Going to New Heights in Belfast

Just talked to my mom on FB chat and as of now their flight at 2:30 out of MSP to Newark is still on schedule! Fingers crossed!

So this past weekend I went to Belfast with The International Society. We took off at about 4 PM Friday. They had said they wanted to make it a straight shot up there at the meeting we had Thursday night, but we ended up stopping for a half hour at a gas station in some small town. After we got back on the bus, we started watching movies. We watched "Just Friends" and "Bruce Almighty." I still think it's kind of funny how much American pop culture is here. I don't really know why, I realize American movies get big everywhere, I just figured I'd be exposed to more foreign entertainment here. We ended up getting to Belfast at about 9:30 or so if I remember correctly. We all got our hostel room assignments--I was with Katie Roz, Liz, Erin, Ben from UWEC, his roommate Martin from Sweden, Molly from Iowa, and a French guy who's name I don't remember...he wasn't in the room much. We all unpacked and then explored the hostel. We met up with Kathleen, Kaitlyn and Lily and all headed out in search of food and to see a little bit of Belfast. We stopped at a pub called Kelly's Cellars, one of the oldest in Belfast. Some guy told Kathleen he dated a girl from Eau Claire. She didn't believe him at first because of the crazy odds and he got all mad. Kelly's wasn't serving food anymore, so we went to a different pub, but the bouncer told us it was a "private party" but he was snickering after we left so we got the feeling he was lying to us and could tell we were tourists. Initially, I was a little nervous about going to Belfast since it's technically in Northern Ireland, and it's where most of the violence from the Catholic vs. Protestant issue arose. We were told at our meeting not to wear Nationality clothing or clothes for sports teams. and although it wasn't said, it was probably a good idea not to wear t-shirts that said "Go Protestantism!" or "I Heart Catholic Boys"

Anyway, we ended up at a Kebab place that was like in the back of this shopping complex type thing that looked a little sketchy but the guy was super nice--probably because we were his only customers. I had a chicken kebab. It was really good but I couldn't eat it all. Then we went back to Kelly's for drinks. I got a glass of Bailey's. We had to pay with pounds since Northern Ireland is part of the UK, and in comparison to Euros, it was cheaper, being only 2 something pounds. And I got more in my glass than in Dingle, where I paid like 4.20 Euros for a glass of it.

Saturday we got up bright and early (well, 8 AM) and headed to the Giant's Causeway at 9. First we stopped at a beach in the town of Portrush.

I LOVED the Giant's Causeway. I think I might have liked it better than the Cliffs of Moher. I knew it was supposed to have cool looking rocks, which I learned resulted from an ancient volcanic eruption, but there were spectacular views when you headed up towards the surrounding cliffs. It was an amazing view.

After we left the Causeway, we stopped at Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. It is about 100 feet above rocks and the ocean. I ALMOST chickened out upon actually seeing it and the rocks and water below. I knew that we were going to the rope bridge, but actually being there scared me. The stairs going down to the bridge were scary enough. I am terrified of heights, especially trying to move myself when I'm up high. I don't like anyone touching me. I can't wait in line for the higher water slides at Noah's Ark without tensing up. However, I told myself that I needed to do this because honestly, when am I going to cross a rope bridge ever again? It ended up not being so bad. I walked really slow, and the only thing that freaked me out was that it was windy. I was afraid my jacket was going to blow off and take me with it. Katie got some pictures of me going across and she is going to email them to me. I was really proud of myself for getting across without squealing or crying. Then we explored the island that it led to. I was a little more nervous for going back across the bridge because when I went the first time we were some of the first people in line and the two girls behind me were scared too and walking super slow just like me, but on the way back there were a lot of people waiting to go. When I made it back across I shouted "I'm alive! I'm alive!"

We left the Rope Bridge and went back to Belfast. A lot of us went to a grocery store to buy stuff for dinner. I bought a microwave spaghetti thing because I was too tired to cook. It wasn't the best but hey it was microwaveable. After dinner I played cards with Katie, Erin, Martin, Ben, Liz, and Molly. We were technically playing drinking games, but I didn't drink Saturday. I wanted a break. I still had a lot of fun though! The agenda for the evening was to go to an area with a lot of pubs and nightclubs geared towards college students, but I 100% decided to be a lame-o and not go out and caught up on my sleep! I was also trying to deal with the fact my mom wasn't getting in to Ireland the next day like I'd hoped.

Sunday morning we had a bus tour of the city of Belfast. I really liked Belfast, despite it's somewhat modern-day violent history. I learned about the history of the "troubles" as Rosemary, our tour guide kept referring to it, learned more about the building of the Titanic, which took place in Belfast. Rosemary said "Belfast has built thousands of other ships, but Titanic is the only one anyone ever remembers." :) I couldn't get great pictures on the bus because I ended up sitting with some kid I didn't know and he kept whipping his camera out so he could get pictures of stuff that was on the other side of the bus, so I had to sit there and just look so I wouldn't get in the way of his camera. Annoying.

After the bus tour, we had free time to do what we wanted. Katie, Erin and I rode on the Belfast Wheel, a giant Ferris Wheelish wheel near City Hall. it isn't like a regular Ferris Wheel, because you sit in pods and not just little buckets like you do at fairs and stuff. Which made things much better than had we not been enclosed. The wheel went up 200 feet and we got to go around 4 times. I managed not to get too scared, but I still found it hard to move and turn around to see what was behind me, and when Katie and Erin got up to switch sides I was afraid the pod would tilt all over.

After the wheel, we ate lunch at a nice little diner/cafe thing. I had a triple decker sandwich that was pretty good. Then we went to a cupcake shop for dessert. I got 1 red velvet with cream cheese frosting and 1 triple chocolate! Yum!

We left Belfast for Limerick at about 4:15 and didn't get back till maybe 9:30 or so again. I was beat! All in all I had a great time and would love to visit Belfast again someday! It was definitely a bit of Irish culture and British culture. I heard some lady say to a man "Cheerio!" I am a bit disgruntled at the fact that now I have been assigned by one of my housemates to do the dishes because we have another house inspection tomorrow. It wouldn't bother me except for the fact there are a million of them to do and hardly any of them are mine. I always wash my own dishes when I am done with them. But yeah....I guess it's good timing because I am sure my mom will come check it out when she gets here! I'm so excited for what's in store. Friday will be the halfway mark since I've been here. How crazy! I'll never forget this time in my life. It's been so amazing so far and it can only get better checking out other European countries!

Cheers!