Week 6 was another fun week filled with memories that I will never forget.
On Thursday I celebrated my first Fourth of July overseas. It was definitely a culture shock to go into work on the Fourth considering my whole life the day was free from work and school and full of festivities. Nonetheless, a group of us went to Eddie Rockets to eat some burgers and hotdogs and drink some milkshakes as a way to mimic common American Fourth of July tradition. A couple of friends and I wanted to walk down to the pier after dinner to burn off all of the calories we consumed, but we quickly realized that we wouldn’t make it before it got dark. So, we stopped and admired the sunset until the sun went down.
On Saturday we had the entire day to ourselves, so Jackson and I decided to explore the parts of the city that we hadn’t seen before. So, we went to Dun Laoghaire and explored the pier while checking out some really cool stores. One store that was particularly fascinating to me was called Board and Brewed, which was a restaurant that also contained over 500 board games for customers to play while eating and drinking.
This weekend we had the pleasure of going to Belfast for an overnight trip. This was definitely one of the highlights of the entire trip. It started with a visit of the Titanic Museum. This was a four story building filled with artifacts recovered from the shipwreck as well as personalized stories from people who died and survived the Titanic. I really enjoyed the mini “rollercoaster” ride on the first floor, which took us up a few floors and gave us a detailed account of how the ship was built over time.
We had some free time for lunch, so I took it upon myself to eat some Chinese food. It turned out to be the worst Chinese food I have had in my entire life, so I will never be going back there again. I get sick just thinking about it so I’m gonna stop writing about it now.
Next up was the Black Taxi tour. Our group of 30 was split up into roughly 5 “taxis” where we were driven around Belfast to learn about the century-long conflict between the Catholics and Protestants. We learned that there is even a wall today that separates them both, although it is not as violent today as it was 100 years ago.
After a fun night exploring the city, we went to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which gave me flashbacks to kissing the Blarney Stone. I saw some pictures of the bridge last week and I got really scared just looking at it, but it was far less scary actually crossing it. After crossing the bridge, it hit me that I could actually see Scotland from where I was standing.
Picture on the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge
To conclude the weekend trip, we had a guided tour of the Giant’s Causeway. At the end of the tour, we stood face to face with massive columns of hexagonal rocks with tiny gaps in between each rock. When we got closer to it, we saw centuries-old coins lodged in the crevices of the rocks, which has always been a tradition for tourists who visit the Giant’s Causeway.
All in all, it was a really cool week where I got to explore new parts of Dublin, celebrate an American holiday overseas, and explore a new Irish city!
Tyler! Week 6 was so fun for you! Belfast….are you kidding me? You are so so blessed to have had such an amazing opportunity to spend the summer exploring Ireland! And the fact that I will be in Dublin in less than 24 hours….I am so so excited to see you and have you be the ultimate Ireland tour guide!! Bangers and Mash (which you still haven’t even tried) here I come!!
Ty,
Each week just seems to get better and better. I’m so excited you got to see the Titanic hjmuseum. That’s a once in a lifetime. And you are being challenged to overcome fears by walking bridges and kissing stones. I’m so so proud of you. Enjoy your family, and try some bangers and mash. XO Susu