In July, I went to visit Annaliese, who moved to Belfast last year. I flew into Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, and took a 2 hour bus ride to Belfast in Northern Ireland. I explained to my students, "One island, two countries, both Ireland. Clear as mud, right?" Annaliese and her husband met me at the bus station, and our adventures began.
Aarron is a fabulous guide to the local sights. After a quick rest, they took me out for a nice long walk, then we had dinner looking over the water. When I got full, I tossed some of my fries to the seagulls.
The next day, they took me sightseeing. See the castle ruins? That's Dunluce.
Here I am at Dunluce Castle, which we explored.
We visited Giant's Causeway, the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland.
It's like a giant playground.
Notice the rusty look to the columns? Aarron noticed that people have wedged coins into the rocks.
Since Northern Ireland is a part of the UK, they have the same post boxes as England. Each monarch has their own cypher. This post box is from the time of Queen Victoria.
This beauty is Marvin, the female neighbor cat.
She is very friendly and affectionate. It was nice to enjoy her company, as it meant I didn't miss Grumman as much as I usually do when I'm away.
Another day, another castle! This is Carrickfergus Castle.
This is Giant's Ring (well, it's actually the tomb at the center of the ring, but you can see the henge behind it).
We went out to dinner with Aarron's mum and gran. It's nice to know Annaliese has sweet in-laws nearby. The food was wonderful. This is steak & Guinness pie and champ (mashed potatoes with scallions & such).
One day I went to the Titanic museum while Annaliese worked.
The ship was built in Belfast. The museum is quite an experience!
Wallace Hartley's violin, from the band that played on while the ship went down.
I had a nice fish & chips lunch at the cafeteria after Titanic.
One morning, we wandered St. George's Market, which is dozens of little stalls with vendors selling food and goods. I had a pastry and brought home a couple books to share with my students. (I ended up flying home with 9 books altogether, and photos of several more to try and find at the library.)
Annaliese took me to CS Lewis square.
Mr. Tumnus the faun
The White Witch
The weather was lovely that morning.
After the square, we went for brunch.
I ate so well while I was with them! This avocado toast was amazing.
We also visited the botanic gardens, did a hop on hop off bus tour, and a couple more museums, but you get the idea. I had a really nice visit with Annaliese. When my time there was up, I bussed back to Dublin. More to come!
