Day 76-86
Hostel life was an adventure. There was always something going on, from blues on Thursday nights, to table tennis on Tuesdays, hanging out at Lavery's on Saturdays, Euro matches, and everything in between. I did swing dancing, club dancing, and ceilidh. I hiked, I climbed, I conquered.
Eventually I settled into a rhythm, and then I moved out. One of the dance teachers from my West Coast Swing community graciously offered me his spare bedroom in exchange for cat sitting when he goes out of town. I now have a double bed AND a closet! I love my dance family!
I figure I'll go through some highlights from the past six weeks, and fill in the rest at the end.
Day 77 (June 6)
This was my first hike up Cave Hill. It was a brilliantly sunny day and I wanted to get out of the hostel, so I decided to go all by my lonesome. The view from the top was absolutely spectacular!
Day 82 (June 11)
Swing Belfast's first West Coast social was held on this Saturday. A group from Dublin came up to dance with us. There was dancing, pizza, and fuuuuun!
Day 92 (June 21)
I went up Cave Hill again, this time with Daina and Paola. Daina is an Australian who has relocated to Belfast, and is living and working at the hostel until she finds a place of her own. Paola was a staffer, and she was teaching me her beautiful language, Italian. Unfortunately, she left us shortly after this for her home town. They're both lovely girls, and I've had such a great time getting to know both of them.
When I was in Edinburgh I met Grayson, an Aussie who spent the last year working as a teacher in London. He made his way over to Belfast for a few days and offered to show me around if I made it down his way, so I hopped on a plane to London town, and we had a blast. It's so much nicer to explore that city with a local, or at least sort of.
I got in Thursday night just after the flooding, before the Brexit, and just in time for dinner. We went to a little Indian place in Shoreditch where you could sort of barter for a better price. The food was delicious.
Friday I woke up at a decent hour (for the first time since moving in to the hostel), and had a proper breakfast (ditto), and we headed out. Our first stop was the Greenwich Market and it was full of cute little arts and crafts type booths, and delicious freshly made food. After that we headed over to the Maritime Museum to see the 24 hour clock and the Prime Meridian.
That night there was free stand up comedy at the Camden Head. We grabbed a drink and watched some class acts. Then we headed over to a cute little bar for some live jazz.
Saturday we caught the beginning of the Pride parade, then grabbed some wine and cheese, and walked down to Hyde park. The Swedish Midsummer Festival was going on, so we found a nice patch of grass and settled in to watch the dancing and games. It started out as a beautiful sunny day, but the rain rolled in a few times. Everyone pulled out their umbrellas, or took cover under the trees until it passed, then it was back to business as usual.
A couple of Grayson's Aussie friends joined us after a while, and when it was over we headed to a pub to catch the tail end of the NI vs Wales match. Football (soccer) is so much more fun when you watch with a group of people.
After the game we headed over to the Sky Garden, a bar and restaurant on the top of 20 Fenchurch Street. The food was great, and we had a spectacular view, though the pictures don't do it justice.
Afterwards, I grabbed a quick nap and then I was off to the airport and headed back to Belfast.
Greenwich Market, established before my country was a country.
Freshly cooked Korean food!
The Maritime Museum
THE 24 hour clock, which all clocks are set by.
The Prime Meridian
Front and center for the Brexit.
The view from the London Bridge.
The cute little jazz band.
Pride, London style.
Swedish midsummer!
That, up there, that's the Sky Garden.
Day 105 (July 4)
4th of July I spent with my travel buddy, and fellow American, Alan. We went to the store and got poppers and bubbles in lieu of fireworks. We spent the day outside in the park in spite of the rain. For dinner the Americans, and a few Aussies, went out to Eddie Rockets for cheeseburgers and milkshakes. We all gorged ourselves on too much food in true American fashion.
A bin for all of your rubble. Yes, rubble.
We didn't think we should risk it either.
Eddie Rockets has peanut butter cup shakes that are to die for.
'Merica.
Day 113 (July 12)
The 12th of July is an interesting national holiday up here in Northern Ireland. It is also known as Orangemen's Day, a day to celebrate the victory of the Protestant king William of Orange over the Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne. The protestants kick of the celebration with a giant bonfire at midnight the night before, often containing the Irish flag, photos of Republican government officials, the pope, and other Catholic and Irish symbols.
It's seen as somewhat of a family event. There was music, food and drinks, and children running wild. Some of them were even climbing the 3 story tall bonfire. At midnight the bonfire was lit and the amount of heat and smoke was immense.
It made me a little uncomfortable being there, surrounded by a part of the population so unaccepting of their Catholic counterparts. Considering the fact that the last bonfire happened less than twenty years ago I guess it makes sense why there is so much hatred left over. Luckily, I've met some wonderful locals who are working to unite the two sides.
Building the bonfire.
A beautiful Irish summer sunset.
The fire before the bonfire.
The flags and photos.
It starts.
The view across the river from my apartment.
Day 114 (July 13)
Since NI gives people the 12th and 13th off work, my new friend, Rob, decided we should spend the day in the beautiful seaside town of Newcastle. We headed down to the beach and I dipped my tiny toes into the freezing cold water. Then the clouds rolled in and it dumped on us.
We found a nice little café to grab coffee until it passed and we, once again, headed back out into the sun. We decided to hike Slieve Donard, the tallest mountain in Northern Ireland. Ten minutes in to our hike it started pouring again, but we didn't learn our lesson and kept going. About three quarters of the way up this big black cloud rolled over our heads. Then came the hail.
We were so close, we couldn't give up, so we kept on. After the hail came the rain and wind. We used a randomly placed rock wall for shelter until the rain let up a bit. Finally we made it to the top. The view was worth it, even with the cloud cover, but the pictures don't really do it justice.
Once we made it back to the bottom in one piece we decided we'd earned breakfast for dinner. I had a waffle covered in syrup with American bacon! So good.
The beach!
The Mournes. We climbed the tallest one.
And here comes the rain.
Waterfalls galore.
The Ice House
Up and up and up.
This picture doesn't do this justice. These clouds were BLACK.
It cleared.
And then it came back.
Soaked.
Good food and hot drinks.
Day 117 (July 16)
I spent the day hanging out with Hailee, serving tea at the Swing Belfast tea dance in Bangor. It was 20's themed, so we curled our hair and put on our red lipstick, and we found some matching dresses in Sharon's closet. There was a live band, and everyone looked lovely.
Afterwards, we went for ice cream. Then I headed back to Belfast for dinner with Girl Crew Belfast. About twenty of us met at Acton and Sons, and I had the most delicious dessert. How can you go wrong with waffles, caramel sauce, and honeycomb ice cream?
About half of us walked over to The Perch after dinner for a few drinks. The Perch is this cool rooftop bar just around the corner from the restaurant, but since it was Saturday night, it was too loud and crowded for us to have a chat. Most of the girls went home after, but a couple of us walked over to the Duke of York.
To get to the Duke of York you walk down this cute little cobblestone alley all covered in fairy lights. The alley leads to a tunnel covered in a mural of famous people from Northern Ireland, and opens into a courtyard with even more murals. We had a few drinks and we all decided to call it an evening.
Day 76-118 (June 5-July 17)
Those were all of the big events. If you want to see more I'll leave them here for you:
The Buckmad Bhoys
The banana suit makes its debut.
Cuckoos!
Blues at The Empire.
The banana suit strikes again!
Shenanigans at Lavery's.
Watching the Euros.
Belfast City Hall after the awful shooting in Orlando.
The gold hat returns.
Arts and crafts day.
The view from my apartment.
Conor's 1 year anniversary at Lagan Backpackers.
More of Cave Hill.
My new housemates.
More Lavery's shenanigans.
Some guest left a can of grey hairspray in the hostel. Hilarity ensued.
Paola's last Monday with us :(
Japes at Cuckoos.
Midnight on summer solstice.
More hostel malarkey.
The view on my walk home.
Alan came to visit!
The Queen's University
Pirate day
The gold hat strikes again.
Dinosaurs and things at the Ulster Museum!
A romantic stroll through the botanical gardens.
Irish music at Fibber's on a Tuesday.
Some fun hostel peeps.
The view from Divis and Black Mountain.
Ireland, you so pretty!
The Mournes are there inn the background.
Cloud photo!
More beaches!
Oh hey, that's me!
It's finally warm enough for frozen yogurt!
The Ring of Thanksgiving
Belfast Girl Crew
Sunset from the apartment balcony.
Unfortunately, in a few weeks I will be leaving this all behind and heading back to bonnie Scotland. Fortunately, I will be living and bartending on the beautiful Isle of Skye! Here's to the next adventure!
No comments:
Post a Comment