Traveloteacher

In the afternoon, after a phone briefing with the stranded members of our little group, we made a decision to go on with our plan, especially since we were booked in Derry. Dominik and I got on a bus in Belfast and after 2 1/2 hours of an uneventful ride we found ourselves in Derry. Northern Ireland is simply beautiful. The green colour of the hills and pastures and valleys is absolutely wonderful and totally unique. And I'm talking only about what I saw from the bus. I can't imagine what the more amazing parts of Northern Ireland look like, such as the Antrim Coast, for instance. My greatest wish was to see it, together with the Giant Causeway and I deeply hope I'll have a chance to do it some time in the future. In Derry we stayed at Serendipity House B&B, or actually, its sister B&B, the Angel House, just across the street from Serendipity. Paul and Charlotte welcomed us warmly, especially after sharing with them what an ordeal the rest of the party were going th...

In the meantime, the two of us arrived in Belfast by bus and with the help of a really friendly couple we found our Holiday Inn on Ormeau Avenue. In the morning, after a huge Irish breakfast, which is actually the same as English breakfast, we headed for Falls and Shankill Roads, which was supposed to be an easy stroll, but it took us quite a long time on the empty streets of the Belfast suburbs, which didn't make us comfortable at all. There were not many sightseers in this part of town, and those who were there, were on a 'Black Taxi' tour. I believe it's the best thing to do if you want to learn more about this troubled neighbourhoods of Belfast, because the cabbies are the locals who know a lot about the area. I had printed a map with the exact route to see all the murals in both the Catholic and the Protestant area, together with the so called Peace Line on a road in between. Unfortunately, the map was somewhere in London with Zoran, so I asked at the nearby newsag...

Their luggage arrived on the 10:00 p.m.flight and so they dozed off in those not really comfortable airport chairs at Terminal 2. At 5 a.m. they took the Tube to Euston Station, only to find out that all the trains to the West Coast were cancelled, because of a fatality on the main line. Can you imagine? Someone decided to commit a suicide that morning on that line! Odd, isn't it? Anyway, they were instructed to go to Marlborough Street Station and get on the Birmingham train for which their tickets would be valid. However, upon arriving at this station they were told there was an error in their computer system so they couldn't accept their train tickets and if they wanted to go to Holyhead, they would have to pay 100 pounds, which was three times more than what they paid for Euston - Dublin, train and ferry included! So they headed back to Euston Station, hoping the trains would start running sooner or later. It was rather later than sooner, and it was not the train to Holyhea...

Not in my wildest dreams would I be able to imagine what an ordeal was awaiting us on this trip to Ireland. Still, I'd go through it again since everything turned out fine in the end. We all came back home safe and sound, and that's what matters. When the lady at the Lufthansa counter for the flight to Dublin said that there was absolutely no chance to board the morning flight, I wasn't disappointed at all, since I knew there were two more flights that day. After four hours, a feeling of uneasiness rose within me as we were told there were only six available seats and 11 people on the waiting list before us! In the end, we managed to get two seats, so again, it was quickly decided that Dominik and I were going to Dublin. Again, a quick and crazy exchange of passports, tickets, hotel reservations, cell phone chargers, suitcases, sterlings and euros. And yet again, I wasn't prepared for the split up, I still blame myself for not having a spare bag with the bare essentials...