Where did the time go?!

Hey there

It's been a long time ago (again)...

I've been really busy, and I'll try to share everything that's happened since my last blog.

To start: in the weekend of the 29th of march, my mother, sisters and brother came to Belfast for a visit!

I had the feeling they were on their way back to Belgium before I knew it. But while they were here, we did some pretty nice things ;-)

On our first day, we took a tour of Belfast in a Black Taxi (you might remember that I told you about them in my first blog).

But this was not a regular Black Taxi, it was a guided tour through Belfast.

As you might know, Belfast has a pretty troubled history, it was only recent that there came peace to this city. The guide started the tour off with a short history lesson, which was very interesting since none of us really are history 'freaks' and almost everything he told us was new to us.

So after this short lesson (which was necessary to get to understand why Belfast is/was so troubled) we headed to the Shankhill area, a protestant area close to my flat.

We took a tour along some of the murals over there and Charlie (our guide) gave some explanations with every mural. 

After that, he took us to the peace wall. We each got to write a little message on the wall as well :-) The wall is full with little messages and statements from locals and other tourists. 

Then he took us to a catholic area, on the other side of wall. There we got to see a tribute to all the catholics who have died during the troubles in Belfast (small and big).

It was one of the most interesting guided historical tours I've ever done! I cant' believe that it took me so long to do this tour. But of course, I am also very happy that I could share this with my family...

The next day, on sunday, we paid a visit to the St.-Georges market. There, we started the day off with a nice breakfast. I had never been at the market on a sunday, some things are the same, but on sunday there are more antiques and house sales and stuff. It was nice to be there on a sunday! And as always: good live music!

The rest of the day we went shopping. Browsing through the shops, having a coffee in between; and by the time it was 5 O'Clock we were all exhausted!

On monday we explored the Titanic quarter, I am a wee bit ashamed to admit that I also had never been in that part of town before. But, there is a first time for everything, right? :-)

And at 2 O'Clock, it was already time for my brother and sisters to leave... So we said our goodbyes and they went off, back to Dublin, to fly home again.

The next day, on tuesday, me and my mom took the train to Bangor and did the walk again to Helens Bay. And guess what: it was still beautiful! The weather was nice, even the sun came out every now and then ;-)

In the evening we went out to dinner and before we knew it, it was wednesday morning and time for my mom to go home as well.

So here I was, back on my own in Belfast.

Didn't have much time to be sad though, I had my last days of teaching practice ahead.

Another thing that flew by. It felt like yesterday that I had my first day there, the first time I met my class. And before I knew it all the P3's were gathered in one room and they had made a big 'Goodbye Lisa' card for me and a 'Goodbye Valerie' card for Valérie! All the P3's had signed it! It was very touching, I will sure miss them.

Then on monday, the first one of my housemates had to leave! It really is so weird, we've been living together for 3 months, and now it's over. Soon another girl from my house will leave, and I'm next after her. I still can't believe it. For so long, going on Erasmus was like a dream for me, and now it's nearly done!

But, not done yet!

So on tuesday I went on another (most likely my very last) little trip. Me and Anisja took the bus to Donegal, a town in Ireland. We had booked a hostel in Malin Beg, about 50km from Donegal. But of course, only 2 busses a day and we weren't gonna waste our precious time by waiting for a bus. So, we decided to hitch hike, or thumb as they say here. We made a lovely sign (if I may say so myself) out of a cardboard box we found and started 'thumbing'. Very adventurous ;-)

Making of: the thumb signs

It took us about 15 minutes to get our first lift to the next town (halfway to our destination), Killybegs.

Another 5 minutes for the ride from Killybegs to Carrick; and within no time a ride from Carrick to Malin Beg. Thumbing here is really easy, the people are so friendly and many of them are keen on taking you.

Some time ago, thumbing was very popular in Ireland. On of the drivers told us that she used to thumb home every friday, all the way from Dublin!

Enough about the drive over there, more about the view and the feeling!

WAUW! Just WAUW! Peaceful, quiet, green, beautiful, rustic, .... And sheep and lambs, more then you can count! The closer we got to Maling Beg, the lesser houses there were, I mean, some of the little villages weren't even worth the name village. Just WAUW!

Thumbing to Killybegs :-)

Killybegs

Killybegs

Second Thumbing place: thumbing to Carrick.

On our first night we went to Silver Strand Beach. A beautiful beach just for us, so it seemed. We had to take around a hundred and sixty steps to get down to it, and there it was, an empty beach, just for us!

I bet it must be even nicer (if possible) during summer!

Silver Strand Beach 

Silver Strand Beach - Hundred something steps down

Silver Stand Beach

Silver Stand Beach

The next day, we thumbed our way back to Carrick to start our walk to the cliffs of Slieve League. It was about 7km up to the cliffs. And if I say UP, I mean UP! Lets say the walk was a wee bit more intens then we had anticipated. But once we got up there: WAUW! 

I know I'm repeating myself, but you would do too if you were there.

The only downside to it was that the weather that day wasn't that sunny, and there was still some fog over the top of the hill. Normally you can walk further up, and go across the top of the Slieve Liegue. But since it was partially covered in fog, we decided not to do this.

And so, after letting our eyes fest on the magnificent view, we started our walk back down.

Cliffs of Slieve League

Cliffs of Slieve League

Me and Anisja
Cliffs of Slieve League

Cliffs of Slieve League

One of the many, many sheep :-)

And I guess that's about it...

Now it's mostly working for school and preparing for my final teaching practice in Belgium... So that's good fun.

On saturday morning some of the other Erasmus students will come over to our house for a pancake breakfast. Later that day two others are leaving... So it will be kind of a goodbye breakfast for them.

Bur for now, that's it ;-)

See ya ;)

Bye Bye

Oh, one more thing. On sunday AND on monday I went to the park with Anisja to.... yes, to lay in THE SUN! So even here in Belfast, the sun does come out! Not only for those lucky bastards in Belgium ;-)

St.-Patrick's day, The Crumlin Road Gaol, Helens Bay & The Grand Opera House

Hi there

Here's what happened since my last blog...

Last weekend it was St.-Paddy's weekend :-)
On sunday morning (16/04) we all had a lovely pancake breakfast at one of the other Erasmus houses to start our day. After the breakfast we all added some final touches to our 'costumes' (we all just wore something green): Irish flags were painted on our skins, some shamrocks were put on our cheeks, the green head decorations were put in place and we were ready to go!
At 12 O'clock the St.-Patrick's Parade started in the city centre, and we sure didn't want to miss that!
Although the parade itself was not that spectacular, a wee bit small, it was nice to be a part of it and to see the Paddy's atmosphere all around town.

St.-Patrick's Selfie ;-)

The parade

The parade

The parade

In the evening we went out, had some green drinks, met loads of 'real' Irish people and danced!

Ready to hit the town ;-)

The next day, on St.-Patrick's day, there was nothing much going on in Belfast, so that was a rather quiet day/evening. (St.-Patrick's day is a real holiday here, all the schools close for that day... So no teaching practice. Jeej, an extra long weekend ;-) )

During the week, nothing much happened. I got sick and stayed in bed for a few days to sick it out...

On Saturday, when I was luckily all better again, I went to the St.-Georges market with Anisja. We had a nice cup of coffee, walked around for a wee bit, absorbed the atmosphere and enjoyed each others company.
Later that day, we went to visit the Crumlin Road Gaol. That's an old jail in Belfast, one that has been turned into a museum since it closed its doors in 1996.
Crumlin Road Gaol first opened its gates to prisoners in 1846 and for 150 years, it was a fully operational prison (for men, women and children from the age of 7!!).

The tour started in the Reception where prisoners were first brought when they arrived into the Gaol. It was here they were washed, photographed and processed.

During the tour, we followed the footsteps of over 25,000 prisoners and made the journey through the tunnel that connects the Gaol and the Courthouse (across the street).

In the prison, there are 4 wing: A-wing, B-wing, C-wing and D-wing. We had the chance to explore C-wing and have a look what life was like through the ages; which cells there were, who was on that wing, ...

The Round hall from which you can enter each wing.

C-Wing

We also got the chance to see the Condemned man's cell. This was the cell where the prisoners, who were about to be hanged, spend their last weeks. They only tell the prisoner one day before the hanging that tomorrow will be THE day.
A bit creepy: in the bathroom of that cell (this was the only cell with a bathroom connected to it, to avoid the prisoner having any contact to other prisoners. There was also one prison guard who lived with the prisoner in that cell for those last weeks). But so, the creepy part: in the bathroom, behind a movable wall: the hanging room!! So all this time, the prisoner was living RIGHT NEXT to his death!! When I heard this, I got goosebumps...

The noose
With the original rope from the last hanging in 1961

The hatch that opens.
The man was left hanging here 45-60 minutes, just to lake sure he really was dead...

The coffin where the man was put in.

A torture device used on men, women and children!

In total, 17 men where hanged in this jail, 12 of them spend their last days in this cell!
For the other 5: in the beginning there was no 'hanging cell'. The hanging was a public affair that took place in front of the prison. All the people from Belfast came to this 'event', even when they didn't knew the man. It was like 'live cinema'. After the hanging, they all went to the pubs and went drinking. The day after they all felt bad because of the drinking, and we all know what that's called: a 'hang-over'... So, now you know where the term comes from :-)

During those 150 years, the Gaol has housed murderers, suffragettes, loyalists and republican prisoners. It has witnessed births, deaths and marriages and experienced executions, escapes, hunger-strikes and riots.

(Gaol is the old English word for JAIL. It is pronounced exactly the same way but spelt differently!)

To end the tour, we took a look at the Gravesite where the 17 executed bodies were buried. If hanging a man wasn't already horrible enough for the families, the bodies were buried on a site right outside the prison, without a headstone, where the families could never visit the grave...
(A few days before the hanging, the families can come and say their goodbyes. From that moment on, they will never see the man or his body again.)

It was a very interesting tour; it felt really weird to walk on the grounds where so many people have walked before. To know that they were often treated in horrible ways (also because at one point the Gaol held over 1500 prisoners, in a prison build for 500!), that even 12 men were hanged at the exact room we stood in, ...

On sunday, me and 4 other Erasmus students went to Bangor and Helens Bay.
We took the train (45') to Bangor and walked along the coastline to Helen's Bay.
The trip started with a nice coffee and a piece of cake at Caffè Nero.

The sun was out, we had our portion of caffeine and so we were good to go!!

One of the other Erasmus students had already done the walk some time ago. She told us that is was a very beautiful walk around 4-5 hours (with plenty of photo making pitstops of course)
And so we started the walk. As I said before: the sun was out, so we were VERY lucky, it was a beautiful day!
After about an hour and a half, we were near a visitor centre and cafe... We were all very confused, because this meant that Helens Bay wasn't that far any more... Sooooooo, call us heroes! We did a four-hour walk in about one and a half hour!!! :-p And it felt like we always walked for 5 minutes before taking 10 minute picture breaks... So we didn't speed at all :-p

mmmmmmm
Vitamine D!!!

We still don't know what happened, why the other girl (who was with us as well on sunday) thought it was 4 hours last time... We all have our theories about it :-p
Anyway, the walk was BEAUTIFUL! Walking next to the beach for almost 2 hours, seeing the waves go against the rocks, some pieces of untouched nature... We LOVED it!

Running away from the incoming waves :-D

We love the little waves <3

Fun at the beach!

When we reached the train station in Helens Bay, we had to wait for 20 minutes for the next train to Belfast. While waiting, we played a game: 'Who am I?'
The time flew by, the train was there in no time. Rapunzel and Christiane Walzer (one of the Erasmus students) were already guessed, but for Aladin, Mary Poppins and Jane (from tarzan) it was time to enter the train and go home...

Today, monday the 24th of March, I joined P5 to the Grand Opera House!
They were working with and about Opera's since november, since then there have been 4 work shops. They went to see a real Opera, the discussed Macbeth and they made their own little opera.
Today was the last day of the project, "The OperaQuest Grand Finale".
All 3 classes (from 3 different schools) performed their own opera on the big stage in the Grand Opera house!!!
It was so much fun seeing them rehearse, work with real opera singer, and then finally: see all three mini opera's!

Live performance Opera singer

Live performance Opera singer

The Grand Opera

P5 on the big stage

P5 in the dressing room

P5 rehearsing

The Grand Opera

Ceiling

Mini Opera from one of the other schools

That's all folks!

Next weekend my sisters, brother and mother are coming over for a few days!! I am soooo excited!
On my next blog, you'll be able to read all about their visit and our adventures!!  :-D

Cheerio :-)