Ireland awaits - part 1

The overnight ferry dropped us off in Belfast early on Friday morning, only a fifteen minute drive from our first destination - The Titanic exhibition.

With time to spare until our timed entry, we just wondered around the docks area, but got no offers from any sailors.

I visited the exhibition some six years ago and was impressed then, but they have actually improved it. The sense of actually being there as it was being built was strong, as was being transported through the finished liner.


As we had a few hours to spare before we were allowed on the campsite, we drove to Carrickfergus and it's well preserved and looked after castle. And on the doorstep was, lo and behold, a Wetherspoons! This pleased Wallace mightily as he keeps track of all the ones he has been to.

We met there a Scottish rugby on tour. The Forrester's have organised a tour to Carrickfergus since 1979. Great lads to talk to.

The campsite was council run but automatic. There was no reception, just a keypad to enter a code you were sent into. It was tidy though.

Saturday we took a bus into Belfast centre, and it is now a blend of modern and original. No sign now exists of Troubles damage, at least I'm the centre.

There were several partybikes doing the rounds. Difficult to describe, they hold 16 people - 12 partiers pedalling, 3 having an easy time, and a steerer who is also the barman. The joyous shrieks were very amusing.



Sunday we are taking the Antrim Coastal route, and will report further.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ireland awaits - part 2

Image
 I forgot to mention in the first blog that in Belfast we took a hop on hop off bus tour (good recommendation Lois!). It was well worth doing. Apart from the usual city centre sights and buildings, it all took in the Falls and Shankhill Roads, the murals, Crumlin Road jail, and the "peace" wall. Now this was fascinating, and shows that a lot of people have not moved on. The driver did a good job of staying neutral in his descriptions of the atrocities, bombings etc. Sunday saw us travel along the very beautiful Antrim Coast Road, stopping at all the views on the way. The stop for the night was in Bushmills carpark, which gave us the opportunity to visit the Bushmills Distillery, and naturally try a few samples. We knew everywhere was going to be packed solid on Bank Holiday Monday, so there was an early start to get to the Giants Causeway. We were just about the only people there, and it was so peaceful and quiet - the bird song was immense. Just as we were leaving the tour b...
Read more

I've gotta leave old Durham town, and that leaving's gonna get me down.

Image
   Roger Whittaker knew what he was talking about with those lyrics, for Durham is a very pleasant place and we shall be sorry to move on tomorrow.   Amazon had done everything they promised, and a new water pump was waiting for us on arrival at the Durham Amateur Rowing Club. Half an hour fiddling around and all was well with the world again. The site here is compact, but tidy. We are right on the river's edge, and have access to the club facilities - unfortunately not the bar as it is too long and narrow to allow for social distancing. The first night we took a stroll along the riverside path to the edge of the city centre and back, mainly just to gauge Ann's ability to do it. She managed but would not have been able to do any more, which meant we would need a taxi for our visit to the cathedral the next day. The taxi driver gave us a great overview of the town on the way in this morning, which made up for the fact that the main bridge into the centre was closed - it ha...
Read more