Loads of Firsts
Belfast Week 2
Week 2 was a while ago; clearly I have been slacking on the blogging front but I'm back and better than ever!
I had my first overnight visitors in my apartment this weekend, Caroline and Kerry! The arrival was a bit daunting, as I had no idea where the heck their bus came in. Caroline and I were on the phone describing what we were wearing and trying to shout out landmarks that we could see, honestly it wasn't well thought through. BUT, we did manage to find each other and have an amazing weekend.
We came to the apartment and made a quick turn around to see the Titanic Quarter and city center. We went to dinner at Bootleggers and listened to some local musicians play. Our night did not end there though! We managed to make it to the Dirty Onion for a few more drinks and finished the night off in The Duke of York, under all the lit up umbrellas.
Saturday morning Caroline and Kerry ventured off to the Giants Causeway and Dark Hedges. We were exhausted from the early morning so we stayed in and had a girl's night with wine and some version of dinner. Sadly, Sunday came around and they had to depart for Cork quiet early, so we hit Café Nero for an early breakfast to conclude our weekend.
Week 2 was my first week of class; to say I was nervous is a huge understatement. I was awkward and didn't know if I was in the right class so I crossed my fingers in hopes I was in the right place! Luckily, everyone is so nice and welcoming. My classmates are extremely kind and I am so grateful to be in this section.
No class Tuesday called for some exercise, exploring and grocery shopping. Wednesday, some of the kids from my class and I went for drinks and lunch at Grannie Annie's! Let me tell you....if you ever are in search of a drink while in Europe, you need to try a Kopparberg. It's literally a Shirley Temple in a bottle!
The first week of class was successful! Now to my first weekend out of the country, oh boy!
The adventure began on Friday when I took a flight from Belfast to Cardiff, Wales to meet Kerry and Caroline. We arrived in Cardiff in the middle of a massive hail storm and looked a mess walking into our hostel.
On Friday, we explored and strolled around the arcades during the day, which are basically a bunch of covered, two-level streets with shops and cafes...ADORABLE! It wouldn't be a complete trip if the fire alarm wasn't pulled...yep, you guessed it we had to evacuated the arcades due to the alarm going off, but I've gotten pretty good at this by now.
We received quite the welcome to our hostel, NasDa, when the receptionist dropped the f-bomb to tell us how amazing their local "cheese restaurant" was. This pretty much confirmed we were going to have a good time! We went to The Yard for live music and drinks. My girl Kerry won the award for the best quote of the day, which went a little something like this, "it's not that I don't like this drink, but it has a really interesting farty aftertaste" haha okay Kerry.
Day 2 was awesome. We began the day at Cardiff Castle where we had a hilarious tour guide, great picture opportunities and obviously another hailstorm. The Revolution was the choice for lunch and we were able to catch a little of the Ireland rugby game.
On night 2 we basically had the time of our lives, not to be dramatic haha. After Wales' rugby team crushed Italy, the energy in "The Old Market Tavern" was unbeatable. Kerry missed the whole rugby game because she fell asleep in the bar...sober! Obviously, the good friend I am, I had to take a picture of Kerry soberly passed out on the table, which resulted in us making friends with the table of locals next to us. They referred to her as "sleeping beauty" the rest of the night. Clearly karma is real because moments after the flash went off I somehow managed to knock over my entire drink. Spilling it all over Caroline, the table, the floor, yeah...everywhere. Don't worry though, our new local friends rallied a good majority of the bar to start chanting "USA! USA!" after I wreaked havoc.
Not to worry, the night did not end there. Kerry decides she really has to use the bathroom so she walked into, what she thought was the ladies room, only to find a man standing in there. As you can imagine, panic sets in for both of them and, together, they walk out of the bathroom to determine who was right. KERRY IS VICTORIOUS and the little man has to take the walk back to his large group of guys HAHA. Don't feel too bad because Kerry looks at the guy and says "oh it happens" ... but let's be honest, does it really?
We part with our new local friends who have now decided they are going to ski in North Conway, NH with us next winter, the energy is great so we go along with it!
Cardiff, you were good to us! Next stop, Cork!
PQTH,
HAN