I have resigned myself to the fact that catching up on a day-to-day blog at this point is an exercise in futility. I have notes of everything, so some day (or week) that I'm procrastinating once my life is back to normal in the spring, you might see some random posts about days spent by the Irish Sea and adventures around Ireland. Looking back over older posts, I've realized that this blog is not so much a blog as a long diary entry journaling all of the steps I have taken...which, let's face it, is more to jog my memory than to entertain the few people who stumble upon the page. So, this is now day one of productivity since coming over the Atlantic. With exercise beyond running in random patterns during P.E. and some actual homework done (for the first time since August) this morning, this seems like the perfect time to start fresh.
This past weekend was spent exploring a bit around Belfast. Halloween in Dublin promised to be crazy, so I figured it was a good time avoid a weekend of drunk people in costumes & go on a mini-road trip with a few of the members of my Irish family. (Like it or not, the family that has taken me in for so many weekends is now, quite possibly, stuck with me. (: & once you've sung ABBA & the Eagles while doing the dishes, you are officially too much like my biological family to not be adopted!) So my three Irish sisters and I piled into the little Peugeot in rainy Blackrock and headed north. I was overly prepared for the border crossing into Northern Ireland with my passport & Garda cards safely tucked into my bags...border patrol between the two parts of Ireland was a text message from O2 telling us that it was now twice as expensive to use our phones. We arrived at the get-together fashionably late, but it ended up balancing out since we were up talking until 4 a.m. I love the Northern Irish accent! It's almost lyrical sounding. The next day was rainy and gray...perfect for sleeping in and spending the rest of the day at W5. W5 is an awesome science museum in Belfast. The average age of our group was about ten years older than every other child-less guest in the museum, but I think we had at least as much fun. The musical stairs chimed as you climbed them and there was 3-D connect four! How could you not be excited?
Saturday we went out for breakfast at a Portuguese restaurant before going into Belfast's city center area for the rest of the day. St. George's Market was the first stop. People peddling everything from bonsai trees to knit hats to curries filled a massive warehouse-style building. The place was buzzing with everybody chattering at each other. Some of the more interesting sights: a dead fish wearing glasses, a roast pig on a spit, a lady with some kind of plant sticking out of her backpack, violet cupcakes, baby hats, muddy carrots freshly pulled, and wacky wool and button pins. A band played music on a makeshift stage in the center of the milling crowds. We taste-tested about everything, following anything iffy with a taster from one of pastry booths. A need for fresh air kicked in and we wandered out around the city towards Victoria's Square. Belfast's City Hall popped up in among the buildings, with great pillars and a meticulously kept lawn. Northern Ireland's pink double decker buses zigged and zagged among the pedestrians. We got to Victoria's Square, crowned by the dome of clear glass on top of it and festively adorned with a white balloon ghost floating around the second floor. After window shopping and looking out over Belfast from the observation platform at the top of the dome, it was time for a Starbucks break and people watching. Club employees passing out flyers in full Halloween costumes, "healers" laying hands on anybody willing to pay them, and making up backstories for random strangers kept us entertained for hours. When we went down to leave, Lady Gaga wandered by in a huge white wig surrounded by security and a stream of random fans. On that bizarre note, we left the north for Irish countryside once again.
Sunday after the morning meeting, we headed back to Dublin, spotting trick-or-treaters, Halloween lanterns, and fireworks on the way to gospel meeting. A few confused individuals are still setting off fireworks tonight...apparently Halloween is a 3-day event for some people in Ireland.
(Northern) Irish-isms:
weeins - "wee ones," little kids
slag - make fun of, tease (okay, that's all of Ireland, but northerners say it too)
No comments:
Post a Comment