of a big city.

Since I still wasn’t feeling very great (and no one was really going out tonight) I think I am just going to stay in. I have some soup and bread I am going to eat and then I’m just going to do some reading, hopefully talk to Will, and relax.

Another great day in Belfast! Here’s to hopefully feeling better by tomorrow!