I had been hoping that the little tickle in my throat would go away, but sadly I woke up today feeling pretty bad. The tickle turned into a cough and congestion…not fun! But nothing will keep me down- I’m in Ireland!
Tried to sleep in as much as possible because of the late night, ate breakfast (yogurt today! Super exciting!), and then walked to city centre to meet the professor. Megan, Lindsay and I stopped at Clements for coffee on the way down. My new favorite drink is a mochaccino made with skim milk (because this country does not believe in nonfat milk)…it is so delicious!
Since it wasn’t raining we went on an open top bus tour of the entire city. Some of our group wasn’t at the meeting place on time so after waiting for a while we ended up having to take the 11 am tour. Having 30 minutes to kill we (of course) went shopping! It was great!
The tour was really interesting. We got to see the murals that were painted during the conflicts in Northern Ireland. I learned a lot about the history of the conflicts and got to see where the lines were drawn. They actually put up physical barriers to separate the 2 sides and the Catholics would have to be back in their area before a curfew. You can definitely tell that it was only recently that there has been a state of peace. The barbed wire, bullet proof windows, bomb proof walls and gates are everywhere. It is clear that while there is “peace” there is still a lingering sense of bitterness and distrust between the 2 sides. You can pick this up just talking with some of the locals.
We got to see where the Titanic was built in the Belfast shipyard. Although the shipyard is not functional today, Belfast used to be the greatest shipyard around. They definitely emphasize the fact that “the Titanic was fine when she left Belfast!” The dry dock where the Titanic was built is huge! Really neat to imagine the ship in the dock…
We also got to see the Stormont House up on the hillside. It is quite an impressive building that is made of gorgeous almost white rock. It had amazing tree lined streets and some of the most green lawns I’ve ever seen! I got to see the Albert Clock which is Belfast’s leaning tower since it tilts to the right. I also saw the Opera House, the Europa hotel (which was the most bombed out hotel because of the conflicts), some beautiful churches (most of which are Presbyterian), and a lot more. It was nice to get to see more of Belfast.
I am realizing that I don’t necessarily like Dublin that much more than Belfast, but just that they are 2 very different places. They each have a different feel and that makes this experience even better. Their histories are very unique and I think I can learn even more by experiencing 2 different areas.
The tour lasted a couple hours and afterward we went and got lunch in city centre. We went to Clements and just sat and talked for a while. I got free coffee so that was awesome! I think people should order drinks and leave them at the bar more often…haha…I planned out my weekend stuff with our group. We are going to go to Belfast Castle and do some hikes up in the mountains on Saturday. Then on Sunday we are going to go outside into the country a bit more to do some other hikes. Essentially this weekend is going to be an amazing adventure in Northern Ireland nature. I am super excited!
We went to the grocery store to get some food (aka Irish Soda Bread…which is my new favorite thing! Cheap and delicious!) and then I went to the pharmacy to stock up on cough drops and cough syrup. Yum yum…
I was not feeling good at all when we were walking back up the hill to where we are living…in fact- I felt like death. I decided it would be an early night tonight. I got back and started taking swigs of cough syrup. Since my cough keeps waking me up at night I got the full effect (aka the kind that makes me tired and loopy). I got to talk to Will for a bit on Skype too! It has been so nice having internet here in my room at Belfast. I now get to save money by not having to make phone calls and I get to actually see who I am talking to! Yay technology!
I am going to sleep early tonight because I want to feel better. I don’t want to miss out on anything!
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