Ireland Week Recap

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Internet has been down for a week, so this is going to be a rather lengthy post. Thursday- This was a relax and take it easy day. Emily went into work with Dad to see geophysicists in action. The rest of us lazily watched TV. Mom and I took a brief walk on the beach to see the lead singer of the Cranberries house, who lives down the road. Really not much else happened. Friday- Another fairly lazy day, but due to Mom’s incessant nagging we accompanied her into the center of Howth for a mini tour. There was an abbey and some bars. The abbey is one of the few churches of its time to have a triple bell tower, but other than that it wasn’t all that spectacular. Saturday was a long but awesome day. We woke up at 6 to catch the DART into Dublin so we could take the Enterprise train into Belfast, Northern Ireland. That train ride was about 2 hours, but Em and I passed the time by teaching Mom how to play Egyptian Rat Screw. We played 5 games, on the way up, naturally I won all 5. For some strange reason I’m bizarrely good at that game. We run into momentary trouble when we arrived in Belfast because we didn’t put the connection that since Northern Ireland is a different country and part of Great Britain, we would need pounds instead of Euros! Luckily, Dad found an ATM and we were back in business. We wandered Belfast for a little bit, its claim to fame is that the Titanic was built in the shipyards. They say the only reason it sank was because it had an English captain and a Scottish navigator instead of Irish ones! There’s also a monument to the Titanic, but in 1997 the city erected a large ferris wheel about 5 feet behind it, so it looks hilariously out of place. After a brief walk around Belfast we arrived at our tour bus that would take us 2 hours even further north to Giant’s Causway off the coast across from Scotland. The further north we drove, the colder it got (naturally). It even reached 1 degree Celsius, talk about cold! Nevertheless we braved the elements and arrived at Giant’s Causeway. The Causeway is a fascinating geological foundation. A contained pool of magma cooled slower than magma usually does, creating massive basalt pillars that almost look like manmade stepping stones. The also appear on the Scottish coast. Emily and Dad really enjoyed it, but it was fun for the whole family. The myth behind the creation is pretty funny. Once upon a time there was an Irish giant and a Scottish giant. The Irish one decided to battle the Scottish one, so he built a path to cross the sea to Scotland (it’s very close, you could see the Scottish coast). However, when he crossed into Scotland, he noticed the Scottish giant was much larger than he was, so he fled back to his house in Ireland and had his mother dress him as a baby. When the Scottish giant arrived and saw how large the “baby” was, he fled in terror because the dad must have been enormous. He destroyed most of the causeway as he fled. We returned to Belfast later in the evening and wandered the streets some more, mainly looking at fascinating architecture. We stopped for drinks at a famous Victorian era bar complete with snugs. A snug is a basically a very fancy and ornately decorated enclosed booth. Very cozy. We finished our drinks, meandered around some shops, then head back to catch our train back. All in all, a long but spectacular and fun filled day. Sunday was a day spent in recovery from our Belfast excursion. Mom, Dad, and I did go into Howth Harbor to visit the open air Sunday market, but that was about the only thing we did. Monday- Happy Christmas Eve! (as the locals say). Today was another fairly lazy day spent watching TV. They are really big into texting and celebrity perfumes over here, every other commercial is about texting or David Beckham’s, Hillary Swank’s, Sarah Jessica Parker’s, etc. new perfume. For Christmas Eve dinner we went to Dad’s favorite restaurant, the Oar House. Good seafood but nowhere near as extravagant as last year’s dinner. It will be a long time before we dine like that again, hehe. After dinner we walked back home and opened one present. It’s a little family tradition. Emily got me the American Office Season 1, so I’m pretty pleased. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas tomorrow! Tuesday- MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!! Highlight of today include the presents (Irish Monopoly, some cash, a Dublin Hard Rock Café TV, and a stein for my collection that is currently in VA because it didn’t arrive in time for Gregg to bring it.), Gregg crushing us all in Monopoly after no one landed on more Boardwalk/Parkplace with 4 houses for 3 turns, bad luck. A nasty uphill walk to Howth Hill, but a really pleasant and pretty walk down the Cliffside to get back home, and Doctor Who Christmas special!!! No spoilers here though. After that the family watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3 because Mom and I hadn’t seen it. It was pretty good but I still think 1st one is the best. Hope all enjoyed a fun-filled day. Merry Christmas!