Oakdene Lodge Belfast

... my favorite food groups. No honey mustard for dipping though! The girl working was the owner's daughter who had attended the training with her dad in Gap,PA. Had fun talking with her since our family has been involved in Auntie Anne's for more than 15 years!

... out
catching some waves. Too bad we couldnt post pics yet, but we'll probs
post them a few times in between countries if we have time. We're in
Belfast
now and once again, have found a great B and B...tomorrow we head to
Scotland ont he Ferry. For tonight, just an internet cafe and a cup of
Starbucks coffee. Home Sweet Home.

... to be part of the United Kingdom, under the Queens' rule. Republic of Ireland uses Euros, Northern Ireland uses Pounds, but Irish pounds that you can't use anywhere else. So anyway, in a brief, simple nutshell, the divide and tensions that have carried on for hundreds of years, until today exist over religion and differing views.

Shortly after arriving in Belfast we headed on the black taxi tours - which are run by local taxi drivers who take ...

... over and they limit the number of people who pass on the bridge at one time. What a breathtaking landscape! We then headed out to stop along the way near Dunluce Castle. Once again, it was only for a photo. Bushmill's Distillery was our last stop before heading to the Giant's Causeway. We didn't have time for the tour so we walked into the gift shops and then headed back out. Once at GC we had lunch at their hotel. That's where I met Kim. She was also travelling ...

... with answers shooting darts game halloween colouring mask printables ipod touch facebook free scary room pop ...

... trying to climb over the the wet rocks with a gale blowing as well. Today it was to the Crown, the oldest pub in Belfast. It has these funky booths in there where you can sit with your mates and have the door closed to the rest of the pub. They have bells in there you ring for service...clearly some people have definately taken advantage of that and their now disconnected, but excellent idea!

... I have lots of feelings on this but as I said I just don't have a lot of time right now. We also wandered around Belfast some ( I love their downtown design), and then went up tot he Queen's campus and I walked through the botanical gardens a little. Surprisingly I really enjoyed the gardens, even though it's not usually my thing. It was beautiful. I'm about to head off to catch a train ...

... of the day was driving through northern Belfast, and the areas affected by "The Troubles" between Irish catholics and British protestants. We saw graffiti walls covered by political pictures, homes with either Irish or British flags in the windows to signify their allegiance, and the locations of previous bombings and violence. However, many of the homes had white lillies or white roses in the windows. I wondered if this was a sign that ...

... sky finally cleared and the harbour of Belfast Lough looked a picture perfect blue – there can be no finer first impression to Belfast than the one we were welcomed with.

It’s a city I have always had a morbid fascination about, I guess because as a kid in the 1980’s Belfast and Beirut seemed to always be the two major cities stricken by violence that made the TV news. In my young mind Ireland seemed a far stranger place for warfare than Lebanon ...

... that some people take things so far but I suppose your nationality is who you are. Okay after a bit of seriousness we headed out of Belfast to the Carrick-a-rede Rope bridge and I paid my little fee for the right to walk over - oh very exciting especially when there is a guy in front of you jumping up and down and pushing the railing down but a good photo opportunity. From here it was off to the Gaints Causeway where as we are told that a Gaint stole some other Scottish ...