May 10 Belfast
Photos
Today is our 28th wedding anniversary. It was OK.
We’ve never been to Northern Ireland before and this is our first trip to the
Republic of Ireland as well and we were in both today, so I guess that was a
celebration for us.
Breakfast was for us, anyway, a buffet at the Conrad. We are
supposed to get a full Irish breakfast everyday of our tour. Of course, you’d
have to be hospitalized if you ate all that grease every morning for 12 days.
It was at 7am. They had little glass jars of handmade yogurt from a
family-owned Irish farm.
It was very similar to what I make at
home. Clay says I make 5-star yogurt now. I actually like mine better.
The bus loaded around 8am and we left soon after. We drove
for about an hour and had a 1st comfort stop at Dundalk. Sometime after that we
got off the highway and drove along St. Patrick’s Trail starting at Newry. Our
goal this morning was Downpatrick and St. Patrick’s grave. We saw the boulder
grave marker and inside Down Cathedral next door.
Then we went to St. Patrick Center in town to see a film
about St. Patrick and his effect on Ireland. The film was projected in a
semicircle and mostly filmed from a helicopter so I spent most of the 13-minute
film with my eyes closed. We were there for over an hour and on our own for
lunch. I ate a protein bar and Clay walked next door to a place called Doc’s
for fish and chips. He had a huge portion for £5. He said it was the best fish
and chips he has had this trip.
He is starting to get sick now and I guess he
caught it from me. Anyway, he is taking the medicine he bought for me in
Windermere and we visited a couple of pharmacies today and got him some Guaifenesin
to add to the mix. So far he seems OK. He said he actually thought he hadn’t
caught what I had but was feeling off just because he had gotten off his daily
dosage of Benadryl. I think he needs to see a Doctor for that when we get home.
Why should he be taking Benadryl every day?
We drove about an hour further north and visited Castle Ward
for an hour long guided house tour. It was an 18th century mansion
built in Palladian and Gothic styles overlooking Strangford Lough (pronounced
loch). The 2 architectural styles are because the husband and wife couldn’t
agree. So, he built his half in a Classical style and she built her half in
Gothic style. The 2 styles continued inside the house as well. It was amazing
and interesting and a beautiful location. We got to see it in sunshine for
about 5 minutes and it was glorious. They tell us this is typical January
weather and not at all typical.
We drove for about one more hour to arrive in Belfast. We
are at the Hilton Belfast for 2 nights. We are in room 503. We have a view of
the River Lagan. We have 2 single size beds set about 4 inches apart. They have
fluffy duvets and 2 big fluffy pillows. There is a big bathroom with a shower
in it. There is a closet, TV, minibar, kettle, desk, 2 chairs and a table.
There is an ice machine out by the elevator and an ice bucket in the room, so
Clay is in heaven.
We had about 2 hours before dinner and the sun was shining
even though there was still a cold stiff wind, so we headed out. I picked up a
map and an About Belfast guide from the Front Desk. Clay wanted to see the leaning
Albert Memorial Clock Tower. I found an Alice Clock described that I wanted to
see. It said it was the only musical automaton clock in Ireland. It said the
clock played various melodies on 24 brass bells and “Alice in Wonderland”
characters revolved around the clock on the hour. We rushed to get there for
6pm. It was a bit of a letdown. There was construction around it and you
couldn’t get too near it, but we could see and hear it. It was working, however
the 4 characters we saw were from the Bible and I am positive had nothing to do
with Alice. It was weird because the frosted glass panels and signs around it
all said “Alice Clock”. Oh well.
Dinner tonight was in the hotel restaurant at 7pm. Clay had
a black pudding salad and baked Haddock and white chocolate truffle dessert. I
had creamed parsnip soup (I use the word “had” loosely.) and grilled chicken
breast and chocolate cake with coffee. Clay liked all of his. Mine was all good
except the soup, it was green and I thought it tasted bad.
Breakfast tomorrow is at 8am and we depart for a Belfast
City tour and to visit Titanic Belfast. The Titanic was built here in 1912. The
afternoon is free. There doesn’t appear to be much else to interest us right in
town. For now I will say Happy Anniversary to us and good night. We can sleep
in tomorrow morning if we’re able.
Photos
