first batch of photos from Belfast

Belfast City Slideshow

first batch of photos

First night in Dublin and the North

Our arrival in Dublin was not surprisingly smooth. The airport there is being remodeled however and it took us about 45 minutes to get through passport control. Ironically the seven counters serves EU citizens were had no wait time. Our advice to Dublin is that they should organize the arrivals so there is a better balance between international and EU domestic flights in order to optimize the queue waiting time for passport checks. We took the airlink bus from the airport to Temple Bar near city center to meet our host Martha. We called her from a payphone near by and she met us at the bus stop. During the 15 minute walk from there to her flat on Exchange street I had a very familiar sounding epiphany that I would never travel with so much stuff ever again. I tried hard to comfort myself with the fact that I will be abroad for more then a year but mz hands, raw from the webbing handle of my duffle bag, and aching shoulders tell me that this excuse can give me little fortitude. Having slept minimally the night before the flight and only for a few uncomfortable hours on the plane, the three of us were exhausted. We dropped our bags off at Martha’s, took showers and headed out with plans to find some grub, which we did at a place called gruel, tour a bit of the city, and meet up with Martha upon her return from work around seven. Half way through our amazingly tasty gruel, half pork sandwhiches with stuffing and apple sauce and half bowls of asperagus potato leek soup all of were fading pretty fast so we decided to go and nap in the garden of Dublin Castle. Following a short nap there we went back to Martha’s house and waited for someothe ne to come in or out as we had no key to the ourside door but had two to open her the door the aparmtnent. The naps were somewhat satisfying but we were a bit drained the whole evening. Daniel and I went out to the grocery store and found a huge chicken pot pie for 2.99 euro so we had that and a salas for dinner. That night we went out to a really nice beer hall and then to a bar called the Porter House which had live music and was right around the corner from Martha's house. Temple bar is a really wild area at night. In the morning we were supposed to meet some Portuguese couchsurfers to tour the Guiness house but when we got to the bus station we decided it was to expensive to store our luggage so we decided to take an earlier bus up to Belfast. While we were waiting for the bus Todd and I walked around the nieghborhood to get some breakfast and Dan watched our bags for us. The ride up to Belfast was absolutly beautiful. So far on this trip we have had really amazing weather and thee view of the countryside was really nice. Celine, one of our hosts in Belfast picked us up from the bus station and took us back to her flat. While we were waiting for her boyfriend to get off work we walked around their neighborhood which is in an up and coming part of the city near the docks but only a ten minute walk to the city center. We toured around the old custom house and the Victoria square shopping area before we met Marty and headed back to their flat for some tasty take-away indian food. We were really tired still and spent the night watching movies and chatting with our hosts. This morning we got up around eleven and went over to St. Georges market, which is a farmers and craft market that happens every Saturday. At the market we met some of the other active couchsurfering hosts from Belfast and their guests who ended up touring the city with us. Our hosts were amazing tour guides and took us all over the city. One of my favorite places we went to was Queens University which is where my favorite poet, Seamus Heaney, was educated. The botanical gardens near the university were very beautiful and we really enjoyed sitting in the sun and getting to know the other surfers. After our six hour tour of the city we went over to a surfer Tobias's flat for dinner and a bit of a party which happened to be in a very shifty neighborhood. His apartment was right across the street from a protestant paramilitary bar and there were a bunch of rowdy guys sitting outside. Evidence of the troubles is still very visible here but the city feels very safe and many neighborhoods are being regenerated. Tomorrow Celine and Marty are taking us on a trip up the coast to visit many iconic spots including the Carrick-a Rede Rope Bridge and the Giant's Causeway. So far everyone here has been really friendly and lovely.

the plan

For all of you family and friends who are curious about my journey this summer here is a somewhat complete itinerary so you can see where I am and where I will be along the journey. I will keep updating it with more information as plans fall into place so check back periodically for the juicy tidbits.

itinerary