Bright and early this morning
(8:15), everyone had checked out of the hotel and boarded the bus and we
started our day of travel. It was a long day. We left Dublin and travelled to
the Boyne Valley Visitor Center. While there, it was planned that we would
spend a bit of time in the Visitor Center and then visit the tomb of New Grange
which dates back between 6,000 and 8,000 years. I was all set to visit the tomb
but my body decided that it was not going to cooperate with me. One of my
symptoms of fibromyalgia flared up and it was really not a good time for me to
visit New Grange. I was disappointed about that but there was nothing that I
could do about it. I sat and relaxed until the other members of the group came
back for lunch. By that time, I was also able to eat some lunch with them. Later
in the day, my brother showed me some of the pictures that he had taken.
We boarded back on the bus and
continued on our way to Belfast. Once we were in Belfast, the driver took us to
meet our tour guide for a bus tour of the city. We had the opportunity to see
some of the Victorian and Edwardian architecture and some of the monuments that
were erected in the past. We were given a brief history of Belfast and were
given a good tour. We visited both the Protestant and Catholic sides of the
area where all the trouble in the 60s to the 90s took place. We saw that wall
where there were paintings portraying the conflict. We were taken to the Peace
Wall separating the Catholics from the Protestants. I haven’t full digested all
that I saw today with regards to this.
As our tour continued, we were take
to the Titanic Quarter and the guide left us at Titanic Belfast to go through
the display. I have never seen some of the elements that were used in any other
display of history. There was a chance to “take a ride through the dockyard”
where the Titanic was built. There were interactive displays describing how the
ship was built and the furnishings of the various quarters of the different
classes of passengers. Towards the end of the display was a video of a couple
of mini submarines doing a “tour” of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic
Ocean. I don’t consider that the time we spent at Titanic Belfast was a waste
of time. It gave me something to think about because my great-grandmother’s
brother was a Master Mariner for the Cunard Lines at that time. He could have
just as easily been working for White Star Shipping Lines and been on the
Titanic.
Once we were finished at Titanic
Belfast, we were taken to our hotel so that we could look after a couple of
quick things and get ready to go out to dinner. We then had a group dinner (which
was part of the package) at Mourne Seafood Restaurant, not far from our hotel.
This time, the bus driver joined us for dinner. Because of my problems earlier
in the day, I decided to take it easy and tried to go for more of the light
choices. As an appetizer, I had goat cheese that had been made into balls,
dipped in a thin batter, deep-fried, and served with greens, beets, and a
couple of crackers similar to Melba Toast. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was
followed by baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and spinach. Again, it was an
excellent choice. For dessert, I had ice cream. I could have had a larger
dessert, but I was thinking that I had pushed enough for today.
We had such a full day that once we
were back to the hotel after dinner, I sorted out a couple of questions that I
had, and then sat down to let you know how our day was. It’s time for me to say
“Good Night”.
