Nothing too exciting happened last week, besides riveting classes and fun homework. Early Saturday morning we woke up and got on a bus to Belfast in Northern Ireland. Belfast unfortunately has been the sight for many wars and horrible acts of 'terrorism' for many years. As it turns out, the program we went with had to push really hard to get permission to go to Belfast since it is known for being very dangerous. Luckily, Belfast is now a very safe city, or so they say. The bus ride was about 3 hours long but I slept through most of it so it went by pretty quickly. When we arrived, we went to the Giants Causeway. Story says that a giant lives there and was fighting with another giant and had to build a causeway from Belfast to Scotland to fight him. I have no idea who came up with that but never the less, it was very pretty. The winds were crazy so it was kind of chilly but it barely rained! At one point apparently we walked through the windiest part of Ireland. After that, we got some lunch and got back on the bus toward the Titanic Experience. Turns out the Titanic was built and left from Belfast, so we got to go see where it was before it left. The building was HUGE and as it turns out it was the same height as the actual Titanic. We went on a self guided walking tour of the exhibit and even went on a ride that took us through the making of the Titanic. The exhibit was really interesting but kind of depressing at the end when we went through the part about all the people that died and what not. After that we got back on the bus and headed to our hotel. The hotel was actually really nice, especially compared to the hostels we've been staying in. That night we got some dinner at an Italian restaurant in the mall near by. Then we went out to a club called "Filthy McNasty's" it was the strangest club I have ever been to and we didn't stay very long. The next day, after breakfast, we got back on the bus yet again and took a bus tour of one part of Belfast with an ex IRA prisoner. He showed us a lot of history and explained a lot of the violence that went on back when he was in prison. Then we got a three course meal at a local restaurant, it was delicious and obviously filling which is a nice change. We then got the chance to speak to another ex IRA prisoner. This one was a female and she was in jail for 5 years just for being a member of the IRA. Before going back to Dublin, one last ex prisoner gave us a bus tour of the other side of Belfast. It was really interesting to see both sides especially from someone who was there. We then embarked on our trip back to Dublin, at this point, everyone was exhausted so I think we all slept on the bus. The trip to Belfast was really eye opening and it was also a very beautiful place so it was great to get to experience that(not to mention it barely rained the whole time).
Cheers!
Olivia
Cheers!
Olivia