Belfast

Once again, I fail at updating my blog in a timely fashion. At least I'm only a week late this time... right? Yeah, I know. Excuses, excuses...

Two Fridays ago (Feb 27), I decided to go out to the one spot our campus that actually has some beauty to it to take pictures. One of the corners of campus has been transformed into a daffodil garden in the memory of someone, and whoever designed it actually did a really nice job (unlike whoever designed the rest of campus). It's built on a hill, and there are stone pathways, with lots of trees, a couple ponds, a waterfall and stream, bridges, etc, and (of course) lots of daffodils. The daffodils weren't blossoming when I went, though- it was still too cold. However, there were plenty of crocuses and snowdrops! It is so nice to see flowers again. I hope that they're starting to come up for y'all in Ohio!


Then on Saturday (Feb. 28), Carrie, Louise, and I went into Belfast. The weather wasn't that great- colder, very windy, and occasionally rainy. It wasn't horrible, though, so we still walked around a lot. There was a new indoor/outdoor mall there called Victoria Square. It was absolutely amazing! I know, I know, you're thinking something like "Please tell me you didn't go all the way to Belfast, in NORTHERN IRELAND, just to get excited over some shopping mall." But let me tell you, friends, this is no ordinary shopping mall. It is absolutely gorgeous. Whoever designed this did a fantastic job. The architecture is simply beautiful. There's a glass canopy covering a good part of it, but pedestrian streets go straight through the middle of the mall. In the center, there's a huge glass dome at the top. A glass elevator takes you up to an observation deck, and you can look out 360 degrees over the Belfast skyline. If you're feeling brave, you can look over the edge of the observation deck, and see the six stories of escalators and stairs and shops below you. I loved it!

against the Belfast skyline

the view down from the observation deck

the view of part of the mall from one of the bridges

one of the entrances

We got lunch and then decided to walk around Belfast. That's basically what we did the rest of the day- just walk around and see some of the landmarks. It was interesting to learn more of the history and background of the area. I didn't know that the Titanic was built mainly in Belfast!

the Belfast clock tower

Daffodils! Spring is coming!

the old customs house for the Belfast port

Apparently, the old custom house steps used to be a popular place
for speeches and gatherings. The statue is supposed to commemorate
this, though it mainly just makes a good thing for tourists to mimic.

random works of art near the shipyard

The "H&W" stands for Harland and Wolfe, the shipyard where the
Titanic was built. The two big yellow cranes are known as
"Samson" and "Goliath."

I had only heard about these in legends and myths. I had to traverse
the Atlantic to see one with my own eyes! Lo and behold, a toilet
where you have to pay!

St. Anne's Cathedral

There are murals like this all over Belfast, mainly dealing
either with the Troubles or with peace.

the Belfast Wheel and the town hall

It began to get pretty cold, so we headed back to Victoria Square for something warm to drink. At that point, we still had a couple hours until our train arrived, so Carrie and Louise decided to attempt to invent three-person checkers. Needless to say, it didn't work out very well... at all. By the time we were done, it was dark out. At that point, we discovered that they light up the big glass dome with lots of bright colors at night. It looks amazing against the dark sky!

Louise, Carrie, and I with our checkerboard coffee table

the glass dome at night (the observation deck is the tower to the right)

All in all, it was a good day, but an exhausting one. That week, nothing really spectacular happened- it was a fairly boring week. I had two presentations due, so it was nice to get those out of the way and be able to focus on other things. This past weekend, we just relaxed and hung around our apartments.

I don't know how much any of y'all keep up with the news, but there have been a couple "events" in Northern Ireland recently. On Saturday evening, a couple of morons from an IRA splinter group followed a pizza delivery car into an army barracks. They opened fire as some soldiers were getting their pizzas. Two British soldiers were killed, and two other soldiers and the two pizza delivery guys were seriously wounded. This has the potential to completely upset the peace that has been prevalent for the last twelve years here. Please, could you pray for the families and friends of those attacked, and that the peace will come again? Everyone's on pins and needles. Coleraine is a peaceful enough area, so I don't think I'm in any danger, but it could absolutely affect the students who aren't from this town. Anyway. Prayers please!

I was going to take a leaf out of Andy's book (blog?) and teach you some Northern Irish phrases, but this is already really long. Oh well, that will give you something to look forward to... ;)

Love and hugs to y'all!
Erin