My First International Trip

Well, technically it is...although I didn't have to show anyone my passport or go through customs or anything. Northern Ireland is part of the U.K., which I forgot when I packed Euros to pay for the trip. Needless to say, I soon made a trip to the ATM for some sterling notes.

Alice and I are still in Belfast, but there are several computers at the hostel that we can use, so I decided to go ahead and write on here anyway even though I won't be able to put up any of my crazy amount of pictures until tomorrow night when I get home. I took fewer videos this time, but several of them are me narrating a site--for instance, one of them I took as I walked across a rope bridge to an island. Let's just say that I soon realized how scary that was and held on to both hand ropes on the way back to combat the wind.

But anyway...Belfast is a pretty nice city. It isn't too big, but it is a lot more spread out than Galway, which I am actually missing. I'm so used to being there and knowing my way around its three little main streets. It's really easy to find my way around here, but it's not as cozy. Last night when we got here a little after 9 p.m. the streets were empty and everything was closed. Tonight, when we got back from our tour, it was only 6:15, but the stores had all already closed and the empty streets were filled with drunk middle schoolers. It was pretty unappealing. Alice and I had planned on wandering through the shops tonight, but instead just went up on the ferris wheel and are now in the hostel for the night to avoid the sloshed teenagers.

We have to check out of the hostel tomorrow morning by 10:30, so we're going to find a bakery or coffee shop and hang out there until the shops open at 1:00, then shop for a couple hours before catching a bus back home to Galway. Alice especially wants to find some fancy clothes here, and I found a music store with a trombone in the window, so I think we'll have plenty to do...

Our trip today on the tour was pretty fun. It started out bad, since the tour had booked us to be picked up in Dublin, but a man at the tour office steered us to the right bus lane to be picked up in Belfast. The driver/guide was pretty funny, and the three places we visited were quite beautiful. We also stopped for photos in the middle of the road on the north cliffs of the island, where the ruins of a castle still stand. It was built on this amazing site, right on the cliffs, but that was a bad choice ultimately...apparently, during a banquet one night, the kitchen and the cliff beneath collapsed into the ocean. That certainly put an end to the party, not to mention the usefulness of the place.

The other three places we visited I will save for tomorrow when I can show you pictures and videos. The tour was a bit different than the ones we've taken from Lally's: more driving to specific places, fewer opportunities for photos and stops, and fewer stories from the driver. But it was still fun and worth it.

Belfast is nice, but I would not want to live here. Or go to school here. It's a nice weekend trip, though. I'll put up a full post tomorrow.

Good night!