More Christmas Photos

I went downtown with Kev (he has the only working camera at the moment, as a result of my move, I've lost mine) and we had dinner at the Continental Market on the lawn of City Hall and took some photos of the lights for you all.  The market is open every year from the end of Nov to the end of Dec and has food and gift stalls.  Not everything is homemade, but the food is!  Its a great little market, and it is always packed.

Glenariff Park and Bushmills Distellery

On Saturday we decided to take a chance with the weather and head up the Coastal Route to Glenariff Park.  Glenariff waterfall walk, which was where we were headed, opened 80 years ago and is a 3 mile path.  It is one of the toughest 3 mile paths I've ever walked.  You start at the top of a hill and walk down into the valley.  Not too tough, but then you walk uphill back out.  You have to pay attention to the signs in the park, otherwise you could end up hiking a mountain ridge without realizing you're heading the wrong direction.  The place is known as the 'gateway to the Glens' or 'Queen of the Glens' and has absolutely stunning views.  It does have one of those park center/exhibition things, but it is only open Easter to October, so we didn't get to see that.  

After that we headed on to Bushmills Distillery in Bushmills (what a coincidence!).  Bushmills is celebrating its 400 yr birthday this year, having received its "license to distill" in 1608.  It is the worlds oldest distillery and has been in the same location all that time.  They have had at least 2 fires that have burnt the place to the ground, only to rebuild and start again.  They are working on some of the buildings at the moment so we didn't get to see the actual distilling area and on our way to the bottling plant the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate.  We were given the option to go and finish the tour, but Kev and I decided to just head to the bar for our free sample of whiskey.  Because of the cold, the bar tender was also giving out free Hot Toddies!  The tour was lively and educational, but pictures were strictly prohibited.  

It was a long day, but well worth the travels along the Coastal Route.  Its some of the most beautiful scenery that I've seen, and you can see Scotland from here on a good day.

Ice Hockey, Giant's Style

Friday Kev took me to see the Belfast Giants play hockey against the Sheffield Steelers in the Odyssey Arena.  I wasn't even aware Belfast had a hockey team, let alone that they were actually good.  Second in their league!  We had fantastic seats, 3 rows off the ice.  The stadium was far from crowded, but the fans that were there were true followers and supporters.  

The Giants won in overtime, they played 5 min of regulation time and then won the shoot off.  Other things that were interesting...

1.  You know how they launch t-shirts out of air guns at most sporting events?  Well here the Subway Sandwich man launches 12 inch sandwiches out of the gun.  Go figure.

2.  Their mascot is a gorilla.  

3.  They're named the Giants after Giants Causeway and the Giant sleeping in cave hill who was the inspiration for Gulliver's Travels.

Christmas Lights in Belfast

On Tuesday Belfast City turned on the Christmas lights!  I met Kev after work and we went in town to see the show.  There was Scooby-Doo, Hollyoaks (a soap show) actor Gerard McCarthy, Olympic medalists Wendy Houvenaghel (I googled her, she is a cyclist) and medal winner Paddy Barnes (boxing), as well as X-Factor finalists Same Difference from last years X-Factor.  It also marked the opening of the Christmas Continental Market which has sprung up on City Hall's front lawn.  The market has food, crafts and all kinds of goodies from everywhere.  There were loads of people downtown for this.  I wasn't a big fan of Same Difference, but the kids that were out seemed to like them. X-Factor is Simon Cowell's brain child here, like our American Idol, Leona Lewis was last years winner.   I don't have any pictures, will get some soon.  But below is a clip I found on YouTube from CityBeat (a radio station here) of the countdown and lights getting turned on. 

Holestone

So this weekend Kev took me somewhere I would never have known to go, the Holestone.  Located out in the countryside in Antrim.  Its a monolith from the Bronze Age and it sits in the middle of a field on a little hill.  County rules folks, remember to close the gate as you are walking in someone's pasture.  Inside there's a sign that tells you about the Holestone and the legend behind it.  No one knows why the 10cm hole is cut into the middle of the stone, but it's believed to be a Celtic stone that people came to when they were looking for love and happiness.  Tradition is that the woman sticks her hand through (don't worry, I checked for spiders before I did that) and then the man takes her had and by doing they are "married" or as Kev said, "you're stuck with me now love!"  

The Holestone- NI Tourist Board

Royal Irish Regiment Parade

There was a lot of controversy here not too long ago over a homecoming parade for the Royal Irish Regiment. They are part of the British Army based here in Belfast and have just come back from the Middle East. There was a counter-march at the same time as this parade, but I wanted to see the parade so I missed the counter-march.  In these pics you'll see the guys marching in past City Hall.  It was one of the shortest marches I have ever seen.  They were not allowed to march armed or have a fly-over like they had intended.  They weren't allowed to do this because it would be viewed as a threat and a show if military strength by Nationalist and Republican groups.  Some of the people I know from Uni were at the counter-march, and said there were a few times where it could have "kicked-off" but for the most part it stayed under control.  After the parades were done, town was dead.  Everyone left, so I did some Christmas shopping. :)