Adventure #3: County Antrim - My Way or the Causeway

Adventure Summary:

Location: Belfast, Bushmills, Portrush - Various parts of County Antrim, Northern Ireland

Time Spent: 9 Days

Reason for Travel: Tourism, Sight-Seeing, Orientation Week, Moving into University Accommodation!

Highlights: Black Cab Tour, Game of Thrones Northern Ireland Coastal Tour, UU Orientation Week Events, & the Laundry Room at my Student Accommodation

Trip Rating: 10/10

Adventure Details:

Hello from Northern Ireland!

Where to begin... so much has happened in the past week, it's hard to keep track of everything! I'll do my best to recount the adventure highlights in a coherent, semi-concise manner, but no promises 😆.

Day 1: Arrival in Belfast from Dublin

Picking up from where we left off in the last blog post, Dad and I travelled by bus from Dublin up to Belfast. I fell asleep about fifteen minutes after the bus left Dublin and woke up about thirty minutes before we arrived in Belfast... There were no border control checks when we entered Northern Ireland (UK), so I had a wonderful, undisturbed nap. Bus naps are great, aren't they? To all the people out there that can't fall asleep in cars/busses/trains/planes - what do you do to pass the time on longer commutes?? That is, when you're not the one driving, of course.

After arriving in Belfast and checking into our accommodation, we dropped our bags off in our room and walked around the city before our Black Cab tour that afternoon. Although the tour itself was only an hour, it was full of rich history and personal experiences of our Cab Driver/Tour Guide. This tour felt different from other history tours that I'd done in the past such that the history of Northern Ireland was so recent and continues to be going on now through political disputes and discussions. Furthermore, some of the damage that was caused from various acts of violence are still visible on public buildings and private homes - a reminder of what was and symbolism of survival. To this day, I think I am still digesting all the information shared from that tour. 11/10 recommend doing this if you are ever in Belfast!

What else do you do in Belfast? You go to the Titanic Museum of course.

Growing up learning about the aftermath of the Titanic, its 'failed expedition', and the preservation and wreckage recovery efforts by Halifax (Nova Scotia) and comparing that with the new perspective of the engineering, ship-building, and excitement of the engineering feat was... different to say the least. Now having an understanding of the birthplace and the final resting place of many of the victims, I have a greater appreciation for the complex histories around the Titanic. 

Architecturally speaking, the building interior and exterior was BEAUTIFUL. The exhibit itself is quite Disney-ified, but the curated spaces add to the overall experience. If you ever have a chance to go, it's not something you'll want to rush through! Minimum 1.5 hours, if not two, to properly go through all the information and digest as much as possible.

Day 2: Game of Thrones Northern Ireland Coastal Tour

Winter is coming... well, autumn first. 

I will admit, despite its name the tour did not include many GOT elements. The tour was still amazing, but the lack of GOT content made it a bit disappointing in contrast to the emphasis of GOT in the tour description online. 

Either way, the North Coast is beautiful - it was great to get out of the urban city life and out into the country. Better yet, it was great to touch see and smell the Atlantic Ocean again (mind you, the opposite coast than I'm used to). 

The tour took us through Carrickfergus Castle, Carnlough Harbour, Ballycastle, Bushmills, The Dark Hedges, and the Giant's Causeway. There were a few other towns we temporarily stopped in for breaks along the way, like Lorne, but I don't remember them very well.

The Giant's Causeway was beautiful, the hexagonal stones protruding from the landscape only to disappear beneath the waves. The Giant did a great job - maybe he was a landscape architect? The walking trails around the Causeway were lovely, but the Sheppard's Stairs were super slippery and steep. It didn't help that it was super windy as well... I thought I was going to get swept away with the wind! 11/10 recommend 

The Dark Hedges were quite underwhelming, so I don't recommend going there unless it's part of a larger tour. 5/10 recommend

The Fullerton Arms in Ballycastle was a great pub for lunch. The Game of Thrones wood-carved door made it worth the visit too - beautiful representation of House Targaryen. 9/10 recommend

Day 3: Moving into Student Accommodation, Farewell to Dad, & Laundry Room Shenanigans

After a whirlwind of adventures and dragging around two extra suitcases from destination to destination, we finally made it to my new temporary 'home' for the next few months. Despite its close proximity to the university campus and its minimal furnishing, we had to go out and purchase kitchen supplies, linens, and other seemingly common household items that were not supplied by the accommodation. A few trips to Asda Living and Tesco later, I was set up with the bare minimum to get me by for the next few months.

Dad was picked up by a cab around 4pm to get to his bus back to Dublin - no tears! The family group chat said a few tears came later that evening, but otherwise the 'see ya later' was pretty good. I suppose we've had lots of practice over the past four years of me moving every four months... oops! 

I spent the rest of the evening cleaning dishes, cleaning the floors and surfaces in the apartment, and fighting with the Laundry machines. Two hours of fighting with the laundry app that wasn't working and being on hold with customer service for far too long, I managed to get the washing machine to start (yay!). 

Later that evening, I went down to retrieve my sheets from the dryer - that's when I ran into two others in the laundry room who seemed confused and minorly frustrated with the laundry app as I had been earlier. Being the nice Canadian I was, I offered some advice and assistance and stayed in the laundry room to help them troubleshoot the machines. Little did I know at the time that there was also a meet-and-greet event happening in the building... let's just say that the event went for a tour around the building and ended up in the Laundry Room for the rest of the night 😆 And that's how the Laundry Club was formed... what are the odds I'd make friends the first night at the accommodation? 

Fun Fact: I can fit in the dryers :) Don't ask...

Day 4: Officially Becoming a UU Student

A very long and information-packed day of orientation sessions, enrolment, trouble-shooting technical issues, and lots and LOTS of forms. However, I officially became a Ulster University student with a working StudentID and modules selected, so it was all worth it in the end.

The campus is beautiful and not too big... but will I still get lost? You bet I will (and I have) 😅

Day 5: Cuddly (and some not so cuddly) Creatures

The student accommodation hosted a 'cuddle creatures' event with a pug, some rabbits, a chinchilla, and some reptiles and amphibians... I got to hold a snake! It was a weird feeling... 

Otherwise, I went on an 'international food market tour' earlier in the day with other international students and global ambassadors. It was a nice way to explore the city and understand how some of the transit systems worked. 

Day 6: City Hall Tour & First Pub Crawl

The Belfast City Hall has such a breathtaking interior - 11/10 recommend going on a tour just to see the detail and the ornamentation! I won't lie, I don't really remember much of the history that was said on the tour, but the decor and artwork was magnificent. 

On the walking tour, I met a few other international students and was invited out to a pub crawl later that evening. When in Ireland, you go to pubs, right? 

I think we went to three different pubs that night... I don't remember specifics, but I know it was fun! It may have been my first pub crawl in Northern Ireland, but it certainly was not my last. 

Day 7: Studio Introduction & Irish Ceili Dancing

There were six option studio presentations, most of which had interesting topics. For all my UW architecture friends - you'll appreciate the immediate 'dread' I felt when the housing alienation/affordable housing studio was announced... It's not that it is not an important topic, which I fully agree that it is and that action needs to be taken to help overcome the current housing crisis. The semi-repulsive reaction was more so influenced by the fact that my class has now completed two semesters worth of housing studios, so it was not my first choice by a long shot. 

One of the studio leads pitched their studio to 'people who are hard working individuals who are willing to give up their social life for a few months...' I'm sorry, what?? Kudos to those individuals. Quite honestly, I likely would have taken that studio if I was in Cambridge since the topic was really interesting (the darkness of light and its impact on architectural design), but I'm an exchange student in Northern Ireland so I opted not to give up a social life this term. I think it was a fair decision, right? 

After the studio introduction, I joined some other international students for an Irish Ceili Dancing lessons; we were a bit like baby deer on ice at first, but once we learned the basics I think we did pretty well! It was a lot of fun, but it reminded me of the Spring Dances I had to do in elementary school... anyone who went to East Court Elementary with me will know exactly what I mean 😂

Day 8: St. George's Market & More Drinking

St. George's market was like any other flea market I'd been to in PEI or even the Truro Farmer's Market, just, Irish? It was refreshing to see some local artisans and buy fresh produce from more local farmers rather than the questionable Tesco pre-packaged-and-overpriced produce. Not sure there was anything overly exciting about this venture, but it was still fun to go to.

That evening was filled with more pubs - beer and whiskey! Possibly drank more than I should have, but it was a fun night with fun people :)

Day 9: Giant's Causeway & Portrush

Aaaaand we're back at the Giant's Causeway! I loved it so much, I just had to go back again!

Well, even though that's partially true, it was arranged by the University for international students at a discounted price, so of course I took advantage of the opportunity and went again. 

The weather this time was much better - no wind and even a little bit of sunshine! Same breathtaking scenery and oddly alien-like rocks. Due to the drinking shenanigans from the night before, I was mildly hungover when we left that morning for the trip. But the best hangover cure is water, fresh air, and physical activity, right? I'm convinced the ocean air cured me.

We stopped in Portrush on our way back from the Causeway for lunch - a very nice seaside town. I went for a walk on the beach with three other international students after we ate, but being the East Coast Canadian I am I had to walk in the water. Knee deep in the water with my blunstones in my hands, I waded through the water as the three other international students started at me stunned from the shoreline bundled tightly in their down coats, scarves, hats, and mittens... Their looks were a mixture of horror, awe, and shock - I don't blame them. They thought I was crazy for walking on the sand in bare feet first, then I walked into the water and blew their minds even more. What can I say, I'm Canadian, eh? 😆

Next Adventure: Dundalk!