More adventures in Northern Ireland - Sept. 24, 2010

Chez Gorrie in Northern Ireland

 Some of you have been asking to see what our home looks like.  Here are a few photos to give you a
visual of where we are. 

At work in the kitchen Chez Gorrie

Dave in the Living Room

Our wee backyard

 As we have said to all friends and family, you are most welcome to come and visit us in Northern
Ireland.  I am glad to say that my sister Viv and her husband Keith took us up on that offer and spent
a very lovely time with us here.   They are currently in England so it wasn't too far to come. 

Viv & Keith - Our First Guests

 Viv and I did some exploring of the house and the gardens at Mount Stewart.  They were gorgeous.

In the Garden at Mount Stewart

Mount Stewart from the Gardens

Dave & Keith in IKEA colours

 The IKEA store is right next to the Belfast City Airport so we made a stop after picking Keith up.
It allowed us to avoid the heaviest traffic time as everyone headed home from work.  We thought
it quite funny that Dave and Keith happened to be wearing IKEA colours.

 On Saturday we headed for Portaferry, where we took a ferry across the opening into Strangford
Lough.  We managed to fit four people into this wee car for the entire day.  There were many triathletes on board the ferry.  They were all ready to swim the channel once we arrived on the Strangford side.  They had to time it just right so that the pull of the tide heading out to sea wouldn't make the swim too difficult.

Triathletes Ready for a Chilly Swim

Hedge Trimming in Northern Ireland

The Mourne Mountains from Newcastle

As you can see from the photos, it was a rainy day, but the Mourne Mountains were beautiful.   We hope to return on a dry day as there are many hikes to take in the area.  For those of you who know Deb Heenan this is where her family came from.  We loved the football enthusiasm.  It came close
to the fans of the Riders.  The team colours were red and black and in this area we saw the colours
everywhere - even on the sheep. 

Football Pride in County Down

St. Patrick's Center

 In Downpatrick we went to visit the St. Patrick's Center.  There were interesting stories about St. Patrick and his history.  Viv took the photo of what is thought to be his grave.  We took the Walkers to Denvir's Inn, built in 1640's, where we had eaten once before.  We enjoyed a wonderful meal there and then continued on to Newtownards where we took in a concert with 4 Men and A Dog.  They were a traditional Irish group with a very modern style.  Their music was very enjoyable - it was impossible to sit still as you listened to them. 

Burial Place of St. Patrick

Titanic Museum under construction

 Sunday we went to Belfast and began with a bus trip about the city with a wonderful guide who was so knowledgeable about the history and the stories of various sites.  We went by the ship yards where
 the Titanic was built.  A new museum is under construction and looks like the prow of 4 ships each pointing a different direction.  It will be completed by 2012 when it will be 100 years since it sank. 
T-shirts in the shops said "Built by the Irish,  Captained by the English, IceBerg from Canada". (or something close to that. 

Fences from The Troubles in Belfast

 We drove through the areas of Belfast that were most affected during the troubles.  The fence above is 15 feet high.  It separated the two neighbourhoods.  We still have much to learn about the time that is
 called "The Troubles". 

In a Snug at the Crown Pub

 One of the places we drove by was The Crown Pub.  It is a Victorian era pub that has been restored and is famous in Belfast.  After our tour we walked there and found a "snug" or an enclosed booth complete with a door, where we had a traditional roast beef lunch, complete with Yorkshire pudding.
Mom Gorrie, you still make the best Yorkshire pudding! 

Ceramic tiles on the bar at the Crown Pub

Queen's University

Stormont - The Northern Ireland Parliament

The Disney Store in Belfast

 This picture is for Kelly Radford, my Disney friend.  See Kelly, another good reason for you and Darryl to come and visit us. 

Mosaic mural of St. Patrick in St. Anne's Cathedral

 We went to Evensong at St. Anne's Cathedral.  It was a lovely church and this Sunday they were welcoming students who would be doing studies in organ music and congratulating those who had completed their studies.   There was a wonderful pipe organ and a choir who sang portions of the prayers. 

Celtic design mosaic

Windmill near Millisle

 We were sad to have Viv and Keith leave.  It was such a nice time to have them with us and to do some exploring together.  Monday was a beautiful day after lots of rainy ones so I picked up Dave from school and we headed to Millisle to have a picnic dinner.  We found the windmill close to Millisle and we enjoyed our picnic on the beach.  There are great paths to walk by the sea so we did. We met up with one of Dave's students hanging out with friends on some playground equipment. 

Picnic on the beach in Millisle

Looking out from the beach

A Man Digging for Clams with his 2 Spaniels running in and out of the water

 People do love their dogs here.  We enjoyed watching this man digging for clams as his two Brittany spaniels ran in and out of the water.  They were just bouncing about and having a great time.  There were two older ladies who had their small dogs out and they were visiting and the two dogs kept chasing each other around and around their legs.  I think I may be missing Sunny!  These scenes made me think about you Barb and how you would know each dogs' name by now. 

A wee cottage by the sea for Katie Gorrie to do her writing

 This little cottage is set beside and behind a house, right across the road from the Irish Sea.  It is tucked behind the stone wall and always makes us think of Katie, as it would be a lovely place to be able to spend time writing.  It is just on the corner where we turn off from Millisle to head to Carrowdore. 

Northern Ireland from the air

Viv sent this photo of Northern Ireland from the air and it shows the varied shades of green that are so vivid here.  Everywhere is so lush and green - and that is because of the rain!