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Hi all!
Since I last wrote we've been from Dublin to Belfast to Glasgow to Edinburgh. So I shall start from back in Ireland!
Dublin to Belfast
We got our free lift up to Belfast on one of the Paddywagon buses, stopping on the way at (another) cathedral in Drogheda where the Catholic martyr St Oliver Plunkett's head is preserved in a glass case. Slightly creepy, but they seem to be quite proud of it. Another 10 minutes up the road we stopped again at (another) monastery that had celtic crosses over 1000 years old. It was so cold that nobody really wanted to be out of the bus for that long so we got a glimpse then kept driving towards Belfast.
The tour guide driving us up was a guy called Stephen and he told us a bit about the history of Northern Ireland and the IRA etc. apparently one of the only ways to tell that you are crossing the border from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland is by the changing of the colour of the line on the left hand side of the road. In R.o.I it's yellow and when you enter Northern Ireland it becomes white - wow. When he told us that I began to watch the line on the side of the road for about 15 minutes before it changed - it was a slight non-event but nonetheless, I saw it.
Apart from Stephen's historical stories he also shared stories from his time as a tour guide. Most recently he took a day tour from Dublin to the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. It takes roughly 3 hours to get up there and when they arrived he let everyone out then just wandered around the car park, got some food and waited for everyone to come back. As he was waiting he heard a slight muffled noise and some thumping he thought was coming from the van. He opened the boot of the van and an old man jumped out! Apparently he'd climbed in the night before because it was raining and had fallen but couldn't get out because you can't open the doors from the inside. Stephen said it was quite lucky he found him because for the next 6 days that particular bus was only going on day tours and wouldn't be using the boot and he probably would have died in there - creepy!
My favourite story though is this one:
Stephen was taking a 3 day tour, which had a majority of Australians but also one French man. They arrived at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin and everyone got off the bus but Stephen noticed that the French man was still asleep. So instead of waking him he decided to just let him sleep and the rest of the tour went without him. On the groups return two of the Australians on the tour approached him saying "now we don't want to alarm you but the man at the back of the bus has passed away." Stephen didn't really respond so one of the Australian's said "he's dead", which is when Stephen freaked out. Apparently rigor mortis had set in and the man had gone blue without Stephen having the faintest clue that he wasn't just sleeping peacefully at the back of the bus.
After more stories we arrived in Belfast and checked in to our hostel and headed out to the Christmas markets. It was mainly lots of international food and after some German bratwurst, Belgian chocolates and Spanish churros we were feeling fairly stuffed so we caught a taxi to our next destination, which was the ship yards where the Titanic was built. It was so cold and windy I couldn't really appreciate it that much but Alex scattered some of her Grandfather's ashes there as he was a sailor and had lived in Belfast.
Belfast day 2
Today we went on a day tour from Belfast around some of Northern Ireland. We stopped at some nice scenic places for photos. Our first major stop was at the Giant's Causeway, which is a bizarre geological formation with the legend behind it that giant's had formed it (the legends much longer than that but I really cannot remember it). The next major stop was in the town of Londonderry. Derry, as it is commonly called, was the side of Bloody Sunday in 1972 when the British army opened fire on a protesting crowd and 14 were killed. We went to see some of the murals about the history of Northern Ireland including the hunger strikes and much more.
Belfast to Glasgow
Woke bright and early this morning at 0445 to catch our flight from Belfast to Glasgow. On the plane we saw a beautiful sunrise of such vibrant pinks and oranges that it made up slightly for having to wake up so early. The flight was so short, like flying Sydney to Canberra, which is bizarre seeing as we were flying internationally. We caught a taxi to our hostel in the West End of Glasgow, which is apparently quite a wealthy part of town - Oo la la. We walked through the park opposite the hostel (Kelvingrove Park) and spotted squirrels and people jogging in shorts (it was about 5 degrees! Even I don't like cold that much.)
We got on a city sightseeing bus tour and drove round the city listening to the history of different buildings and we also discovered that Glasgow is considered second only to London in terms of shopping. Alex and I were so tired from getting up early that the rocking of the bus was not very helpful in keeping us awake. We were struggling a little so we got off and went to the Willow Tea Room for lunch where we had sandwiches, tea and scones with jam and cream for lunch . Then we hit Buchanan Street, which we were told is THE place to shop. We shopped (quite succesfully) from about 2-6pm. Thus far I have obtained 6 pairs of shoes. (Jem, if you're reading this, I hope you are quite proud.)
Glasgow day 2
We let ourselves sleep in till 1030 this morning after getting up extra early yesterday. We walked through Kelvingrove park once again to get to the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. On the way we passed an area with a big fountain that had about 8 dogs running around and playing with each other. They were very cute but my favourite was the mini version of Jack. After admiring them for a little while we continued on to the museum. When we walked in we were instantly reminded of the movie "Night at the Museum" because it had all the stuffed animals and things hanging from the roof. We spent a couple of hours there then went to find somewhere to have dinner where I seriously overindulged with the biggest sundae I have ever seen.
Glasgow to Edinburgh
After checking of our Glasgow hostel we did a little bit more shopping on Buchanan street then made our way to the Bus depot where we caught the bus to Edinburgh. It was about an hour and a half drive and we arrived approximately 2pm. We caught a taxi from the bus station to Alex's friend Tom's place and I met him and his room mate Paul, from York, for the first time. They seem like very nice guys although Paul can be slightly difficult to understand if you're not paying enough attention. At about 10pm we went out to a student bar where I tried a cocktail called "Jamaican me crazy" purely for the name. After a little while we went out to a club called Shanghai where Alex and I hit the dance floor. It was a fun night but my favourite moment was easily when Tom was approached by a very camp gay guy who decided to give him a great big kiss. Needless to say Tom was slightly unnerved by this experience but it provided the rest of us who saw it great amusement.
Edinburgh day 2
Woke up at 0900 to a text message from my friend Maddy who was also in Edinburgh asking us to meet her at 1100 at the Elephant Cafe, the same cafe that J.K Rowling spent a lot of her time writing Harry Potter. We all then walked up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle but could barely see anything because of the incredibly thick fog. The inside of the castle was very interesting with a great exhibition set up of the history of the Scottish monarchs and we went to see the Crown Jewels. We also saw the room in which Mary, Queen of Scots gave birth to her son James in. It was about the size of my walk-in wardrobe at home!
Edinburgh day 3
There really is absolutely nothing to report on today. We woke up about midday, made some cheese toasties for lunch and are soon going to do some washing - wow.
I hope everything is going well back home, if you have the time I would love to hear what you're all up to!
Lots of love,
Ellie xxxxxxxxxx
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