I'm going to break the trip up into a couple posts. I wrote this on Monday the 23rd:
It is too bad I didn't have a chance to update at the time itself of "The Clare Women's" weekend in the North, as Nigel said, but I shall take the time to do so now. My mom arrived on Friday afternoon in Belfast. Despite my familiarity of the city already, the two of us took advantage of Belfast's touristy offerings and enjoyed a taxi-tour of the city (our driver's name was Feargel, how unfortunate), and a ride on the Belfast wheel. I'm glad I did both, as it's always interesting to hear tours given by different people and witness how they slip in their own biases and opinions. The wheel boasted what I'm guessing are some of the best views of downtown, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
After our tourist adventures, we had dinner at a small restaurant called "Beatrice Kennedy's". It was my first time really eating out at a restaurant since I've been gone, and it was quite a treat to have wine that cost more than £2.99 and DESSERT. I had forgotten how much I missed my sweets. After dinner, I showed my mom around my flat and introduced her to my mates, and then bid her goodnight since we both opted to call it a night due to our train in the early morning. Saturday arrived, as well as our 9:00 a.m. train to take us to the North Coast. Right before we hopped on, we found the absolute neatest souvenirs. I tell you. I won't give away what they are, because I'm not sure what my mom is planning on doing with them (maybe someone lucky will get their name drawn by me or my mom for Christmas :)), but I will say I never thought we'd find something like that in shop in Belfast.
NI Railway took us up to Coleraine (where I spent the first three weeks of my trip). We meandered around the city for a wee while, visited The Sandwich Co, and grabbed a taxi to Portrush where our B&B was located. It felt sooo good to be back up North and see green things everywhere again. And ah, the smell of maneure never smelled so welcoming. I had previously asked Nigel, as he lives in Coleraine, if he would have a chance to grab a cuppa to meet my mom, but we were especially grateful when he picked us up in Portrush and treated us to an hour-long trip in his car all around the coast with his very own "Nigel commentary", and of course, a fitting soundtrack. So nice of him.
He dropped us off later in P'stewart where we were lucky enough to catch the second half of the Ireland vs. Wales Rugby match. I won't pretend like I know anything about Rugby, but I have to say it is a very exciting game to watch. An older Irish gent named Russell displayed the local hospitality and supplied us with wine and an attempted explanation of the rules of the game. I don't think I'll ever really understand it, but oh well. BUT. Ireland took the triple crown FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 61 YEARS. WOOOOOOO. So amazing to witness. Nowhere better to celebrate than in P'stewart with free wine and cheering people.
On Sunday, my mom and I took the train to Derry and had sort of a make-shift tour, as I've gotten to know the city fairly well. We walked through the Centre, the Bogside, and stopped in the Bogside Artists' studio where I purchased some prints of their murals for my bedroom wall next year :) Kate, Katie and Jackie: I miss you sooo and I am counting down the days until we reside together on 7th and 12th! It shall be so fabulous.
Some recent grafitti in Derry: So comforting...
I did get to see some familiar Coleraine faces Sunday night, which was nice. Sigh. I miss that place, and I miss going out at night and always recognizing a face. I think I like to pretend I'm a city girl, but in reality I just want to live in a small community and have pet sheep. Aye.
Monday came quickly, and my mom and I took the train all the way from Coleraine to Belfast to Dublin to catch our flight to Greece. So much transit, but so worth it!
Cheers,
Karen
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