Day 10: The Mourne Mountains

Today was our first whole day with Carole's cousin Aldra (and Aldra's husband Stephen). The view from their home is stunning: a perfect view of the Irish Sea. The guest room I'm in has a skylight that, when open, lets in the fresh smell of the sea and the lovely breeze coming off the water.

Yesterday was exploring Dublin day. Dublin is quite large and a huge cosmopolitan place. There were tons of tourists everywhere. We took a morning bus tour, which was very informative. We passed by a 5-star hotel which is owned by Bono of U2. The tour guide made cheesy jokes (of course I laughed at all of them), and kept a running commentary on everything we passed. After Dublin, we met Aldra & her husband for dinner at a place called Fitzpatrick's, which had lovely food. The restaurant has world-famous chowder of which I did not partake.

Today we all walked down by the path running alone the Irish Sea and into the little village that is nearby. The village is small and quaint, and thanks to the beautiful weather today, I have a tanline on my nose from my sunglasses. Who says you can't tan in Ireland?

Differences I noted today:

Day 8: Catching Up (Europe's Largest Hotel / Dublin Nightlife)

I didn't write two days ago for two reasons. 1) It was a relaxing day so we didn't go touring really although we did walk around Randalstown. And 2) I was too tired and lazy. Today though was a lot more touring and interesting anyways!

Yesterday morning we packed up to leave Maureen & Jim's home until Sunday evening. We met up with Carole's cousin Kay and her husband Norman at a Hilton hotel for coffee/tea/juice and scones. Then we left with Kay and Norman for a stop in Belfast on the way to Dublin.

In Belfast, we went to the Titanic Museum, which was so neat. It was also quite a sad museum because the Titanic is definitely a very tragic story. I learned a lot of interesting things about the building, as it was actually built in Belfast. It is thought that it took approximately 3,000 workers to build the Titanic, that there were 8 deaths during construction from work accidents, and that it cost £26 for a First-Class ticket. The Titanic was re-discovered in 1985 by Richard Ballard, and it is now a protected site meaning that it is illegal for anyone to take anything from the shipwreck site.

The average shipbuilding worker (called "Islandmen") made about £150 a year. The Titanic is thought to be one of the three most written about topics in literature today. The other two are Jesus and the American Civil War.