June 11, 2011 First Day in Ireland

St. George's Market was really close to our hotel and had really good food. 

My hotel room at the Belfast Hilton Hotel. 

The path to my hotel room. 

Posing for a picture along the colorful peace wall.

The Titanic was made in Belfast, Ireland. You learn something new everyday!

The Titanic Memorial to be finished in 2012.

My dinner of chicken and mash. (Mash as in mash potatoes)

My first day in Ireland! So I woke up at 4:30 and was having a hard time breathing and swallowing. My throat had started hurting the day before and I was hoping that it would go away by the time that I went to Ireland. The night before, I loaded up on vitamin C and cold medicine. Funny bit of information- to buy cold medicine here, you have to be at least 16 and most medicines and even some batteries are stored behind the counter. Anyways, got up and was off on the tube, a train to the airport, and a plane ride to the land of the Irish. While going through security at the airport, I got my first pat down at security. Not really happy about it, but it wasn't that bad and survived. We sat in the plane for about one hour before we took off because of some complication with two peoples boarding passes. I was quite happy about that- more sleeping time. When we landed, we caught a bus and went to the hotel to drop off our bags. We are privileged to be staying at a Hilton in the city of Belfast. We caught lunch at the St. George's Market (down the street from our hotel). I had a hamburger on a bap (a huge version of a hamburger bun) with some onions. Normally I don't like onions, but this hamburger was pretty good with some sauces and I topped it off with a freshly made Terry's Orange Chocolate Milkshake with the best milk I had ever tasted. It was delicious! So after lunch, we hopped on a tour bus and toured the city of Belfast. I learned a little more about the history of Ireland and our tour guide had a fun Irish accent. I was a little tired and missed a few bits of info while I caught some zzzz's but my body is now trained to sleep on any moving train, bus, or plane. So bits of info that I did catch from the tour involved the dispute in the country between the Catholics and Protestants. I learned that Northern Ireland is part of the UK but Ireland is not. They use and accept English pounds but also have their own money bills. An interesting fact is that the Titanic was also built in Belfast. Something that I knew nothing about it. They are in the process of building a new visitor center that replicates the shape of the ship and also the icebergs that took it down. The design was very nice and maybe someday I can come back and see the finished product. It will be done in 2012 to commemorate 100 years since it was made.Also had "mash" at a local pub with a yummy chicken fillet for dinner. I hadn't been that full in a long time!  Looking forward to day two in Belfast...but get to enjoy a Hilton hotel bed and extra fluffy pillows.