Belfast

On our trip to Ireland we flew into Belfast. After renting a car and before setting out to Donegal to visit our friends the Dolans, we took some time to drive around Belfast, to try and get a sense of the city and "the Troubles" it has seen during the past century.

The Catholic (a.k.a. Republican, Nationalist) part of the city is centered around Falls Road, while the Protestant (a.k.a. Loyalist, Unionist) part is centered around Shankill Road.  Both roads run east-west from the city center, with a large wall (the "Peace Line") in between, separating the two sides. 

The look of the wall has improved since we last saw it 17 years ago. Trees have been planted, signs of hope have been posted, and it's now possible to go from one side to the other through several unmanned gates that are open during daylight hours.

It's easy to tell which side of the wall you're on. Large murals decorate the sides of many buildings and walls proclaiming allegiance to one side or the other, along with references to the paramilitary groups "IRA" (Irish Republican Army) or "UVF" (Ulster Volunteer Force).  

Scenes from Falls Road (Catholic):

Signs and murals on the Catholic side are often written in Gaelic.

Another way to tell which side you're on is by looking at the flags and colors 

(green white and orange for Republican, blue red and white for Loyalist).

Scenes from Shankill Road (Protestant):

Loyalists also have an affinity for the ancient English flag (white with a red cross).
And notice the reference to "UVF" inside the logo below.

As I read the first few sentences of this plaque along Shankill Road, I was thinking 

"good thing I didn't wear my McFarland t-shirt today":

Hope lies with future generations. If you're not old enough to remember,
maybe you can start to let go of the past.

The Dolan's Donegal paradise

We were fortunate to be house guests of our friends who vacation at their family home 

in County Donegal every summer. We had a fantastic time!

We explored nearby Doe Castle,

watched the horse races,

and Gene won!

The girls had fun on the beach...

and we all had fun in Gene's cousin's pub.

Here's Kevin jamming with a local.

Heartfelt thanks to the Dolans for welcoming us into their home!!

---------

Kevin flew back to London and Laura and I took a bus to Dublin. We stayed with my second cousin Maureen and she took us around Dublin to see some of the sites. Thanks to Maureen for her hospitality!

We visited Dublin Castle.

We saw the shoppers on Grafton Street.

 Laura posed with the Irish fishmonger Molly Malone.

We saw the stunningly beautiful book of the four gospels.

And here we are crossing the river Liffey on the O'Connell bridge.

We had a quick one day tour and then flew back to London that evening. The next day we got ready to leave the UK and begin our vacation on the continent.

... and goodbye!

We invited some people from the office to our flat shortly before we left.

Laura drew the invitation. It shows the outside of our flat.

On our very last night in London, more people from the office gathered at a nearby pub 

for drinks and goodbyes. 

They presented us with this beautiful canvas print, based on Laura's original invite.

Cheers!

The London Eye...

The London Eye, or Millennium Wheel, is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe and the most popular attraction in London. So in true tourist fashion we headed over on a clear evening to take a ride.

I've posted a number of pictures from various heights as we rotated around the big wheel.

This first one is Big Ben and Parliament.

A red double-decker bus way down there on the bridge.

Looking west down the Thames.

Looking east down the Thames.

The design resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel. Cool!

 Wendy, taking a picture of us.

 Jean, Michael...

and us.

The ride took about 30 minutes to complete. We took some silly pics on the Westminster bridge
then walked home. 

Brilliant!

There's also a short "4D" video you can view while waiting for the ride.  Posted here, it loses a little effect without the 3D glasses, but we thought it still captures some of the spirit of this amazing city.

Beaches, Hikes, and Pubs, Oh My!

Hey, Laura here. For those of you who don't know, we are in Ireland with.....
Fiona. (This is Fiona saying hi!!) p.s. If you don't know I am one of Laura's friends.
Laura: We're going to do a commentary between us on our trip so far, so you will be hearing from both of us about our time here in Ireland.
Fiona: This is my house that was built by my grandparents. It is in county Donegal right next to the Atlantic Ocean.

Laura: We got here Saturday evening and after a nice dinner went to a local pub that Fiona's cousins own. We played a game of pool while the adults played darts. We also found a cute dog that just hangs around the pub, and I named it "Bubba." 

Fiona: Later we played soccer or "football" outside in the back of the pub with 5 of my cousins.

Fiona: The next morning we had a lovely hike up to "the hut." It is a tiny, as you can guess, hut on top of a small mountain. My great grandfather built it.

Laura: There was an amazing view from the top of the mountain, and we played around inside the hut.. 

Fiona: Our last day was a fun one . First we went to this awesome castle. Then we came home and Laura, her mom and I went to this beach that we go to every time we go to Ireland called Murder Hole....DUN DUN DUUUN. Its name came from a long time ago when pirates came to stash their booty which they would fight for.

Laura: When we got there, I followed in the Dolan tradition of running down this huge sand hill at Murder Hole. It was a workout climbing up, but it was worth the run down.

Fiona: After the sand hill we went to these really cool caves.(And if you are wondering this beach is right down the street.) The caves were really big.

Laura: After the caves, we went in the waves and got soaked! The water was really cold. We made up a game where you have to jump when the waves come. 

Fiona: After one more run down the sand hill, we walked home and on the way`met some friendly cows. We fed them and they let us pet them. From left, we named them: Boogy (because she had snot hanging out of her nose), Spotty (because she had spots), Sassy (because she was pushing the other cows), and Hungry, because she was the only one who was actually eating the grass that we gave her.    

Laura: We had a really fun time with the Dolans in Ireland and I hope we can come back soon!

Fiona: Me too!