Dublin and Belfast
Dublin. It's another town I recommend coming to see. I really liked it alot. The great thing about Dublin is that they offer a tour of the town on what they call a "hop on hop off" bus. It's a double decker bus that takes you to 21 different points of interest in town and at any one of the stops you can hop off to check it out and when you're done you can wait for the next bus and hop back on and resume the tour. A brillant idea because Dublin's street are so compact and narrow and crammed with so many people that we didn't even want to try and navigate it if we didn't have to. Plus we didn't have to try and find each location which would have taken a long time. Plus the things we didn't want to see in detail we could just stay on the bus, take a picture and be on our merry way. We did see St. Patrick's cathedral and the Guiness factory (which is a very popular stop because you get to try the beer after the tour and who doesn't want free alcohol?). A lot of Ireland's history took place in Dublin. There are a lot of statues erected to honor those that helped shape Ireland's history. Plus I learned a few things like Oscar Wilde is Irish, and Shaw who wrote Pigmaleon (aka My Fair Lady) was from Dublin too. We saw a hotel that U2 stayed in and the national park which Central Park in New York was created after. I found a really great teapot here in Dublin that is made by a really well known China company here (and I can't remember it's name right now) but it has shamrocks painted all over it and I thought that was pretty appropriate. It'll be a nice addition to my collection.After touring Dublin we headed out and up to Belfast in Northern Ireland. Here things change a bit. They are part of the UK and so they do not use the euro but the pound, so our money (US Dollar) becomes even less valuable and we have to find a place to get some pounds. Plus we need to find a place to stay. The nice thing about each city is that they have a travel center and they can give you a map of the city plus point you in the direction of a hotel, hostel internet cafe or whate ever you need. They recommended a hostel and then we tried to find our way there. Belfast is a bit trickier to get around it because they have a lot of one way roads. Once we figured out where we were going, we found our hostel and were able to get a room. We have a private room with a private shower and we don't have to pay hotel prices. It's so nice. Plus they have internet access, a private parking area that's gated for our car and we can do laundry. YOu can find some really nice places like this that are inexpensive which makes traveling possible.
One of the things I've learned is that Belfast is where the Titanic made it's last stop before heading out to see and it's sinking. There is a memorial here to honor the lives lost. It is also a stone's throw away from the Giant's Causeway which is right on the ocean and they are large octagon shaped blocks that go on for miles. You'll have to google it to get a better picture. We're also going to do the Carrick-a-Rede ropebridge which they describe a an Indiana Jones experience over a rope bridge over the ocean. It should be a fun day tomorrow.
The thing that I've noticed about the people here is that they are not all redheads with curly hair, they all smoke loads, and they all like to drink their Guinness (Ireland's national beer). I can imagine that it must be very difficult to be a missionary here and try to teach people the gospel and have them change their lives, by not drinking and smoking.
posted by Camille @ 12:03 PM
2 Comments:
Hey Cammi,
It's Hannah and me writing to tell you to send some pictures if you can. I haven't heard of most of the things you are talking about and it would be more interesting if we could see it, particularly for Hannah who cannot read at all. I've already yelled at her for this and told her she'd better learn how to do it fast or else she'll get a beating, but you know how stuborn she is. Sounds like you're having fun. Stay safe and have fun. I'll see you in Germany.
Dave and Hannah
I just finished reading your blogs. It took me a long time because you had posted a whole bunch since the last time I checked! It sounds like you are having a great time despite a few weather problems! I'm sad you didn't get to see Fungi the dolphin. I have never heard of him before, but it sounded funny when you discribed it and I wish you could have taken a picture of him!
I've always wanted to go to Ireland, but you are making me really want to go now and there are no hopes of that are there! I can't wait to see pictures. I think I will go over the map with Jack today and track out your progress through Europe. Have fun. If you have to shower with Dave in the room again, I'd make him wear a blind fold. I bet he snuck a peak. I would have!
Libby
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