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| Dame Street |
Dublin will get the most direction-conscious lost..no matter how many maps are supplied by local couchsurfers. We thought we were going west, when in fact we went south, so we began to go what we thought was south, which had become east.
Nevertheless, St Patrick's Cathedral was still found in time for afternoon mass on Ash Wednesday, and the accoustics made my heart sing.
The archaeology museum provided bog bodies, roman coins, and many old irish artifacts. The National Gallery had a few absolutely poignant paintings such as "the Wizard", but quite a few unmentionables.
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| Temple Bar |
And drinking Guinness, of course.
Niall at the hostel helped us learn a rude irish saying and kept us stocked with extra toast and company during breakfast.
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| Trinity College |
But the theme of Dublin seemed to be American tourists. Austin cheered up an evening out on the town, a group of 3 generations laughed and cheered in the bus to Malahide, and finally, a literature professor and Irish rugby fan chatted us up at the pub.
But don't get me wrong, we definitely had a few irish encounters...one very memorable on the bridge over the liffy, but I'll stop there.
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| Down at the Titanic Docks |
Got up at 5 am to go to Belfast with my Uncle. Big day in the city. The city known for building the titanic. Their one world renowned glory: they built the ship that sank.
Strange to drive 3 hours and be back in the UK, using the pound instead of the euro.
One of my favorite moments of the day was spent sitting on a bench in the middle of the city, eating a sandwich, pickled onion flavored crisps, and some cadbury eclairs, watching four italian men squabble while squashed into the other park bench.
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| City Hall |
When I toured the City Hall, we were invited to sit in the lord mayor's seat, opposite the king's throne, overlooking all the other political benches. Fancy!
The Ulster Museum was quaint. They had a stuffed dodo, a stunning early 20th c dress collection (complete with disco ball), a few galleries, and a completely dark room with an off-the-wall video which glided through a forest complete with a scary narration. 
The city was overwhelmed with the history of their "Troubles"...the rivalry between the catholics and protestants, the loyalists and nationalists and so on. The many wall murals were ridden with emotion, and some buildings still had very obvious bullet holes.
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| Like I said..."Queens College". Absolutely gorgeous Tudor style. |
Queen Victoria was everywhere...she finally offically recognized the city and they have dedicated streets, buildings, monuments, birdbaths, pencil erasers, you name it.
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| Made in Belfast |
"Made in Belfast" was so feminine and funky and retro and the food was spectacular. I had another glass of wine and fully entertained my uncle. I had a white onion soup which was out of this world, especially with the 4 cheese platter we shared, and he had a pork n apple pie which was tasty and interesting. I sat gloating the whole time. Pure happiness.
