Field Trip North!

This last weekend we took a trip up to Northern Ireland. I really enjoyed myself—I had been waiting a while for this trip because the Titanic museum is in Belfast. Now folks,  if you know anything about me, you know how much I love the history behind Titanic. Leo hooked me when I was four, what can I say? The group was placing bets on how much money I would spend. That’s the kind of obsession we’re talking about here. This museum is SPECTACULAR. It’s huge and informative. It was opened only 4 years ago for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. It takes you behind the scenes—what it took to prepare for it to be built, how and when it was built, passengers of the ship, the sinking of the ship, and the aftermath of the sinking. There’s nine galleries and even a little ride in this building. It was absolutely amazing to be able to have a better, non-Hollywood version of the Titanic. But we did more than just go to the Titanic museum. We visited the Belleek Pottery Company and saw their process with their pieces. We drove through Derry-London-Derry and looked at the murals there. We felt the tension in Belfast between two different and clashing communities. We walked over the Carrick-a-Rede bridge and visited Giant's Causeway. 

 Overall, the field trip was wonderful. Other than the museum, my favorite part of the trip was simply travelling. I love to see the different landscapes that Ireland has. From mountains to the ocean to rolling hills speckled with sheep, there is always something new to look at. I don’t think I could ever get tired of it. I only have a little more than two weeks here, and I am already missing the smell of the ocean and the rain. I do miss  home, but the Emerald Isle is my favorite place in the world.