Well, top o der morning to ya all! It be a grand day it be... this blog entry comes straight from Larkhall Park, the lovely patch of greenery opposite our house. With the sun on our shoulders and bulmers in our hands, we thought what better way to spend a sunny Friday afternoon here in the motherland! So we've laid out the blanket, booted up the laptop and are ready to tell you our tales from our recent trip to Belfast.
Our tale begins last Friday (13th March) evening where we rushed out of work and got a cheap flight to Belfast. After a short flight and a freezing wait for a cab, we eventually made it to our hostel. We made plans for the following day and instant friends in our dorm room companions. We ended up chatting away the evening hours til one by one we all drifted off into sleep.
Saturday we made the eventful trip up the Northumberland coast to the Giants causeway stopping at Bushmills distillery (the oldest distillery in the world) and the rope bridge. The day definitely provided some awe-inspiring scenery, that Bec found herself spilling over Jarratt playing happy tourist with her camera to get pictures of the "pretty water" or "pretty boat"or "pretty hill" and so on. Its safe to say Bec fell in love with Ireland, or well England, or Ireland.... you try and figure it out. Highlights include a 12 year young pure malt whiskey (that was 12 years too early for our taste buds), a traditional Irish lunch of stew and Guinness pie and being blown away at the Causeway... literally, a strong wind blew me two paces backwards whilst trying to reach the point. That night we were joined by a frantic Fitzer (an Irish friend of Jarratts) for a night of painting the town, well... green :) We hit the empire for some pretty cool live music and one rather odd ACDC fan with all the rad dance moves before moving on to a club whose name fails us but will live on in our hearts for good music, great times and one pretty amazing black light that made our teeth glow bright white! We then stumbled home at the rather respectable time of 2:30am and promptly went to bed.
The next morning we rose bright eyed and bushy tailed for our very own Belfast Fry. Kinda like an English brekkie but no beans and soda bread instead. Afterwards we wandered the university area and botanic gardens, before saying our sad farewell to Fitzer. We then headed into town for a look around the centre at City Hall then through to the Titanic Quarter before pulling in at The Crown for lunch in one of their intimate snugs. Little, private booths inside the pub with your very own door bell style buzzer to call the waitress - very cool. With our bellies full we boarded our very own Black Cab tour. We visited Shankhill, Falls Rd and were even witness to some high level security (helicopters, armed military, the whole she-bang), after a joy rider wizzed passed us and collided with a black cab about 500m's down the road. It was an amazing, first hand insight into the time of the troubles and gave some real perspective on the whole issue. We then headed straight to the airport from our tour and board our 10 quid ryan air flight home madly looking in our calendars for another free weekend (a near impossible task) that could be spent in Ireland. Did I mention I'd fallen in love with Ireland? - Hook, line and sinker!!!
Our tale begins last Friday (13th March) evening where we rushed out of work and got a cheap flight to Belfast. After a short flight and a freezing wait for a cab, we eventually made it to our hostel. We made plans for the following day and instant friends in our dorm room companions. We ended up chatting away the evening hours til one by one we all drifted off into sleep.
Saturday we made the eventful trip up the Northumberland coast to the Giants causeway stopping at Bushmills distillery (the oldest distillery in the world) and the rope bridge. The day definitely provided some awe-inspiring scenery, that Bec found herself spilling over Jarratt playing happy tourist with her camera to get pictures of the "pretty water" or "pretty boat"or "pretty hill" and so on. Its safe to say Bec fell in love with Ireland, or well England, or Ireland.... you try and figure it out. Highlights include a 12 year young pure malt whiskey (that was 12 years too early for our taste buds), a traditional Irish lunch of stew and Guinness pie and being blown away at the Causeway... literally, a strong wind blew me two paces backwards whilst trying to reach the point. That night we were joined by a frantic Fitzer (an Irish friend of Jarratts) for a night of painting the town, well... green :) We hit the empire for some pretty cool live music and one rather odd ACDC fan with all the rad dance moves before moving on to a club whose name fails us but will live on in our hearts for good music, great times and one pretty amazing black light that made our teeth glow bright white! We then stumbled home at the rather respectable time of 2:30am and promptly went to bed.
The next morning we rose bright eyed and bushy tailed for our very own Belfast Fry. Kinda like an English brekkie but no beans and soda bread instead. Afterwards we wandered the university area and botanic gardens, before saying our sad farewell to Fitzer. We then headed into town for a look around the centre at City Hall then through to the Titanic Quarter before pulling in at The Crown for lunch in one of their intimate snugs. Little, private booths inside the pub with your very own door bell style buzzer to call the waitress - very cool. With our bellies full we boarded our very own Black Cab tour. We visited Shankhill, Falls Rd and were even witness to some high level security (helicopters, armed military, the whole she-bang), after a joy rider wizzed passed us and collided with a black cab about 500m's down the road. It was an amazing, first hand insight into the time of the troubles and gave some real perspective on the whole issue. We then headed straight to the airport from our tour and board our 10 quid ryan air flight home madly looking in our calendars for another free weekend (a near impossible task) that could be spent in Ireland. Did I mention I'd fallen in love with Ireland? - Hook, line and sinker!!!
Windswept and interesting at the Causeway.
J on the rocks.
At the Causeway lookout.
Fitzer, Bec and Jarratt.
Crazy black light...
Outside City Hall.
Falls Road (Catholic Side)
Shankhill (Protestant side)
