Moving day. Departing Galway we headed North, stopping first in the village of Knock, population of 300 with a church that seats 12,000! In 1879 locals saw the Virgin Mary and Joseph appear on the wall of the church. Word of miracles brought a flood of pilgrims which is still continuing. From Knock we continued north, then east toward Northern Ireland, arriving at the border town of Belcool. We noticed the fortifications around the police headquarters. This was where the war zone was.
Upon arriving in Belfast City we checked in at the Holiday Inn. I should let Larry tell this portion of the tale. He went off in search of a police patch and was met with many obstacles. We all took walks and familiarized ourselves with the city surrounding our hotel. Dinner at the hotel. Not our favorite and it's doubtful they'll get Byron's return business.
Thursday, August 16
After our hotel breakfast we all loaded onto the minibuses and headed out for a short tour of the outlying areas of the city. Upon our return we visited City Hall, which was very beautiful. From there we drove outside Belfast and stopped at Stormont, the Parliament of Northern Ireland. And then, our tour of Mount Stewart, the 18th century home of the Marquee of Londonderry. This was my favorite spot (until the last night, that is). The "home" and grounds were stunningly beautiful. Larry and I also tried some ice cream for our lunch. I think I had lavender. Delicious!
We had some free time left in the afternoon, so Gin, Sharon and I headed for the downtown shopping area where we got some more souvenirs. Those were my favorite shops, but the prices were steep.
I won't mention our last dinner. Let's just say the hotel staff wasn't up to snuff and leave it at that. As I said previously, Byron is unlikely to return.
Some pictures will be inserted here to provide interest, but they're not of the area or what I've been writing about. Those will follow much later, as my computer still has them hidden. Roxy has managed to "lift" them off the chips, but it's been a slow and tedious process and she's not finished yet. Byron sent us a disk today and I can use some of those, but they're primarily of people (us) and not too much scenery. We'll all just have to wait!
1 comment:
Hi Kathy,
For a lack of a better place to put it, I'll add to this post my comment that this is a beautiful blog full of wonderful pictures and commentary. I don't know how you get the energy to do it but it is a great running record of your travels and I enjoy it. (For that matter, I don't know how you keep up the traveling pace - but that is another story.)
Hopefully we will see you and Larry for a glass of wine soon. Welcome home.
Cam
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