Cave Hill Adventures

 

 

One of my absolute favorite things that I did while I was in Ireland was hiking the Cave Hill.  Since the first day I met Roibeard he has been telling me all sorts of stories about the Cave Hill.  It was so wonderful to finally be there in person.  I have to say I wasn't expecting it to be quite as steep as it was!  We made it nearly to the top, but the to get to the tip of the "nose" you literally have to climb and drag yourself up in the mud and we were with Roibeard's 8 year old niece, so it just wasn't going to happen.

 

 

Cave Hill is historically known in Irish as Beann Mhadagain. It is a basaltic hill that forms part of the southeastern border of the Antrim Plateau. The nose that I mentioned above is known as "Napoleon's Nose" as the hill top itself looks like the profile of a man's face (or Napoleon's face).  It is rumored to have been the inspiration for Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

 

 

 

The views of the city below were incredible.  It is said that on a clear day you can see the Isle of Man and Scotland, but I personally didn't find that to be true.  Maybe if you have really good eyes.  Which I do not.

 

 

This was definitely one of my fondest memories of our trip!  It was worth it just to see Roibeard so happy that day.

Wedding Ideas!

I'll try to not focus too much on wedding details here, but I have to say that Roibeard and I are starting to get really excited for our upcoming wedding.  Nothing is set for sure yet, but we are thinking May 2015.  It doesn't give us much time to plan, but since it will be a smaller celebration I think that we can manage. 

In terms of venues my number one choice right now is Dunseverick Castle.  It's really only a few ruins, but is a medieval castle dating back to the 5th century.  St. Patrick is rumored to have visited Dunseverick Castle on several occasions.  It's located right on the Antrim coast and looks a bit more isolated, which I think will be best for reciting our vows.  One of my fears of having our ceremony in a public place is obnoxious tourists ruining it for us!  (I'm more worried about that than I am about the 90% chance of rain).

 

The next choice on my list is Dunluce Castle.  It's also a medieval castle and also located on the Antrim coast.  This one we were actually able to walk the grounds of while we were in Ireland.  The only problem with this one is it's a huge tourist attraction. 

 

 

 

For both Dunseverick and Dunluce castles we need to get permission from the National Trust in order to have our ceremony on their sites.  I'm in the process of contacting them right now.  If that falls through then Belfast Castle is my back up.  It's not quite as old and over grown as I would like.  It doesn't over look the sea.  However, it is still very pretty and the gardens are beautiful.

 

 

If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them!  We are trying to stay close enough to Belfast so that Roibeard's family can attend the ceremony.

 

Since the two medieval castles are not licensed venues if we choose them as our ceremony sight we will have to wed at city hall first (to make it official) then have a "symbolic ceremony" on the ocean.  Belfast Castle is licensed so if we marry there we don't have to worry about city hall.

 

In terms of a reception we're planning on a favo(u)rite pub of Roibeard's family's that's located in Belfast itself.

 

Okay, let the planning begin!

Belfast Castle

 

During our time in Belfast we took a small hike up to Belfast Castle with Roibeard's family.  I have to admit that a good part of my wanting to visit Belfast Castle was as a possible wedding venue.  We haven't ruled it out completely yet, but it is a bit more of a stately home than a castle.  I have since fallen in love with Dunseverick Castle for our wedding...more on that later.

 

 

As you can see by our short sleeves it was an unusually warm and dry day in Belfast.  It was probably the warmest day of the whole trip.  I was really happy to see the sun. 

 

The original Belfast Castle was built by the Normans in the late 12th century and was the home of Sir Arthur Chichester, baron of Belfast.  Unfortunately the original was burnt down in 1708.  The current Belfast Castle sits right at the foot of the Cave Hill and was built between 1811-1870.

 

The Castle grounds are incredibly beautiful and offer an amazing view of the city.  One of things you're supposed to do on the grounds is find all of the cats!  Myself being the cat lady that I am just absolutely loved this!!  Roibeard and I only managed to find 8 of the 9.  (Two are together in the photo below). 

 

 

 

 

Roibeard claims that the 9th cat ran away.

San Francisco: The Palace of Fine Arts

While looking through my hard drive the other day I came across these photos that Roibeard and I took from when we were still living in San Francisco.  The photos are from the Palace of Fine Arts which was one of my favorite places to go on dates when I lived there.  What I find interesting about these is that the photos are from two different trips that we took during two very different times of the day.  The first ones were probably taken around mid-day and the ones near that bottom were taken closer to the golden hour.

 

 

The Palace of Fine Arts is located in the Marina District of San Francisco.  When Roibeard and I first moved to San Fran this is where we lived (before moving to the Mission District), so it was easy to stop by here during an afternoon stroll.  The monument was originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition.  It is one of the few structures that survived over the years.

 

 

 

As happy as I am to be back in Chicago I really do miss California.  It wasn't the right place for me to settle down, but I am so glad to have had the opportunity to have spent two years over there.  The nice thing about having family over that way is that we can always go back to visit!

IRELAND! part two: "She Was Fine When She Left Here"

 

During our first few days in Belfast we walked all over.  We discovered downtown, city hall, the various parks, Queens University, and the shipyards where the Titanic was built.

 

 

We managed to make our way to the Ulster Museum where we saw an interesting exhibit on the art of the troubles.  I'm only still just learning about what happened during the troubles (outside of what I was taught in school) so Roibeard had to help explain a few of the pieces, but I am still so glad that we went.  Even though the imagery depicts a violent and hurtful past it is good to see that negative energy used through artwork instead of being used to harm other people or to get revenge.  I also think it's an important way of documenting the city's past.

 

On a lighter note, the grounds outside of the museum were absolutely beautiful and perfect for frolicking.  It was a bit chilly a lot of the time, but I have to say that overall we were quite lucky in terms of the weather.  I was worried it was going to be non-stop rain, but there was only the odd shower here and there.

 

 

 

Our walk led us down to Queen's Quay which borders the River Lagan in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast.  It was here where I was able to marvel at the enormous Samson and Goliath.  The cranes are located in the shipyard of Harland and Wolff.  Goliath was constructed first in 1969 and Samson in 1974.  I have been told that they are still in use today.

 

 

Due to time we were unable to go into the Titanic Museum.  Even so, just walking along the Titanic Quarter was interesting enough on its own!

 

Oh oh!  Down by the shipyards we found a film studio!  I was told it's where they film Game of Thrones, which I have never actually watched...but...it was still cool to see all of the props! 

NES outing

Hi everyone!  Let me introduce you to NES.  NES is our 7 year old shorthaired grey and white kitty.  He is the most loving and calm cat you will ever meet.  He is so sweet and even tempered that I'm convinced he could make even the nastiest cat haters love him. 

 

NES was born on the south side of Chicago.  His owner didn't want him (or any of his siblings) and threatened to throw them in the trash.  I rescued this little one (and his brother and sister who live in California) from an awful and certain death.  He has lived with me in Detroit and San Diego and now we're back in his home town of Chicago.

 

 

 

 

When we moved here, we were without jobs and needed to quickly find an apartment, so we settled for a quaint little studio.  Although the place isn't without its charm it is rather small for NES to run around. I know it's temporary until our lease is up, but sometimes I feel so bad having him cooped up in here.  So, to help him get his exercise and give him some fresh air, Roibeard and I have been taking him out on walks every few weekends. 

 

There is only one problem...he HATES being outside.  He is terrified of the outside world.  We take him in the courtyard because it's quiet and there are always very few people around.  Still, he is one major fraidy cat.  All he wants is to be back inside.  All we want is for him to happily frolic and enjoy the sunshine for a bit.

 

The thing is though...the second he actually gets back inside...he cries to go back out!!!  After the fact he convinces himself that he had a grand old time.

 

 

 

Don't let the eyes fool you...he is secretly loving this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IRELAND! part 1 belfast: arrival

Yay!  Ireland!  Yes, that's right!  After over a year of planning Roibeard and I finally made it to Ireland.  The trip was partly to meet his family, partly to look for wedding locations, and partly a vacation.  All around though it was amazing.  Too cheesey?  Too bad.

 

Since we were there for two weeks and took sooooo many photos I am going to share these with everyone (with anyone?  hello?  anyone?)  over the course of a few installments.

 

I have to admit that before I visited, when I pictured it in my mind my fiancé was from Hobbiton. That's right, complete with little cottages under green hills, music and dancing every night, the occasional dragon slaying, and breakfast, elevensies, afternoon tea, lunch, dinner, supper.....

 

As the trip got closer Roibeard became increasingly worried of my askew fantasies.  First of all, not only was the Hobbit not a work of Irish literature, but also he grew up in gritty Belfast during the tale end of the troubles.  He feared that I would be greatly disappointed when I got there.

 

The thing he wasn't taking into consideration was that I was experiencing this city for the first time.  Each day was unique and special to me.  I loved and cherished every moment of it and helped him to see around the troubled past of his city and through the eyes of an outsider.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos

 

1) One of our first days in Belfast we took a trip to city hall.  It's one of our wedding location ideas.  (Basically if we can't afford a castle, this is our back up).  You can't see the building much, but I like that Roibeard looks so natural here. 

 

2) We came across this brightly painted gazebo just outside of city hall.  I liked the way it looked against the grey feel of the city.

 

3 & 4) Roibeard and I playing on a music installation downtown.  Not all of the "keys" worked, but it was fun to hop around and add to the urban sounds around us.

 

5)Bigfish mosaic sculpture on Donegall Quay.  The scales are covered in newspaper clippings, text, and images that relate to Belfast history.

 

6) We found an old telephone box while exploring and had some fun with it.  I'm pretty sure now a days it is used as a toilet.

 

7) Mural from the New Lodge area.  I found some of these murals to be so haunting.

 

8) More murals from Now Lodge.  Roibeard used to play in this area when he was a boy.  He told me so many wonderful stories of him and his "gang" running around these streets as children...up to no good, of course.