Day 4

Well, I never had time to upload Day 3 today because I've been pretty much without internet access -- I was able to log onto my email briefly in a booth like a phone booth in the middle of Belfast but with everyone waiting for me, I couldn't really write much. Anyway I'll upload both of these tomorrow I think so by the time you read this, you should see both. Anyway -- our stay in Derry was interesting -- there is a palpable sadness to the town that's evident in everything from the streets and the graffiti to the B&B we stayed at itself. It was fine -- but nothing like Devondell house and nothing like the people in the south of Ireland. Anyway we had breakfast there and then walked around the town -- not much to see there, actually - there were the Quay shops which looked from the outside like it could be a real shopping center but on the inside it kind of reminded me of that place in Hicksville where the Lord & Taylor clearance center is (LIers, you know what I'm talking about...) Anyway, after leaving Derry we headed to the Giant's Causeway which was cool, we took a bunch of pictures there which I hope to be able to post soon. There was a tea room there where I finally got to eat a real British scone (remember, Northern Ireland is part of the UK -- so it was a genuine British scone and it was awesome!) Then we drove to Carrickfergus -- the namesake of a Joan Baez song -- and one of the many places I've insisted Cindy drag me to on our trips so that I can hear the song in the place. I figured I was not likely to be back in Ireland any time soon -- so I better go to Carrickfergus when I can! There wasn't much to see there but I was glad that we went. Anyway... after that we headed to Belfast -- which was not at all what I expected. The central shopping area could have been anyplace in the US -- The Body Shop, Starbucks, et al were present. So, not too exciting for someone who lives on 3rd street. Also it started raining again so it wasn't as much fun walking around. OH, and here's something interesting. We had a tough time finding a place to eat dinner because all the pubs had "stopped serving food" at 5:00! We finally found a pub that was open, ate dinner, and by the time we left (around 6:30) the entire town had basically shut down, everything was fully closed, and not a car was left in the parking structure we had parked in earlier. No idea why that is, we might ask our hosts tomorrow. Cindy did more amazing driving work, I don't know how she's doing it, I definitely would have killed all of us if it had been me behind the wheel! Anyway, we managed to find Sylvan Hill House around 7:30 which is so lovely and homey and welcoming -- but I swear, 7:30 feels like midnight. My sense of time is all off and on top of the time change, the days are so short here that the sun doesn't rise till after like 7:30 and it's set by 7 -- so much darkness, it's driving me crazy. And it's not even 9 and Cindy is already sleeping!

Anyway we're heading on to Dublin tomorrow and seeing a play and all sorts of stuff -- hoping I get to upload this from here in the morning!