Birthday today

It is my 50th birthday today and surprisingly closed colleagues at job celebrated this event. Cups which are gifted by those friends look quite craft works and my wife loved the cups at her first glance. Thank you, those colleagues and friends. After works and workout at gym, which is also important routine to keep you good in shape, another surprising waited for me and my wife prepared for sushi for dinner. There is no booze today because it is still Monday but will have some this coming weekend.

Bye bye Ireland

We took bus to Dublin Airport to go back to Sweden. Bye bye lovely place. I am kind of becoming to like you. Hope we can revisit there in summer next time.

The Shakill Rd

Other murals on The Shankill Rd. The neighboring Shankill Road is said to be
predominantly loyalist.

Piece line

I think that this is the piece line between two parties, the republican community and the loyalist community.

Murals on The Falls Rd

We visited Falls Road to see murals. Those paints includes political messages. It is said that this area is synonymous with the republican communities in the city.

City Hall

Dublin City Hall is a magnificent construction and inside is also gorgeous. They offered us a free guided tour but we declined because we had other places to visit next. Could be interesting to join the guided tour.

Belfast town

Since we had plenty of time to go to Dublin airport, we walked around in Belfast. Here is Cathedral district where artistic walls, signs, etc. are found in an alley.

Last Irish breakfast

Sadly the last Irish breakfast for this time. It's superb but I wonder how much weight we will gain if continuously take this.

A giant fish

Since both of us felt completely full, we took some walk to the harbor where we found an interesting object, a giant fish...

The Cloth Ear

After checking some other pubs, we ended up with being seated in this pub. This pub is a very tourist friendly and warm comfortable place. Live music by two young ladies was also great. I indulged myself in this warm and slow atmosphere for a while.

Dunluce Castle

The bus dropped by Dunluce Castle, the most romantic ruined castle in Ireland according to our driver. It was a very delightful day tour and I highly appreciate the driver and conductor who is very informative and full of hospitality.

Really amazing place!

It was a really amazing place. Scientists say it was created by volcanic activities but old Irish folklore says it was created by an Irish giant who confronted another giant living across the channel in Scotland. I would like to buy the latter.

The Giant's Causeway

We arrived at our biggest attraction of the tour, The Giant's Causeway, the 8th wonder of the world. We must harry and approach the place before getting dark!

Old Bushmills Distillery

The next stop was The Old Bushmills Distillery, which is the oldest licensed distillery in the world. We had lunch there where I ate Irish stew again and my wife tasted soup and bread. Place just beside the facility smelled pretty good and sweet. According to the bus driver, it's Whiskey aroma, which makes sense.

Carrick-a-rede Ropebridge

This place is one of the main attractions of our day tour. It is thought that salmon fisher men originally built this bridge because there was a good salmon catching place behind the small island across the bridge. Since it was strong wind at that day, it was pretty much shaky on the rope bridge but it was actually fun.

Views from bus

During 2 hours bus ride to next stop, we could spend time to observe Norther Ireland landscape. It is really piece-full. If you look at the very top picture carefully, you could find the opposite land, which is Scotland, 12 miles off the coast of this part of Northern Ireland.

Carrickfergus Castle

The first drop point was Carrickfergus Castle after about 30 minutes bus ride. Since this was not the main attraction for us, we just stayed there for 15 to 20 minutes for a couple of pictures.

Day tour to north of Northern Ireland

We jumped in a day tour operated by McComb's Executive Travel & Tours being headed for north of Northern Ireland. Our bus passed by an old dock site where Titanic had been constructed.

Belfast Cathedral

After arriving at the Belfast central train station, we checked in hotel and then went to Belfast Cathedral. Architecture inside of Cathedral is impressive. I wanted to donate 2 pounds but unfortunately I did not have British pounds at that time. A lady at Cathedral kindly taught me that Euro's also acceptable but I just smiled back and was excused...

Train trip to Belfast

2 hours train trip to Belfast. Outside view was open farming field and I was impressed about how green it was. Quite different view if compared to Skåne because more dark brown color dominate in south Sweden now.

Bye bye Mr. Joyce

Bye bye Mr. James Joyce. We met several times when we were in Dublin but we did not have time to know each other more. Maybe next time.

Time to leave Donnybrook Hall

The last breakfast at Donnybrook Hall. It was very much comfortable staying there. They prepared for different types of Irish breakfast every morning while we stayed there for 4 nights. Besides, they made sandwich for us when they heard we would have train trip to Belfast. Their hospitality is never forgotten by me.

An Evening of Food, Folklore and Fairies

This was a very excited event which was held in The Brazen Head. The story teller delivered Irish fairies and folklore in very much lively manner. He also touched upon another side of Irish history like potatoes, emigrants, etc. Also it is worth being noted that Smithwick's which I am having is tasty Irish ale. You should try.

The Brazen Head

They claim that this is officially the Ireland oldest pub, dating back to 1198. It is unknown what they mean by "officially" though.

Tug the rope!

Sometimes, I don't quite follow what this lady is thinking about...

National Museum

National Museum of Ireland, Archaeology. You can learn how the Nordic tribes, Vikings, affected this land in ancient time. A pretty interesting place to visit.