Horse Show, Belfast, and Glasgow

(Terrible)

We met up with Derek's boss's wife on Sunday in Dublin. Her and her daughter were on their way to the Dublin Horse Show. I've never been to a horse show and know very little about them.

Anyway, in sharp contrast to the hostel Derek and I were staying in we met the hospitable friend at The Four Seasons. The place was amazing. We got tickets for the horse show and I was amazed at how many people were there. It wasn't really a show, but a festival. There were numerous events, from horse jumping to kids racing with pony's. 

 We had a great time. They were jumping clear over 7 feet high obstacles. It was very impressive. In the end, an American won the whole thing. The American flag was raised and they played the US National Anthem. There were very, very, very few Americans there. Derek and I put our hands over our hearts and I sang quietly while you can hear Deas. (I'll put this up later- internet here is having trouble putting up the videos).

After the main event we watched what is called the Hunt Chase. Fox hunting clubs in Ireland compete over various obstacles in a relay race type event. There are 5 to a team. The competition was fierce and a number of riders were thrown from their horses. The best part of the race was the hilarious announcer. I recorded a bit you can see below. (coming soon)

After a fun day at the horse shoe we returned to the Four Seasons and Deas classed it up in his boxers while I just put my feet in (his boxers looked somewhat like a swimsuit while mine def. did not). After some hot tubbing we met up with some other family and friends and had an amazing steak dinner at The Four Seasons. A bit different than what we ate the day before. Dinner was a lot of fun and then some of the friends took us to hear as they call it "Hey diddle diddle music." We went to the Auld Dubliner and listened to American classics along with a few Irish songs. They laughed when we said "y'all" and we laughed when they didn't pronounce the "h" in "th." We met people from all over that night and finally got to bed.

The next morning we took the train from Dublin to Belfast. It was a quick 2 hours, but Deas slept a bit.

I booked our Belfast hotel during the youth riot about a month ago and found an amazing rate at the Hilton. It was great to have a nice bed and bathroom. The TV even had my name on it. Okay, okay no big deal, but I had been sleeping in hostels for the past 4 nights.

After pausing a bit to do some work we headed out on a Black Cab "Troubles" Tour. Basically a cab driver takes you around to all of the historical sites involved in the struggle for Irish Independence. It was particularly interesting since the cab driver told us up-front that he is a Nationalist. The entire conflict seemed very foreign, but we were brought face to face with places where men, women, and children were killed many times viciously. So many of the stories seemed impossible for such civilized people. We drove past corners where the violence was incredibly recent. History is kept in Belfast on the sides of buildings in the form of murals. Each side paints massive murals in memory or in dedication to people or events. Keep in mind this violence happened in small neighborhoods. 

Giant walls have been built to help with the peace. 

The tour was without a doubt one of the most interesting I've ever taken. After the tour we walked around the city and had a cheap dinner. We then ducked into the Crown Liquor Saloon for a pint. The pub was incredibly well kept with private booths to sit in. 

Door bells in each booth were used a hundred years ago to order drinks without having to get up. I read this in a book and of course said "I wonder what that does" while pointing at it. Without a seconds hesitation Derek pushed it and a loud bell rang in the entire pub. It was funny, but without told everyone we were tourists. 

We got back to the hotel and planned the next few days. More on that in a bit. Derek woke me up last night talking in his sleep. He looked over at me and asked "Why are you eating a 7 layer sandwich Chuck?" Then moments later said "Why didn't you wake me up?" Then broke out in creepy fake laughter. So, yeah, it took me a while to get back to sleep.

This morning we got up early to make our flight to Belfast. To say Derek and I are not big fans of Ryan Air is an understatement. Ryan Air=hidden fees. 80 pounds worth to be exact...the flight cost $30 US dollars before the hidden fees. Derek played the bad cop and i played the penniless student, my role was way easier to play because it is true. They simply didn't care and didn't feel bad. We arrived, got off the plane, and decided we shouldn't talk about it anymore and just enjoy Glasgow.

Glasgow is beautiful. We walked through a large outdoor shopping center and over to the square where they are a having a Piping Festival. We watched some great bands play with bagpipers. The event was an awesome welcome to Glasgow. 

Then we walked to Glasgow Cathedral. Dad, you'll  be happy to know we didn't skip it. The place was amazing. 

From Glasgow we looked up on the next hill and could see an old graveyard. It looked eerie to say the least.

The walk up to the top took about 20 minutes and Derek was doing business for about 10 of those minutes. We got to the top and he looked around and innocently said, "So is this a cemetery or what is it?" Derek had walked past at least 500 tombstones when he asked me. 

We walked around a bit more before finally getting checked in at our hostel (Euro Hostel). We have a private two bed room with bathroom for $25 each. Why can't all hostels be like this? We are going to rest up a bit before making friends tonight. 

The rest of our journey before meeting up with Nam and Farzin includes Edinburgh tomorrow, York the next day and then back to London the night before the group doubles.