Time to Type...

I have major catching up to do! I think it has been well over a month since I last wrote, so it is darn tootin' time I did so.

I left off describing my trip with Rebekah to Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland... commonly portrayed as dangerous territory... movies often choose Northern Irish bad guys or have shipments of weapons heading in that direction but since the peace settlements in the early 2000's, the tension has calmed down quite a bit. Still, we noticed some MAJOR differences from the republic... for example, Dublin is a bustling city with cars coming at you from every which way and a pub on every corner whereas in Belfast the pubs were much fewer (and in some cases actually had secruity gating and locked entry) and the city was dead quiet in the afternoon. It was almost erie. I dont want to give you the impression that it is not worth visiting, because it is, and there is much to be learned from visiting the various sections of the city. It is actually a very nice looking place with much investment in recent years. It is also home of the Titanic (random but interesting nonetheless)

So I believe I left off at the part about Bekah and I's day trip across the Northern coast. We started it off by crossing the Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge, headed to the geological marvel of the Giant's Causeway and then headed to the Town of Londonderry (Derry). If you have ever heard of Sunday, Bloody Sunday (or even seen the movie) it speaks of the riots in Derry. The place experienced horrific periods of fighting between peoples in the North and the British Army. On our way to the town, it seemed as if every village along the way had been affected in some way... "and to your left you will see the bar where the IRA surprised Britished soldiers in a bar by bombing them" "on your left you will see another bar where a halloween bash was being held and two gunman wearing masks shot the barmaid and several others..." we learned alot about the political situation at present and the history of the troubles as well before heading back to the hostel in Belfast for the night. On the way home, someone asked the driver if he had ever witnessed any acts of terrorism while he has been working for the tour company... he said " yes, only once, it was when the buses were set fire to infront of the Linen House Hostel (OUR HOSTEL!!!)"

After that trip we decided that we werent satisfied and we needed to learn more. We booked a Black Taxi Tour which took us to the dividing parts of Belfast City. We were itching to see what the city was like outside of the center. We got in the cab and headed toward the protestant Skankhill Road. This is home to infamous gangs responsible for much of the protestant side of the troubles. We arrived in a housing estate which seemed fairly normal, not exactly well off but not a ghetto per se. Many of the walls were painted with murals depicting some of their "heros" one of which was - Steve "topgun." We got more and more information from our cab driver and headed towards "The Berlin Wall of East Belfast" and it was exactly as its name says. Covered in messages of peace and hope, we also found some hate graffetti inbetween. Apparently there is actually a gate which closes off the road during the night to prevent attacks on either side. We headed to a small Catholic estate on the exact opposite side of the wall in The Falls side. There, looking alittle more afluent, we again noticed murals and this time, we also saw lists of names of people who were killed during attacks on the very estate - a number of them had been killed by Steve "topgun" himself. I thought it funny how one side's hero could be another side's villan but it just goes to show how there are always two sides to every story.

I learnt alot from that trip, and it just goes to show that learning from a book about these places is one thing, but actually being there and experiencing it hands on is completely different. It makes everything so much more real. I kind of equate it to having gone to Auswitz when I was on exchange. I knew it was real and I knew it had happened but having seen it with my own eyes has really taught me something about the human fight for life and freedom. Its incrediable.

We headed home to Galway and after a... LONG drive back, we headed to town to meet with the boys and on the street we were overjoyed to see there was a samba band busking in the streets... so of course we jumped right in and started dancing like crazy folk but it wasnt long before the WHOLE STREET joined in... (it was especially funny when john was dancing around and someone from his work spotted him, gave him a "are you medically sane?" kind of look... haha it was a ball... or "great craic"

The plan was then that Bekah and I would work our brains out for a couple weeks and then head to Scotland. But luckly some adventures came our way. She went to Germany to visit a friend for the weekend and I was blessed with a weekend off!!! (and I didnt even ask for it!) So john and I busted out the "lets go Ireland Book" and decided that we would go to the North West, a small surfing town called Westport. We headed up Friday afternoon and immediately went to drop off our stuff at the hostel... which happened to be this beautiful old abbey. (for some reason, when john books hostels they are clean and nice... but when I book hostels, like in scotland, they are dirty and full of mean spanish people?) The trip to Westport was only about two hours so we ended up arriving around dinner time, finding a deserted restarant called Starvin' Marvin's were we set out to fill our bellies. A side from the strange giggling in the kitchen coming from the only waitress and cook in the place which we tried to not use our imaginations for... the food was great... see it is very important that i mention when i eat a good meal... since it is rare... ok ok Bekah's rice and creole sauce is lovely and john's tuna and pasta combination is something else... *makes strange face to further describe the oddness of the combination*... but it isnt very often that i get to eat a meal that isnt made by me... and anyone who knows how i cook knows... I CANT COOK! haha anyways... on with the story... so we set out to further explore the city.

The next day we set out to see the mountain where legend has it that Saint Patrick fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, argued with angels, and threw all the snakes into the ocean from. We really had no intention of climbing it at first. We thought "we can just take a nice walk around the base" (note: this is the holy sight of pilgramage for many people) well we decided we would start walking up until we got tired... we had no water, no food, not even proper foot wear... but we began our journey. We noticed that there were many old people climbing this and almost everyone had sticks... well we laughed at the thought "haha sticks... we dont need those *clutching our bellies and laughing like old british men...* just kidding, we werent that dramatic... we up and we thought " it looks as if people are climbing to that smaller part of the mountain... surely that MASSIVE LUMP OF MOUNTAIN beside it cannot be the summit, it looks to steep, must be unclimbable... thus... that smaller bit doesnt look too tough" so what started as a challenge to beat the old people ended up bringing us to the top of what we thought was the summit... we were sooo wrong... from there we could see that the massive lump actually had people climbing on the other side... well... we couldnt just stop there then... we started climbing and i thought " surely i am going to die here" as the lose rock began to tumble from beneath me... but john eased my fears with words of wisdom *notice the sarcasm* he said "no you wont die, you will just hurt yourself ... severely... you wont fall OFF the mountain... just down it... they air lift people off anyways.... ".... ahhhh it was like a vertical slope of lose rocks (and by the way, yesterday someone actually had to be airlifted off!) but we survived and when we reached the summit... no lie... it was like what i think heaven looks like... the summit is quite small and it over looks miles and miles while you are literally up in the clouds!

We climbed back down, which again, I was sure i would die doing... but thank God, i am still alive and kicking. We then decided it was ice lolly time. See I love taking trips with john because we never plan anything really... we kinda just stumble on adventure... when we get lost (which we almost always do...) we just drive until we see something we want to get out and explore... this explains how what we thought would be a "small walk around the base" turned into a 4 hour climb! so with that in mind we jumped into the car and re opened my book, found a place that looked interesting and headed in that direction. We were on our way to Achill Island. We ended up climbing around on seacliffs, chasing sheep, and coming across a beautiful empty beach... mind you it was freaking cold... so we only waded around in it! then we set out to head home... got lost for about an hour... and finally found our way.

Oh the adventures... to be continued... up next... Scotland and the wedding in donegal