Belfast & Antrim Coast: Rallying Our Way Up the Coast

Alison: Today, we were blessed again with amazing weather. We started our morning with a traditional Irish breakfast at Windmere House. An Irish breakfast consists of two slices of ham (which they call bacon), two links of sausage, an egg (either fried or poached), and a tomato (either roasted or raw). YUM! After breakfast we made a reservation for a black taxi tour of Belfast. By the time we were finished packing up, the taxi was waiting for us. Our tour took us around West Belfast, where there was a very violent disagreement between Protestants (British) and Catholics (Irish) over whether North Ireland should be British or Irish. This disagreement, called the Troubles, lasted from 1969 until 2000. We started on the Protestant side where our tour guide walked us around to the different murals on the sides of the buildings and explained what they each meant. The most interesting mural was that of a man in camouflage and a mask with a rifle pointed at the viewer. As you walk all over this neighborhood the rifle is always pointed on you. This is to represent to the people who live in the neighborhood that they are being protected at all times, and to visitors that they are being watched at all times.

Following viewing the murals on the Protestant side, we visited the Peace Wall. The Peace Wall completely divides the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods, and to this day, the gates in the wall are locked up at 7:30 every night. The wall itself contains murals and graffiti. In Belfast, it is not illegal to write graffiti, so by a suggestion from our tour guide, we joined in on the fun.

From here, we crossed through the wall to the Catholic side. In the Catholic neighborhood we saw several monuments to people that had died during the Troubles and ended with some murals on a large wall. The tour was supposed to last an hour, but lasted two. Our tour guide was very generous and only charged us for one hour. He also led us out to the exit we needed to leave Belfast and head up the Antrim Coast.

This depicts a point in time where a section of the Catholic neighborhood was under a strict curfew by the Belfast government.

Jonathan: After a quick stop at our future hotel/castle at Ballygally, we continued our way up the northeastern coast of Ireland to Carrick-a-rede swinging rope bridge. Fishermen originally used this type of bridge to fish the sea below. We started with a brief walk out to the bridge. It is hard to describe the beauty here in Ireland. The climate is cooler than Virginia and some of the plants and wildlife look similar to those at home, but the sheer brilliance of colors, a patchwork of red, yellow, and pink wildflowers on a background of the most intense green carpet of foliage you have ever seen. I wasn’t expecting the ocean to look so similar to that of the Caribbean, intense shades of dark blue and aquamarine.

When we finally made it to the rope bridge, it looked like something out of a storybook. I felt like a six year old running across the rope bridge, excited and exhilarated. On the far side of the bridge was a menagerie of plants and animals as described before, our own little private island in the sea. Who can deny such a magnificent God when sitting on a lush little patch of land amidst the crashing waves. He not only can inspire you with his artwork but He can take your breath away.

Giant’s Causeway was our final stop of the day. This cluster of hexagonal stone steps is a geological phenomena. The Irish legends and folklore about the place seemed to be as numerous as the stones themselves. We spent some time walking around the causeway and took in the beautiful sight. Some say the stones look like a giant box of cigarettes being offered to God. Since it seems like 99.5% of the population here smokes, this interpretation isn’t surprising. The scenery was gorgeous, in fact it look incredibly similar to the mountains seen in Jurassic Park. We finished our 3 km hike exhausted but satisfied. We made the trip back down the coast to Ballygally, but not before I played rally car driver on the windy roads with an 80 mph speed limit that was almost impossible to maintain!

A & J: Time to sleep in the castle by the sea. Tomorrow will bring more coastline adventures!

Knowth & Belfast: To the left, to the left... Left Jon, LEFT!

Alison: Just kidding! Jonathan was actually an excellent driver on the left side of the road!

Jonathan: Driving stick shift on the left, from the right side of the car, on the left side of the road posed new challenges for today. But thankfully our only hiccup in driving was trying to get the car into reverse in the Budget parking lot at the airport. For those planning on driving in reverse in Ireland, it left (push down) and back. Wheew. I had an excellent navigator, though. We made it through the entire day with only a few minor wrong turns and some confusion in speed limits (km/hr in Ireland changing to mi/hr in N. Ireland - yet, there are no signs that distinguish the two). We definitely got some air on one particular bridge. Who knew 80km/hr was so fast?!?

Alison: From the Dublin Airport we drove north 45 minutes to Knowth, a Neolithic burial ceremony site. It was absolutely spectacular to see something that is older than the pyramids! Our tour guide took gave us some background info on Knowth (the large dome structure pictured below), took us underneath the dome to explain some artifacts found in the structure, and allowed us to hike up on top of the dome. Knowth served as significant burial site for a Neolithic community with parts of the site dating back to 5000BC. Following the Neolithic age, traces of fortresses from the Iron Age and the Early Christan Age and a Medieval monestary were also found on top of the dome.

Jonathan: I found two facts about the tombs particularly interesting. One, in 5000 years, the roof of the dome has never leaked. That's some extreme engineering using nothing but gravity and layers of rock and dirt! Second, one of the artifacts that was found in the center of the tomb was a large ceremonial basin. The basin measured 1.9m across. The largest opening in the tomb passageway measures only 1.7m across, meaning that the basin was placed in the tomb and then the structure was built around and on top of it. Our tour guide called this the first known example of an anti-theft measure!

Knowth


Our tour guide explaining the artwork chiseled around (and originally supporting) the dome.


Leaving the display room inside the tomb.

Jon with a smaller dome structure.

The view from the top!

Alison: From Knowth we drove up to Belfast in Northern Ireland and checked into the Windermere House Bed and Breakfast. Once settled, we headed into Belfast to get dinner and check out some sites. We had dinner at the Crown Royal Saloon, which is an ornately decorated Victorian saloon. It was absolutely gorgeous!

Jonathan: The food was probably the best I've had yet in Ireland. Alison had some fish and chips with vinegar, while I had the Guinness beef stew. The stew was more like a beef pot pie, paired with some delicious garlic potatoes, peas, and steamed carrots. The beef stew was superb, with perfectly tender beef in a thick, rich stock made with Guinness. The cheapest meal to date was delicious, finished with nothing else than a pint of Guinness.

Alison: On the way home we stopped by Queen's College for a quick photo-op before we meandered back to our cute little B&B.

Jonathan: We are thankful for safety today and for the rain that only seemed to downpour when we were indoors or in the car. On to the northernmost part of the island tomorrow! Please pray for our continued safety on the roads and for more blessings of good weather.

Dublin Day 2: "Lovely Day for a Guinness"

We had another awesome day in Dublin today! It was only gray and sprinkled for literally two minutes and the rest of the day was warm and sunny. We slept in this morning until 10:30, had breakfast at the hotel and then started out to see the southwest part of Dublin. At first, we walked around for a while to try and see Christ Church and St. Patrick's Cathedrals, but both were closed at that time for Sunday services. So, we decided the only logical thing left to do was hike down to the Guinness Storehouse.

Christ Church Cathedral St. Patrick's Cathedral

The Guinness Storehouse was awesome! We went on their self-guided tour of the Guinness making process, which was really cool, although heavy on the advertising towards the end. But the best part was that we each got a free Guinness! I opted to get mine from the bar at the top of the Storehouse with a 360 degree view of Dublin, while Jonathan opted to learn how to pour his own stout. Jonathan really enjoyed his quick lesson with Keith, who also gave us tips on driving through Ireland.

With my Guinness at the sky bar.

They make clovers on the head of the beer.

Jon pouring his own Guinness.

Jon was an over-achiever and made his own clover (?).

After the Storehouse we headed back up to see the Dublin Castle and the inside of Christ Church before they closed for the day. Afterwards, we walked down to Grafton Street to buy a SIM card for our cellphone and headed over to Soca to have Thai for dinner. We made it just in time for the early dinner special! Most restaurants in Ireland serve early dinner specials, which offer lower priced menus or good deals on a 2-4 course meals. We didn't really plan on making it for the special, but we are glad we did because it at least saved us a third on what the bill would have been from the normal menu.

Well that's all for day two! We are so thankful that we have been safe and have had amazing weather the past two days in Dublin. Tomorrow we are off to rent a car and drive up to Belfast, with one stop along the way. Please pray for our safe travels, that Jonathan will adjust well to driving on the left side of the road, and that I would be a good navigator.

Dublin Day 1: We Made It!!

After a cancelled flight to Philly, a 15 min mad dash to our rescheduled flight, and a 6hr flight we made it to Dublin at around 8am Irish time (3am EST). We caught a Dublin bus for 6 euro pp and got dropped off a couple blocks from our hotel in Temple Bar, the Temple Bar Hotel. Despite arriving at 9am, the concierge was very accommodating and gave us a room instead of having us pay for porterage for the day.

After settling in we headed out. First on our list was Trinity College, a mere 3 block walk from our hotel. At Trinity, we went on a 30-min guided tour with a very entertaining guide who was a student at the college. He gave information about the buildings and told stories of traditions and famous pranks. The tour ended at the Old Library, which houses the Book of Kells; however, the line to get in was crazy long. Our guide recommended that we try back later in the afternoon.

From Trinity College, we headed down Grafton Street, a well known pedestrian shopping area, and a couple streets off of Grafton, we had lunch at Busyfeet and Coco Cafe. I had a French sandwich, that had brie, avocado, cucumber, mayo and lettuce and Jon had a sandwich with curry chicken, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. My sandwich was very light and had a very interesting flavor (to be honest and mayo kinda made it weird) and Jon's had too much curry on the chicken. Busyfeet & Coco had amazing espresso drinks, though! We really enjoyed their cappuccino and mocha latte.

After lunch, we walked through the beautiful St. Stephen's Green and enjoyed the pleasant weather and nice landscaping. We even ran into a bunch of kids dressed up for "Zombie Day." After observing Zombie day, we headed up a block to the National Archeology Museum. Though it was a small museum they had some amazing exhibits including incredibly well preserved tools, gold jewelry, and BODIES from before and during the Bronze Age. The bogs and swamps in Ireland have the perfect conditions for preservation. The bodies were mind-blowing... you could see their skin, hair, organs, and even finger nails! Unfortunately... no pictures allowed. :(

On our way back to the hotel, we swung through Trinity College again to check out the Book of Kells line. We were pretty tired at this point, so we walked right through the lead-up exhibit, straight to the manuscripts. The miniature artwork drawn by the monks in the 9th century was absolutely spectacular to see in person. A floor above the Book of Kells, we got to walk through the gorgeous Old Library of Trinity College. The beautiful, long room made entirely of wood and stacked from floor to ceiling with book shelves packed with old books was breath-taking.

From here, we headed back to the hotel from a much needed nap. Then, we headed back down to Grafton Street to wander for a bit, before ending up at O'Neill's Pub for dinner and the US-Ghana football game. The atmosphere at O'Neill's was quaint and warm, exactly what you expect out of a pub, and the fish and chips that we ordered for dinner were awesome!

Sunset - 10pm

After dinner we wandered some more around the city before grabbing some gelato for dessert and enjoyed the late sunset.

We are very thankful for our safe travels and what we have experienced thus far. We pray that God would continue to bless our journey and use us to bless the people that we encounter along way.

The World's Fair

For several years at the end of the school year our 9th grade school throws a World's Fair. Through the World Civilization classes, students are split into several civilizations and present projects on their cultural influences on today. This afternoon we had day one of the World's Fair, where half of the students presented to the other half on Rome, Greece, and Persia. In the Greece exhibit, one of my students was dressed up as Dionysus and was merrily welcoming everyone into the room. As I walked by he exclaimed, "Aphrodite you made it!" Hahaha. The little compliments.

Around 2 Countries in 60 Days

The last few weeks have been very exciting as our plans for the summer have come together. God has opened a few doors and closed a few others and we have come upon some traveling opportunities over the months of July and August.

Trip 1: Ireland, June 25-July 9th
When we got married this past October, we never took a honeymoon. It was the end of the first quarter of my first year of teaching and Jonathan was in the middle of his first semester of graduate school, so it was not the right time to travel. At this point in time, I am so glad that we made that decision. I think a honeymoon would have made our first few weeks in normal life much more stressful and the transition into marriage would not have been as smooth. Now, we have more time to spend traveling, we have fewer responsibilities, and we are ready to travel the world together! We will be in Ireland for 2 weeks. The plan is to fly into Dublin and tour Dublin for a couple days, then rent a car and drive to Northern Ireland and counter-clockwise around the country for the rest of our trip. We don't have much of an itinerary for the 2 weeks, but we think that is the exciting part!

Trip 2: San Diego, California, July 15-August 15th
Jonathan's family still owns his grandfather's house in San Diego and would like to put it on the market this fall. The house is trapped in the 1950's/1960's, so there are quite a few renovations that need to be completed before it is ready for the market. Jon's father has offered us the opportunity to go to San Diego for a month to do some work ourselves and keep an eye on other renovations. Since we don't have many commitments for the summer, we jumped on the opportunity. Jonathan and I have always dreamt of driving cross-country, so we decided that living in CA for a month gives us the perfect excuse... so, we will be leaving a day or two after we return from Ireland to road trip to San Diego. We have decided to take the southern Route 40 on the way there and then at then end drive up the coast of CA on Route 1 and take the norther Route 90 on the way home, hitting Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore. Eeeee! We can't wait!

God willing, by the end of August we will have driven from coast to coast of Ireland and the US.

Adventures & pictures to follow....

Sick Day(s) = More Work

Last weekend, I caught a bit of a cold and after my extremely long day at work on Wednesday, where I literally taught from 7:45am - 4:15pm with only a 20min lunch break, my cold escalated. I have terrible sinus pressure, a nasty cough, a fever, and I'm taking a nap every few hours. I planned on just taking off yesterday, Thursday, to recover, but throughout the day it became very clear to me that there was no way I could survive the day at work today.

One thing about teaching that I don't think a lot of people realize is that it takes WAY more planning to be out of school for a day than it is to just go in. Usually if I'm not feeling well, I will just push through and go in, because it is just easier for me to be there. However, this cold is pretty bad, so (1) I'd hate to pass it around & (2) I need the rest. Thus, I spent a good part of the day yesterday, replanning what my students were going to do today.

Just to get an idea of how the work level compares for going to school and being out: Today, I need to cover the Combined Gas Law and the Ideal Gas Law with my students and give them an opportunity to practice. Had I gone in, we were going take some notes and then do a lab where they gather real data to practice the calculations. However, I am not comfortable having them work in the lab area, because I'm not there to answer questions and clarify directions and I do not know if my sub would understand the Chemistry concepts well enough to ensure that the lab activity is productive. To plan the notes, lab, and activities it usually takes me about 2-3 hours plan, set up and make copies. But because I am out today, I needed to come up with replacement notes & activities that have very detailed directions, so my students can basically lead themselves through everything. This takes a bit of extra time and creativity, which equated to about 6 hours of planning between naps yesterday. Now, that time does not include the extra time I will spend grading everything that they do today, because I'm not there to check things as they go. Oh, joy.

Okay, time for another nap... :)