A Big Belfast Weekend

For our final weekend in Belfast we did a lot of things! First up was seeing The Prodigy. I’ll be honest, I’m not usually one for going to shows like this where there’s a lot of standing around, queues for everything and apocalyptic toilet situations. However Luke was keen to go and it was a show that would be over by 11pm – a big draw for most over 40s and particularly for me, who is almost 50.

The forecast was for some rain so we (Luke, Peter, Ciara (Peter’s sister), Ash, Danny and I) took brightly coloured ponchos in little plastic balls but I also decided to take my proper raincoat. It’s such a hard decision, whether to take a coat to an event. If it doesn’t rain I’ll have to hold it all night, but if it rains and I get wet through I’ll be miserable and cold. I did wear it all evening through some light showers so I was glad I’d taken it.

I’ve always liked The Prodigy, even though almost all their music is quite angry, punk-electronic shouty kind of stuff that I wouldn’t normally listen to. Prior to the show I thought I’d only recognise two or three songs. I ended up knowing almost all of them and the ones I didn’t know I really liked. We stood fairly far back from the stage but everyone around us was dancing and having a great time.

Adding to the enjoyment of the evening, Danny had booked taxis to take us there and then pick us up outside, so the whole thing was very seamless and smooth. Normally getting home from big events is stressful with the crowds and transport but it was all so easy.

We ended up staying up until the small hours, talking and cuddling Freddie. A brilliant evening all round!

The next day (Saturday) we did absolutely nothing but sit around watching TV and chatting, as one does after a big night out. On Sunday Danny drove Peter, Luke and I to Mount Stewart, a manor house with extensive gardens.

There was a car show out the front with some very cute and stylish old vehicles. Luke and I paid for entry to the house and the ground floor was open.

After learning so much about Irish history on this trip, it’s hard for me to enjoy places like this in an uncomplicated way. Yes, I love the architecture and find things interesting, but the people who entertained their highbrow friends here so they could ‘get away from it all and relax’ in a 22 bedroom, 24,000 acre estate, were doing it while catholic families only miles away were living in squalor because the government, that these people were part of, treated them like second class citizens. Not all that different from Australian history, I guess – almost all the beautiful old buildings in Melbourne were funded by gold that was gained from the destruction of native lands and removal of indigenous people.

Still, I did like the scope of their lounge room. It managed to be enormous and yet cosy and it was interesting to think about the points made in Watching the English, the book I’ve been reading throughout my trip. The author says that at the very top and bottom of the British class ladder, people will have mismatched and old furniture. The poor aspire to matching lounge suites but the rich inherit antiques and don’t want their furniture to match, for fear of looking like new money or middle class. Very few pieces matched in this room so these people must’ve been very rich!

Luke liked these lettuce-shaped dishes where the handles were formed by the curl of the leaves.

The gardens were slightly derelict but had quite a Secret Garden feel. There was a walled rose garden with some lovely specimens.

Beautiful. Also I’m so glad I got a new phone before I left, how lovely is the soft focus!

We had a shower then sun for five minute intervals and on our 30 minute walk I think I took off my jacket then put it back on at least ten times.

I’ll only show you the sunny photos though, to give the impression we had perfect weather.

Cygnets!

The landscapes park had lots of different types of landscapes and copses of different types of trees.

After a drink at a seaside inn we dropped Freddie off home. We then headed to a venue that was usually quiet on a Sunday afternoon so we could try Belfast’s famous LASA spice bag (famous because Lizzo had recently taken to social media to complain about missing out on trying one as they were closed after her show).

However things were not as we had anticipated – a DJ was playing extremely loud music indoors and LASA, one of the food trucks lining the walls, was giving away free servings of their spice bags. Unfortunately whoever was making them had doused them in chilli flakes so we left it unfinished and moved outside.

I wish I could post a video, it was quite deafening for mid afternoon on a Sunday. There were family groups sitting around looking a bit shell shocked.

Apparently it wasn’t their normal fare – as you can see, pretty plain.

Peter got us all some slices of excellent NY-style pizza, which were much more satisfying.

The whole time we were outside there was a man with a dog and the dog was standing either on the table or trying to get to our table to get our food. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a public eating place that allows dogs on tables.

A bright rainbow came out over the rooftops.

We spent the rest of the evening at different bars. Being a Sunday, it wasn’t too busy.

This pub had live music and way too many things that required dusting.

So many flowers decorating the pubs and bars.

‘Baby Guinness’ – Tia Maria with Baileys

But all good things must come to an end, and on Monday morning Danny drove Luke and I to the airport.

Goodbye Belfast!

If one picture encapsulates our meteorological experience it’s this one.

Danny and I made vague plans to do another walking trip, possibly around The Ulster Way, which is in Northern Ireland. That might be something we do next time, who knows?

29Jun2023

One Night In Derry

by Miss Penny Black

Our overnight trip to Derry did not begin well, due to the uniquely confusing setup at Lanyon Place Station. We managed to miss the 10am train and had to wait an hour for the next one. Annoying, but possibly meant we missed the morning rain in Derry.

The trip to Derry is about 2 hours and as we got closer the sun came out and we hit the coastal section of the route. Lovely!

There was even a stretch of beach that looked remarkably like home.

We arrived at Derry station a bit after 2 and the station was a pleasant surprise. Very modern, clean and bright.

The station is on the opposite side of the river to the centre of town so we walked across the Peace Bridge.

We’d booked an Airbnb property but only brought a small backpack each so we were fine to carry our things with us for a few hours.

On a day like this it was a nice way to enter the city, although it was still spitting a bit… but also sunny. So Irish!

There was a nice-looking walkway along the river but we headed into the city.

Not many people around, which is always nice.

We headed into the ground floor of the building below. I was interested in the stained glass. I read later that the windows tell the story of Derry through the centuries.

There was an exhibition on the history of Derry, which I can poorly but fairly accurately summarise as: English people arrive and ruin everything and the fighting goes on forever. Luke and I talked about this a lot, not just what happened but what could’ve been done differently, what might have happened if the English had never come. Ireland is so small that it might’ve been invaded by Spain or Portugal, or how different it would be if it had been left to itself. Is there even such a thing, in history, as a nation being left to itself?

I didn’t realise the English came to completely drive out the locals in the 1600s to set up plantations, much like those in the US and the Caribbean, although I think this happened first.

Next we visited the tourist information centre and picked up a map. They had a lot of Derry Girls merch and some interactive exhibits.

The craft village was recommended to visit, it’s a series of little craft shops that sell very typical Irish stuff, some more modern things and several hairdressers. Not the highlight of our visit but it might appeal to some.

The centre of Derry is surrounded by defensive walls, the mostly recently constructed in the UK and Ireland. They’re in excellent condition and the wall around is about a mile and offers an excellent view of the inside and outside parts of the city.

The wall walk was also surprisingly wide and the surface seemed quite new. There were sets of stairs along the way but it wasn’t a hard walk.

If I had more time I’d have looked for a walk to do in the hills around the city.

This area, Bogside, was where Bloody Sunday occurred. More on that later.

If you don’t immediately recognise these faces you need to watch Derry Girls immediately. Go do it now, I’ll wait.

After all the walking in the sun there was only one thing to do.

We stopped in at Peaddar O’Donnall’s for a drink and to listen to the old men at the end of the bar talk about what a good movie The Mighty Ducks was.

I had to photograph the place below. We didn’t eat there but I enjoyed their scattergun approach to punctuation.

Another photo of Northern Irish library architecture. It looks like a very defensible structure.

Before heading to the Airbnb we walked to the Free Derry area to have a look at the murals.

The old style, then the new below.

Our Airbnb was back over the peace bridge in the newer part of town.

After going through this door we had to let ourselves out the back door into a grim alley then down to a little apartment that was sparse but felt pretty new and was clean.

Plus they left us bread, butter and everything for tea and coffee so we were set. Back to the pub.

There were a bunch of pubs in a row so of course we went back to the same one we were at before. We had an hour to kill before dinner at Mekong, Derry’s top rated restaurant.

An unprepossessing exterior but the food was unreal. We ordered a range of smaller plates to share.

Vermicelli spring rolls, beef laarb balls, spicy sticky chicken wings, pork belly and glass noodle salad

The flavours were amazingly fresh and rich, with each dish having a unique taste but all tasting very Vietnamese. It was really hard to pick a favourite.

Dessert was a mandarin crème brûlée with ginger biscuit, which we used to dip in the brûlée and then crumbled over the top. I had a very sad moment at the end when I realised I’d probably never eat here again. We both agreed it was one of the top five meals we’d had on this trip.

In the morning we started with a morning walk through St Columb’s park. It was a nice big green space with just one creepy statue.

There were Columb-related statues and other things to look at in the park.

After a walk through town we went to the Free Derry Museum. Before entering I knew very little about Bloody Sunday but the museum was extremely informative and had artifacts from the day, footage and recordings.

If you go take a box of tissues, it’s tragic on so many levels and really makes you sympathise with the people of Derry.

On our way to the station we bought some fancy biscuits from this very instagramable shop then forgot to eat them.

We saw some fancy cars on the way.

Back over the Peace Bridge and to the station.

On the way home we got off the train at Castlerock, a little seaside town. We had a slightly underwhelming lunch at a local bar but the staff were very friendly.

Not as friendly as local character Ronnie, who wandered over as we finished eating and told us about basking sharks, how he had dropped his cornflakes on the floor that morning, and swimming in Greece. Having an extremely thick accent meant he was quite hard to understand but we concentrated very hard and seemed to make all the right noises.

We had a nice walk along the beach in the warm, windy weather and stopped to take a few photos before heading back to the station.

The trip back to Belfast was largely uneventful apart from the train running a bit late.

The weekend just gone has been very busy so this has been my most delayed post of the trip! We’ve done a few things over the weekend so I’ll to to finish everything off before leaving London. Only a couple of sleeps until we are home!

17Jun2023

Innsbruck to Hallstatt… I Mean Salzburg!

by Miss Penny Black

We got up at 6am and snuck into the hotel dining room to steal a couple of tiny cakes each from the closed breakfast room. On weekdays it opened at 6:30am but on weekends it didn’t open until later – not much good when we had a train to catch at 7:13am.

We caught a taxi to the station and boarded with time to spare. The view from the train was lovely – trees, mountains and the occasional castle or village.

Along the way the conductor came along to check the tickets. He paused at Luke’s e-ticket and said ‘it’s for tomorrow’.

He didn’t seem terribly bothered by it but we were very confused. When Luke checked, it turns out we’d somehow skipped over a day when booking accomodation. Since we couldn’t check in to Hallstatt until tomorrow and our train tickets were technically invalid, we decided to get off at Salzburg and spend the night there. Fortunately Luke found a lovely hotel right by the station, the Cocoon.

The exterior wasn’t super exciting, I’ll admit.

We dropped our bags off at 10am and then went for a walk towards the old town.

We walked through the Mirabel Gardens on the way.

A bunch of people on a tour skipped around the edge of this fountain, if anyone knows why please leave a comment… is it a sound of music thing?

Luke had looked up a good spot for coffee and we stopped at Kaffee Alchemie, where I had what was definitely the best coffee of the trip so far. I’m not a coffee snob but in my humble estimation this was just perfect.

While we sat and ate our absolutely delicious apricot and cream cheese danishes we watched athletes outside line up outside for the bus that would take them to their race. The schadenfreude was strong!

Meanwhile…

So good!

After we had not one but two cappuccinos and enthused effusively at the proprietor about the quality of his coffee, we headed out into the old town.

Lots of lovely flowers out.

I bought a few postcards then we headed for the funicular.

It looks crowded but we got straight on. I think the worst of the summer crowds don’t start until July.

The funicular ride was short but swift and took us up to the castle. Fortifications on the site had existed since Roman times, over 1600 years ago.

Of course, it had been expanded significantly over the many centuries, mostly during the medieval period.

A model of Salzburg, which profited from the salt trade for centuries.

The castle was often the home of leaders of the Catholic Church.

There were displays of armour and military uniforms spanning many centuries.

I found the more modern displays, the ones on WW1, very interesting. I hadn’t really thought about how that war would be portrayed from an Austrian standpoint. It made me more interested to learn about what started WW1 (I knew about the assassination of ADFF but not why it was done) so when we got back to the hotel we watched some YouTube videos about it.

After wandering through all the displays we headed back down the hill. After nachos for lunch yesterday we decided on more Mexican today.

Despite the name, the Burrito Factory was excellent.

While we sat and ate we listened to two students next to us discussing their travels. One said she had been travelling with three large suitcases and two cartons of belongings that included a rice cooker and hairdryer and the girl she was sitting with paused and then said ‘Wow, I wouldn’t be so … brave to try to travel with so much stuff,’ and I nearly laughed out loud.

The race people had been heading to finished in the middle of the old town and we walked past as a few people finished.

The previous evening Jane and I had been talking about the fact that it is (or was) a controversial thing to give children participation awards and trophies and how it doesn’t really help build resilience, but I noticed all the adults doing the races today were getting quite a large shiny medal to wear😂.

The crowds were really out in the early afternoon and the touristy part of the city was packed.

We went back to the hotel to have a rest and I watched some WW1 videos on YouTube.

The river was a popular place but the shore looked very rocky.

The evening mainly consisted of a walk around the local area and some drinks in the hotel bar. We had a pizza at a pretty basic local tavern by the station and had hoped to visit a jazz club near the hotel but nothing was happening when we walked by.

Oh, there was also a 24 hour vending machine place with a vast range of things available, including bowls of salad, alcoholic drinks, smoking paraphernalia and cans of chilli.

If you’re ever looking for accommodation in Salzburg I can highly recommend the Cocoon. The rooms had aircon (a rare thing in our price bracket!) good pillows, mattresses, friendly staff and for almost the first time since we arrive in St Moritz no cleaner tried to get into our room before 9am. I don’t know if we’ve been unlucky, but Jane said the same had happened to them, with the cleaner at one place coming straight in and starting to clean the room while they packed! None of us had ever overstayed our checkout time… it was bizarre.

Our room had a hanging seat but it was facing the wall, which was a bit weird.

Breakfast the next morning was great too, bacon, sausages and three kinds of eggs.

Next stop: Hallstatt.

26May2023

Windermere: Cragwood Estate

by Miss Penny Black

From Buttermere we needed to get to Cambridge, which is pretty much at the opposite end of the country.

This would mean a bus, a bus, three trains and possibly a bus, so we decided to split the journey over two days.

This option became even more enticing when we found a relatively reasonable room rate for Cragwood, a hotel that is part of the same group as Merewood, where Mum and I first stayed on our last big trip. It was one of the loveliest hotels I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting, so finding out we could stay in the affiliated hotel, which is just over the road, was a no-brainer.

But first we had to catch the bus to Keswick.

A visit to the laundromat was in order. After four days without a washing machine we were in no state to swan about a fancy house pretending we belonged there.

Seven pounds just for a single load! Ouch. Still, it did mean visiting my favourite clematis, which grows right outside.

The washing and drying took about an hour so we had time afterwards for a quick visit to Mrs F’s cafe for a last bowl of soup.

Luke was treated to the full Mrs F’s experience, with the lady who owns the place talking non stop to us and an American couple from the moment we entered until the moment we left.

She even remembered me from my visits a month ago, which was lovely.

The cafe is decorated in the style of her nan’s house.

Now that we were relatively clean and presentable it was back to the bus interchange. We found a park bench as we’d missed the last bus by only a couple of minutes. Fortunately we made a new friend to keep us entertained. A boxador!

There’s friendly and then there’s ‘I’ll lie on your feet before we’ve even exchanged names’.

Then we made another friend on the bus.

The bank holiday traffic flowing the other way was a slow and steady stream – we were making our escape at the right time!

The bus stop was right outside Cragwood, which was handy. Not too far to carry my bag, which has grown heavier and heavier with new clothes, gifts, and even a chopping board that was given to me by the lady at the Booths cheese counter.

First stop was our room, which had a window seat that was bigger than my bed in our previous accommodation.

I think our bed was bigger than the room we slept in at the cottage. After a bath and getting into our newly-washed clothes, we headed out to look around.

The old part of the building had beautiful wood panelling.

The grounds were lovely, with a perfect striped lawn looking out over Windermere.

The gardens were full of rhododendrons in flower.

We got a drink from the bar and went to sit in the shade.

We had booked dinner at 7pm but when we walked in there were two women with two small children, both of whom were playing with phones that had the volume up. I don’t judge or care if people give children devices in restaurants to keep them settled, but having one, let alone two, with the volume up is so irritating that I asked if we could come back at 8pm. Fortunately they weren’t busy and didn’t mind.

We were glad we asked to change because we ended up enjoying a peaceful and delicious meal and talking to one of the waiters. He was from Valencia and had moved to the Lake District many years ago.

I had mackerel then chicken, Luke had pigeon then pork. We both had desserts and the only problem I had was the same one we’d had throughout the Lake District – not enough icecream with the sticky toffee pudding.

After dinner our waiter gave us a little sample of Kendal mint liquor, which tasted just like after dinner mints but in liquid form. Very nice but a lurid colour.

We took our last glass of wine out to the terrace.

Tomorrow is a long day of travel but I’m looking forward to seeing Andrew, his new house and his corgi, Winston!

23Apr2023

Pheasants and Robins

by Miss Penny Black

Today I took a bus to Dubwath, which is on the west side of Bassenthwaite Lake, thinking I would do some walking around there. I’d seen the gently-rounded hills from the bus on my trip to Cockermouth.

The bus stop I alighted at was over the road from the train station cafe that I had booked for Luke, Pete, Lea, Sue, Mark and I in May. I’d seen it online and booked it but had no idea what it was like so it seemed like a good idea to go have a look and see if I’d made a terrible mistake.

I had coffee at the cafe, in one of their railway cars.

I used their bathroom, outside of which was a bookshelf and I think one of the books was about me!

I’ve been practicing my banter so much I think I’m definitely at an advanced level now.

Then I took a walk around the nature reserve over the road. It was a boardwalk over boggy ground. I took another photo to add to my collection of terrible quality photos of birds. I think it’s a wren but I’m happy to be corrected.

I know it was a bird, but this photo is so bad it could be a weird potato.

I had a look in the bird hide, where there was a whiteboard to record wildlife sightings.

Exciting stuff! I then had a chat to a man who told me about the African swallows (unladen) that had just started arriving and described their call to me and just as he did, one of them did their call. It was very fortuitous.

Then I took a walk up the nearest fell. It was a stunning day and the views were tremendous. The walk wasn’t super difficult but from the top I could see all the way to Scotland, the Isle of Man and I think I could see Northern Ireland too. I’m not going to post many photos because I think it would be an ideal walk to do with everyone before our tea at the train (weather permitting). Some of the walk was a corpse road, an ancient track along which people would carry bodies to the local church.

The amazing weather made it less creepy.

There were a few people around as the walk was very accessible. It’s the first walk I’ve been on where I’ve seen quite small children.

The way there and back from the bus stop passes the Pheasant Inn.

My favourite bird, as you may well know by now. I went in and had some lunch in their back garden area.

A very tame little robin joined me.

I can now start a collection of high quality photos of birds. Finally!

After a long rest and soak in the sun, I took a photo of the hedge then returned down the road to the bus shelter.

The bus shelter was of a much higher standard than most, and a nice place to wait out of the rain.

I felt like I’d had a medium-effort day but my watch said I’d climbed 59 storeys. There certainly were a lot of ups and downs and I could feel it in my calves.

I got back to the B&B to find all my washing done – my hosts had asked if there was anything they could do to make up for the lock incident. The only thing I really wanted was clean clothes, so that was easy!

All my clothes are pictured except for the set I was wearing. I have attained my badge in ultralight packing!

I’ve also done a book swap with one of the owners here, since I finished the Matt Haig novel last night and there’s no reason to hold onto it. It’s the first book I’ve finished on the trip. I think writing the blog and listening to podcasts has been my main entertainment. Luke asked me what I do in the evenings and, aside from washing my pair of socks and underwear from that day, that’s about it.

I’ve been having trouble replying to people’s messages on the blog but thank you to everyone who has left comments and kind words, I’ve really appreciated them! Deb asked what I think of walking poles. As I was on the bus home I tried to think of ten reasons why I recommend them.

1. Better balance (four legs are better than two!)

2. They help me hoist myself up higher more easily.

3. They help me let myself down easier from high steps – they are great for relieving pressure on joints.

4. I can prod damp patches to see if they are deep or shallow and get across wide puddles more easily.

5. They are good for lifting spiky plants away from my legs.

6. They give me peace of mind. Charmaine broke her ankle and couldn’t come, she said if she’d had her poles she probably would’ve been more stable and not fallen. I’m not taking any risks I can easily avoid!

7. Numerous times I’ve gone out without them and regretted it but never regretted taking them!

8. I’ve had a couple of people say to me over the years that they think poles are for elderly people, so I like to use them because I’m not, so I’m normalising them for middle-aged people;-).

9. They do take weight off your legs so you get more of a workout for your arms and can walk further in comfort.

10. This is one of the things I notice almost immediately if I don’t use them; my hands feel slightly swollen when I walk briskly with them hanging by my side so I have to hold my backpack straps to alleviate the sensation. With poles, my hands are elevated enough to avoid this sensation.

I don’t use them on city streets or anything, but out in the countryside, particularly going places I haven’t been before, they make it possible for me to go further, faster and more confidently. So I say grab yourself a pair!