Hello!
This weekend we went to Belfast with IFSA, our study abroad program!
We left Friday morning at 10:30 am and didn’t arrive in Belfast until nearly 6:30pm — it was an already long travel day elongated by Dublin traffic. So, Friday wasn’t the most fun, but Saturday was awesome! And now, I’m writing this blog on the train back to Limerick.
Saturday morning we got up early to go to the Giant’s Causeway, which was really cool! Volcanic activity created these hexagonal rocks that look like stepping stones out into ocean. Mythologically, it is the site where giant Finn McCool built a bridge to Scotland to engage in battle with a Scottish giant. Many more photos below!
After the Causeway, we went to Dunlace Castle, which it literally built on cliffs. There were awesome views of the coastline from inside the castle, but looking too far over the edge was a little frightening because the land just dropped straight down!
This is Ava, Anya and I at the castle! Can you tell it was a little chilly?!
Then, we went to the Scenic Inn for a nice lunch. IFSA paid for all of our meals this weekend AND we got hotel breakfast, so that was great! After lunch, we had a couple hours of free time to explore before dinner. Sylvia, Anya and I went to mass at the oldest Catholic Church in Belfast since we were going to be busy this Sunday morning. The church was pretty cool, I thought it was interesting to see how they’d reinforced the original wood constructed ceiling with steel. Also, they recorded the mass we went to for broadcast on the BBC this morning, which meant they had a beautiful choir — really the first choir we’ve had at a mass since getting here, so that was nice to hear.
This morning we went to the Titanic museum! Unfortunately, not everyone was ready in time for the bus we were supposed to get on, so we had to speed through the museum pretty fast. It was really well done though from walking up to the building to the final room — I wish I’d had more time to appreciate it.
Just walking around Belfast was fun too because they had a lot of impressive architecture, both modern buildings and old ones. There was also a ton of street art, mostly advocating for union with Great Britain or expressing loyalty to British royals. I did a project on street art during the Troubles for my History of Street Art class last semester, so it was fun to see the remnants of that in person.
– From Belfast
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