Oh where did I last leave you... it's hard to believe it's Saturday- er actually early Sunday morning here... in fact I leave for the airport in about three hours:( I'll backtrack to Wednesday- I'll do my best on the recall, however my frantic Wednesday adventure resulted in me abandoning my journal- so lets hope I dont have any senior moments!
Wednesday (Belfast)
Oh me... only I would visit a city- actually technically a different country with the hopes of seeing a statue. Yes Jonathon I do love you... though sometimes I like to practice my acting skills by behaving otherwise:) For those of you who's names dont begin with a J and end with an onathon, and who aren't dedicated fans of C.S. Lewis a little backstory may be helpful-- When I realised that Ireland was for sure was part of my excursion I asked my brother if there was anything I should be sure and see, his first response was "If you get to Belfast, the C.S. Lewis statue." Now if we rewind further back, about two and a half years ago, I went to London- and he had requested a photo of the Eagle and Childs pub, another literary landmark, and my attempts at making it there failed. So I was determined- this was one mission I would not fail.
I headed out of Dundalk that morning, Paula and Martin are amazing and offered to let me stay for the rest of the trip so I left with the plan to make it back by evening. I arrived in Belfast with no idea where to start. I did my typical getting bearings meandering, exploring the city center (crazy shopping going on there) Found the Europa hotel(famous for being bombed a lot), the memorial clock, and some other neat stuff- but no Lewis statue! I promised myself not to leave until I found it, and ended up hopping on a tour bus(one of those things I NEVER EVER do) hoping to see if I could spot it then- no such luck, though I did see some incredible murals ( intresting btw- the city is trying to use art to help bridge some of the gaps and promote peace) Also saw the college that Lewis attended, the place where the Titanic was built, and the old courthouse among many things- facinating, but no statue!! After the tour I again asked locals, and was met with blank stares, most just told me there was a cool mural dedicated to him somewhere- cool, but not the statue! I was told a bus that would bring me by it, but was given poor information, leading to bus ride to the outskirts of town and back again, getting me nowhere, and I had to be back at the station soon so I could catch the last train to Dundalk! I stopped at an internet cafe so I could get a better idea of where it was, but got no street name, just the name of the library. GAHHH Finally I was fed up- and determined to see this statue regardless of the cost, and so, I hailed a taxi, hopped in, explained what I was looking for, had him wait while I hopped out to take a picture, and drive me to the station, only to arrive and find the train was delayed... another tidbit of excitement, they had to shut down the line due to a bomb threat(seems this city has a recurring theme...) Luckily they did eventually send the last run out, and I made it safe to Dundalk:)
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