At the suggestion of Brian, Ray and Darren, we figured a day trip up to Belfast would be in order. We caught the sunrise (at 8am, remember how far north we are) train to Belfast. The usual ultra-green scenery was covered in frost and fog, which burned off as the ride moved along.
We randomly chose a direction for our walking tour and picked West Belfast first. Not really a touristy area, it is somewhat rundown and even has several relics from the nastier parts of recent Irish history (a huge barrier on one of the main roads that was once used to separate the Catholic and Protestant parts of the city, the huge prison used for poilitical prisoners, to name two).
Around lunch time we wandered in the Crown pub, old and famous for its design. A hundred some years ago there was a cathedral-building boom in Northern Ireland, and a number of Italian artisans were brought up to work on these massive buildings. The Crown's owner paid some of them to moonlight in his pub, and the result is quite a strking effect of stained glass and fancy booths.
The afternoon started with a hike down to Queen's University, another one of these schools that I can't believe is really a school for people anymore. We warmed up (yes, a common pastime in this weather) at the botanical gardens before discovering the nearby Ulster Museum (basically the national museum for Northern Ireland). It had all kinds of displays for all parts of the country's history, including art, primitive cultures arriving some 9000 years ago, local fauna (including skeletons of extinct deer the size of horses), and a whole section devoted to the history of "The Troubles" that included a number of moving stories and displays.
Upon our return to Drogheda (conveniently located before Dbulin on the way home from Belfast), it was time to visit the pubs. I continued my study of the local beer (mostly Guinness) while Laura sampled some whiskeys. We met some of Darren's friends from the hospital, and when the early pub-closing hour arrived, we all headed to Storm, one of the two clubs in Drogheda (the other is Earth, across the street). When that wasn't enough, we headed back to Darren's for one of those classic post-bar after-parties: people have already had too much but pound back beers anyway, people you don't know and really don't want show up, and some people just can't be encouraged to go home at 5am. But all in all, a good time.
Posted by warcode at December 29, 2003 10:50 PM