Tullyglass House Hotel Ballymena

... and towards belfast. we left around 1pm and went to a nearby shopping centre to enjoy the cheap northern prices. about 10 minutes later (while driving through some grogeous irish countryside) a warning light came on the dashboard of elaine's mammy's little bmw so we pulled into the next service station. turns out there was an obscenely flat tyre which was supposed to be self inflating so there was no spare (seems like a similar kind of logic that the ...

... of people taking photos there! and that was the end of that very interesting tour, it made me want to go out and buy a book about the whole "troubles" situation. we had another hour-ish free and i wanted to explore the city but the weather was so awful that we just went to the crown bar (famous old bar with booths and personal call bells) for a hearty irish lunch, so i'm gonna have to go back so i can see the happy side of belfast! then back on the bus, the guide judged the best ...

aka. most beautiful place in the world. i don't think thats overstating it much, and i'm definitely qualified to make that statement! we got back on the bus bright and early and drove up the coast to dunluce castle. it was a really beautiful day which was a nice change from the day before. the castle was on the edge of a cliff and it was amazing, the coastline was so beautiful and the views from the castle were fantastic. next we drove to the giants causeway which was also amazing. we took ...

... side, drawing a comparison between the Nazis and the Israelis (and by extension, Jewish people) as if they are one in the same. It's offensive, it's hard to look at, and I would go as far as to say it's unacceptable. I also was able to bear witness to an orange march, which is put on by a pro-Britain unionist group where they march down the street in full regalia (roughly 900 times a year), just to assert their presence and "superiority" and I guess to make the Irish feel ...

... Pub and then went to the Crown Liquor Saloon, a pub which has the dubious title of 'most bombed pub in Ireland during the Troubles'. Absolutely amazing tangible history here, reminded me a little of Berlin with the wall...of course Belfast has their own version of that, the so called 'Peace Wall', which still has its graffitied check points and scorch marks from being firebombed. The areas between the ...

... bought has been for work...and I love it all because you could never find the colours, patterns, styles or anything like it back home..and its all so cute!! Anyhow that was a girly diversion.... After we Had finished we took the train back to Port Rush and began getting our feast prepared for Derrick, Angela, Stephen, and Violet who were coming over later for "Tea" (Dinner).... Lets just say Ca and I blew them away...considering how much I have missed ...

... U 18 Ulster team however we decided to shop instead....no offense but we are girls and don't know the game of Rugby so it just made sense... We Had our first taste of home today.... SUBWAY...and it was fantastic...absolutely fantastic and it was accompanied by the coldest pop we have had for the last month! We did some strolling among the streets but we ended up here at the Public Library paying to be on the Internet because we thought we had time to upload some ...

Sorry, I cant write much, but see Britt's blog to read more... her username is bploh! We are in Northern Ireland now, we arrived here a few days ago and have already seen so much... not real touristy stuff, but a lot nonetheless. Britt's family has been amazing and have carted us around to all sorts of things; a football match (ie-soccer game), stock car racing, tours of the nearby towns, etc. and ...

... of substance. The enthusiasm that I had on the 26th Dec has practically gone... I have a contact (fellow travelpodder) who did volunteer work in South America (Peru) with orphaned kids which has inspired me. An option that I'm considering is that, if I return after my trip to Perth, I expedite my time in Europe and get to South America faster for the purpose of settling in Quito, Lima, La Paz, Santiago or Buenos Aires (or a remote ...

... concrete wall that has outlasted the Berlin Wall and zig-zags along the streets as a means of keeping the Catholics and Protestants apart. The gates are open during the day, but even now are closed during the night in order to minimise potential violence between the two sides.<br> <br>We continued on into Shankill Road, the site of rioting against police and the Army less than two months later, and finished by passing through Sandy Row in South Belfast. The streets of ...