Mid-November in Northern Ireland

 November News

We had a great visit with our nephew, James Walker, who is teaching in a school just outside of London for this year.  He came and spent the half-term break visiting with us.  His birthday fell within that time so we did some celebrating with  dinner out at the Old Inn in Crawfordsburn, founded in 1614.  It was an amazing place to celebrate his birthday.    Isn't he looking great?  He is on a bench outside the Inn, made out of an oak barrel. 

We set out for Dublin with our wee yellow
submarine and spent 3 days exploring the
sights of that fair city.  Dublin is a city of
approximately 1 million people and
is busy, but has a nice feel to it.  I loved the
vines with red leaves growing on so many
buildings. 












A popular stop for tourists visiting Dublin is the
Guiness Storehouse.  The tour was excellent and finished up with a pint in the Observation tower at the top of the storehouse where you can look out and see all around the city.  Dave claims the Guiness tastes better there than anywhere else he has tasted it. 

This is in the inside of the Storehouse and there
is a wall of water running behind James and I.
As we learned with the making of scotch whiskey, the right water is critical to the success of the brew. 

Those of you who are fans of Os Guiness'
writing might or might not know that he is related to the Guinesses of Dublin. 

The Ha'Penny Bridge over the Liffey River. 
Like a toll bridge, people crossing over had
to pay a ha'penny.   
As James and Dave have demonstrated in the
next photo, people had a way of avoiding
paying the full toll. 

This is the corner of Dublin where you find the Temple Bar.  The surrounding area is alive at night with people on the streets and pubs and restaurants everywhere.  

Once again we prairie people enjoyed a sunset, this time over the Liffey River running through Dublin.  

James is a big fan of U2 and knew of a hotel owned and lived in by Bono.  He had heard that the band members can sometimes be seen in the pub when they are around home.  So we settled in for some tea in a back room of the pub but no Bono to be seen.  It was a lovely quiet spot with a fire going in the fireplace.  The tea was good too!  

Here is "Sweet Molly Malone" on the street in Dublin.

On our second day we signed up for a walking tour led
by a Trinity College PHD grad in History.  He took us
about the streets and buildings of the city and gave us
a good grounding in the history of Ireland and Dublin. 
It was 3 hours well spent. 

James headed back to London and Dave headed back to work.  I continued my "life of leisure".  I finished up a course assignment and did some reading to get ready for the next. 

A few days later Mom Gorrie and her friend
Helen arrived.  This photo is of their first glimpse
of the Irish Sea.  It was a cloudy day but fine for walking.  They were just delighted to be able to walk on the beach and see the sea.  It is lovely for us to have them here. 

This is Dave and Mom waiting for the ferry at Portaferry.  We ventured to Newcastle and the Mourne Mountains once again.  This time it wasn't raining - hurray!  It grows on you living so close to the sea - there is a lovely rythmn to the tides.  

We got right down onto the beach in Newcastle and this photo shows why they say it is where the mountains come down to greet the sea.  It must be a lovely place in the summer.  

We stopped in Downpatrick and went to see the "grave" of St. Patrick in the graveyard next to the Cathedral.  This tree was so interesting with its branches stretching to the sky, covered with ivy vines.

We stopped for "gas" and I went in to prepay for some gas.  I handed the girl at the till my Visa and asked if I could buy some "gas".  She asked if I had a gas card.  I said no, was there a problem with using Visa?  She asked again if I had a gas card. I said that I had paid with my Visa before and all of a sudden her eyes lit up and she said "fuel" - that was it.  Gas is what you use in your furnace at home.  Interesting moment!









Katie and Joel Mason had told us about car boot sales and we had seen signs advertising them, but we found one to visit.  It is just what it says -   People drive up with their cars to a parking lot and set out the things they want to sell.  There are so very few garages here so they use car boot sales instead.  

Mom Gorrie and Helen and I set off for Belfast and did a bus tour of the city.  Dave and I had done the tour earlier with Viv and Keith, but it is hard to take everything in at once.  So, we enjoyed the tour.  This is a sculpture at the head of the Queen's Bridge.  The locals call her several names:
   The Doll with the Ball
   The Thing with the Ring
   The Girl with the Whirl 

I took a photo of the smallest house in Belfast.  It was the manse, attached to a church.  It was the home of the minister and his family.  I only hope that it is long to compensate for how narrow it is.   

This second shot shows just how the house is dwarfed by the church - Great Victoria Street Baptist Church.

Something I learned this time through was that the high walls separating the Catholic and Protestant areas (called Peace Walls) are not just from many years ago, they are still being built today.  A new one was completed just 7 months ago. 
I think the peace process still has a way to go. 

We found a lovely little tea shop after our bus tour. 
It is chilly now - it is November.  A cup of tea or a
bowl of soup is very welcome after being out for a while. 

Then we headed to Victoria Square.  All you shoppers would love the place.  It is a shopping center, but designed on several intersecting levels.  Escalators zip you up and down from level to level.  There is an observation deck on top that you ride up to in a glass elevator.  That is where Mom and Helen are standing, with the hills in the background. 

More adventures to follow - stay tuned............