Eurojournal-19 Sept 2006

We woke up after sleeping in a bit. Even Liam slept in past 8am. I felt a cold coming on so I welcomed the extra sleep. We got ready and ate the free breakfast prepared by the owner. This guy is so interesting. He is abrasive but lovable. Much like that character Belize. The kids make him laugh and smile. He cooks in the kitchen singing classical music. The breakfast was so sweet. Fresh, hot Irish oatmeal, cornmeal muffins, toast, jam and Irish breakfast tea. We filled up as it was a long day on the train today and lunch was questionable. I was hoping for a way to change the whole schedule and stay another day here. I grew very connected to this place. No luck and I could not get earlier train schedules. So off to Belfast we go.

We walked to the village and took in the beauty. Along the road we saw an old stone church, a colorful bar with about 10 multicolored chickens or roosters outside, Aran sweater shops, sheep, cottages and fences. We arrive din the village. I went into a sweater shop in hopes of a cotton sweater. I almost put my ethics aside and bought the wool sweaters but couldn’t. No luck. Oh well. Kids got their souvenirs. Liam has been collecting coins, Byron pens and Luna postcards. We grabbed veggie burgers and got on the boat to the mainland.

Boat to bus to train. We took a train all the way across Ireland to Dublin. We saw green rolling hills, sheep, forests, villages, cities and cows. We arrive din Dublin and had to take a tram to the other train station. That was fun to get a taste of Dublin. We took the train north to Belfast, Northern Ireland and arrived around 9pm. Wow, he we were in Belfast! I have always been interested in the history here between the Catholics and Protestants and Britain’s colonization of Northern Ireland.