§ ...In a Galaxy Far, Far Away [Ireland Part XV]

After walking around Belfast for a while, my sister spotted a bar that was reported having an obervatory of sorts, with views of the city surrounding all the booths and tables. We needed a special entrance elevator [a private elevator] which we were given...the concierge keyed us in and up we climbed. I ordered a non-alcholic drink, The Belfast Castle...mighty tasty! The drink consisted of orange, mango, whites, sweetened cream, topped with orange zest. Delicious. My sister, the drinker of our trio, ordered an Irish whiskey and Irene had a cranberry concoction of some kind [also non-alcholic]. Thru the windows at our table we were looking down on Belfast's 360° skyline...

Speaking of Bars and drinks...the whole country is big on Pubs. My guess is within any town there were three pubs to a block [if not more]. The Irish do like their drink. Some pubs had food served...all nicknamed Pub and Grub. A funny story kinda...our taxi driver at one time after we asked him where to get something to eat, he said to us "There is Pub and Grub just around the corner, ON the corner". Well, we walked from the castle we visited to the beat of "we know where we're going"...only to get to the corner and NO Pub and Grub. We were LOOKING for a restaurant NAMED Pub and Grub. Then, realized after a bit of figuring the ways of the Irish...they're ALL called Pub and Grub. Kinda a general name for each bar that serves food!! We had icy beer along with our burgers!!!

Okie Dokie, on the subject of pubs and Ireland, another one that was a stop over was the NORTHERN most pub in the country; at Malin's Head! A bit of Hollywood trivia here in County Donnegal...if you are a fan of Star Wars: the last Jedi, you know that at the end, Rey climbs the steep slope of the mountain [Skellig Islands] to find Luke Skywalker and returns his light saber!! That part was filmed near that bar. Mark Hamill visited the bar, and I just may have sat in the same booth he did.

Luke to Rey: "Rey, the Force will be with you, always."
~ The End ~

§ Ireland, Part 13

More lighthouses [one on each side of passageway] and lobster traps

This is a mixture of Republic and Northern.  For the time being we are heading into NORTHERN Ireland, not the Republic of Ireland. On our way to several areas, like Londonderry, The Giant's Causeway, County Antrim [Bud's ancestoral homeland], and Belfast, the captial city of N. I. [By the way, for those that didn't realize there are "two" Irelands, Dublin is the captial of the Republic of Ireland].

I am gonna try and wrap this oversea excursion in just a few more posts so I can actually blog about what's happening around Corpus and home. So, some eclectic photos coming up...

 

I think the organ was in a cathedral in Dublin. Yet, I want to share a bit of detail. The organ was built in 1902 [there has been an organ here since the 1400s] This particular one has 4000 [thousand] pipes varying from eight inches to 32 feet!! Also...a bit of trivia as promised...In the Republic of Ireland, signs, door names, streets, etc.  all have the English AND Gaelic words!  Northern Ireland only English.  Northern Ireland has YELLOW license plates on vehicles, while the Republic has white.  Highways [tho both drive on the 'wrong side' of the road :-)] are marked entirely different.  Driving, cross the border and presto chango...different markings.  The photo with the lone gal with back to us, walking on the street, is my daughter.

§ Ireland Part TEN...

After working on our families' genealogy for over 25 years' time, Bud's ancestors came from Ireland [his father's side]. County Antrim [Belfast] to be exact, where records prove his great great great grandfather [there may be another great in the mix, I'm not sure...would need to get the charts out] was from Northern Ireland! One of my two things on my bucket list for this trip was to actually SEE the country, get some of the homeland for him, and see where the Titanic was built. Did all the above, which will come later in my trip portfolio.

Anyway, this part of the trip sight seeing is County Donegal. Derived from the Irish language Dún na nGall. Dún meaning "fort". There are many clans in Ireland with the likes of dynasties of which Bud is part of the distant past. I'm getting ahead of myself a bit, so I will revert back to Donegal...

After stopping here, we visited the Donegal Castle. And toured the interior the sign was left large for reading...

The Church of Ireland is seen through the window...