Shades of Green

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!!!

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)

The Craic was mighty!!!

Hi Kids, well we have just come back from a great 4 days in Ireland. We arrived on Sunday afternoon, checked our bags, and headed to the local pub (The Knightsbridge) to try some local Guinness and meet up with Corey and Lee. The afternoon turned to night, and the Guinness was still flowing. After trying some different pubs in the temple bar area, we moved to a night club to dance the night away.

The next morning we headed passed the General Post Office and the Statue of light towards Kilmainham Gaol. After visiting the museum and doing a guided tour we headed back to town for another tour, this one was all about the 1916 uprising. The tour was blahh but the guide was awesome, very knowledgeable and excited about the topics. From there we headed to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour and more importantly our free Guinness. At the top of the factory there was a great viewing platform to enjoy your beer. That night we went back to O'Connell St for dinner, Blue and Jarratt enjoyed a traditional irish stew, Bec had a Gaelic dish of chicken and potatoe and Rebecca had a Celtic dish, all very tasty.

Monday was the day of the parade and in our green outfits we got in early to reserve our spot for the parade. However one local lady and several little kids had other ideas, by managing to push in 10 minutes before the parade. However we still had the front row in the end. The parade came and went, with much colour and flare from a typical parade. However it was St Pats day and there was Guinness to be drunk, so we got down to business. A great day with many memories.

Tuesday was our last day, and our last opportunity to take in Dublin. So we headed to Trinity College to see the Library, the long hall and the book of Kells. We also took a look at the old Parliament building, the Dublin castle and St Stephens green. Before passing the statue of Molly Malone, who was featured in one of the many Irish anthems heard over the weekend, that continued around and around in our head.

All in all a great weekend was had by all and hear are some of the photos...