Reunited with the United Kingdom

This past week and a half I have been traveling across the United Kingdom. This was a trip I did with my church. We left on Friday, July 1st, and boarded a red-eye to London Heathrow (but we didn't get to see London to my disappointment). Our flight was on time and we landed at 10 am. Our connecting flight to Belfast left a couple hours later and was also on time. When we got to the Belfast International Airport, we got on a bus and drove about an hour to a hostel that we were staying at. The trip to the hostel was beautiful. There were rolling green hills and sheep; I forgot just how beautiful Ireland was.


The hostel was relatively nice, nothing fancy, but comfortable. We got our assigned rooms and unpacked. After we got settled, our youth leader, John, decided that we shouldn't go to sleep because we had to get used to the time change. We walked to Queens University, which was a beautiful sight. After that, we walked down to an Irish pub called Darcy's. The food there was amazing, and included steak and chicken pies, and Irish stews. In Belfast, they celebrate their union with the United Kingdom and their victory against the Catholics. We were lucky to be there during that celebration and after dinner we lined up on the street to watch a parade. The parade was about 15-20 minutes and involved many banners, marching bands, and uniforms.


It was interesting to see the culture already in play. When the parade finished, we headed back to the hostel which was very close to where we were and went to sleep (we all slept like logs).
On Sunday, we went to church at the Great Victoria Street Presbyterian Church. This was where we based all of our mission work. The congregation was small, only about 20 members showed up at the service. Everyone was very friendly. After church we went to a mall in the city center called Victoria Square Mall. (In case you were wondering, the reason why so many things in Belfast were named after Queen Victoria was because they wanted to show her how loyal they were to the UK. They also wanted her to come visit their city because she wouldn't, and they figured that if they named everything after her, she would visit their city [it worked eventually]). The mall was relatively new, about three years old. We ate lunch at a Chinese buffet restaurant and judging by the name of it, you may already guess the quality of the food (not so good). When we finished we went to an observation deck in the mall and looked out to all of Belfast. The view was stunning. We all went back to the hostel and relaxed... okay, slept. At around 5ish, we went to Ian's house. Ian was the minister at the Great Victoria Street church and he invited us to dinner. He made hamburgers and they were fine but I wish he could have made something more Irish. After dinner we went to a Christian festival called Summer Madness. They had gospel choirs, rock bands, and a sermon preached by an American (it was weird to hear another American). The festival lasted about 2 and a half hours and we had to walk back to the hostel (about 2-3 miles) so we got back late. We went straight to bed.
Monday was our first day of touring. We went to Queens University again and went to the botanical gardens.


The gardens were beautiful. We went to Tesco to grab some sandwich items and walked back to the church.


We had lunch and then people from the church came to talk to us about what we were going to do that night. The reason we were there was to do a Holiday Bible Club for kids. I assumed that they already had kids that were coming and that there were going to be at least 15 of them. That wasn't the case. We had to walk around the streets handing out flyers to recruit kids to go to the bible school. This was a new experience for me, but it was also fun. It was tough though and after a few hours we headed back to the church. For dinner we went to a fish & chips restaurant but it wasn't very good. When we finished it was about time to go to the church for the bible club. It started at 7 and ended at 8:30. There were only two kids that showed up so a group of people went out to try and recruit some more kids. Since it was last minute, we could only find three more but it was better than nothing. The kids were sweet so the club went well but I wish more could have come. We went back and stayed up a little later because we were getting adjusted to the time change but went to sleep at around 12.
On Tuesday we split into groups. My group went to the Falls Road (Catholic side) and the Shankill road (Protestant side) with one of our adult chaperones who used to live in Belfast. She gave us the history behind the two sides and it was very interesting to see the contrasts. Here is a picture of one of the famous hunger strikers from the IRA (Bobby Sands):

Here is a picture of the Protestant side (Shankill Road):

After the tour, we went back to the church and met up with the other group for lunch. We made sandwiches again which was fine. When everyone finished lunch, we headed to an assisted living home to sing for them. It was really touching to see them smile and join in with us. The most touching part though was when one resident, named Etna, got up and sang an old Irish tune for us. I don't think there was one person with dry eyes. After that, we all walked down to the city hall and looked inside. It was really beautiful. Near by, there was a souvenir store that everyone went to and after that we were all hungry so we headed to dinner. We went to an Irish pub called the Crown.


It was very pretty and the food was amazing. The bible club group that night was still a little sad because only 5 people showed up again. It was still a tiring day though so we all slept well that night.
Wednesday was another big touring day. We all boarded on a double decker bus to sight-see around Belfast. Most people sat on the top deck, but I sat on the bottom because there wasn't enough room. In the end I was glad I did, because many people complained about how cold it was. The bus drove down by where the Titanic was built (where I took pictures so that I could show my mom- she was jealous) and where Stormont Estate was.


It also took us by the Falls and Shankill and Queens University. I loved hearing the history of Belfast. It was so interesting. When the tour ended, we went to Victoria Square Mall again for lunch. I went to Wagamama with a small group while the rest went to Pizza Hut (why??). I got a noodle soup with coconut broth and chili, cucumber, cilantro, shrimp, and lime.

It was amazing. It made me realize how much I missed going to Wagamama. We had about 30 minutes to shop, which was fun (went to a few exclusively European stores). We all met back after that and went to the church. Today the plan was to weed gardens in a nearby neighborhood. The real problem though was how much trash there was. I didn't realize how aware of littering I was until I saw a kid (about 6 or 7) throw a juice carton into the bushes. It was shocking. It was fun though because a few of the kids from the neighborhood decided to help us (they were all pretty young) and they were very cute. I gave a couple piggyback rides but soon we had to go back. We rested at the hostel for a couple hours (yes... we checked our facebooks) and then left for dinner. We ate at the church because we wanted to save some money. When the bible club ended (we got 7 kids that day), a group of Americans (also high school students) that were staying in Belfast came to talk to us. They were from all over America, involved in a group that did mission work in Ireland. It was fun to talk to them but they were a little weird so I was happy when they left. We played a game as a group and then went back to the hostel to sleep.
Thursday was our last day in Belfast. In the morning we split into two groups. One group went to the Ulster Museum and the other went to St Anne's Cathedral and signed the peace wall. I went with the second group because I really wanted to sign the peace wall. I'm glad I did. St Anne's was also a nice stop. It is home to the largest Celtic cross in the world.


The inside of the cathedral was amazing. There is also a memorial for 9/11 there (it is a needle shaped monument that goes the the roof of the church).


After St Anne's we caught a bus to the peace wall. We all signed our names with a clever saying and quoted some songs (like "Let it Be" by The Beatles and "Imagine" by John Lennon). I signed mine: "From the ATL. Peace Out." Here is a picture of me signing and with my final signature:


After that, we caught another bus and since we had about an hour before meeting up with the other group, we stopped at the Ulster museum (another reason I'm glad I went on this group- because I got to do everything). The museum was nice; they had history, nature, and art sections. Soon our time was up though, so we went back to the church. We went to another garden to weed and after a couple hours, the garden looked a hundred times better. For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant where I had spaghetti marinara with seafood. It was okay, not the best meal I've had but it was fine. Then we went back to the church for the last bible club. It was nice to see TEN kids there. That was the most we had all week! We went to sleep at around 12:30am that night after packing up our things.
On Friday morning, we put all our luggage on a bus. We began on a 2 hour trip to Carrickfergus castle, a rope bridge, and the Giant's Causeway. We took a lot of pictures and it was so much fun.

Me and the rising tenth grade girls at Carrickfergus castle:

Look at that water!!

Our final stop was in Corry meela, a small peace town (and I mean small- only about 20 people lived there) between the Catholics and Protestants. This was where we were staying the night. I thought that it was going to be a normal hostel, and we could just hang out, but we had to do all sorts of team building games. Ugh. Not exactly my thing. We went to bed early that night however, because we were going to be waking up at 3:30AM (that would be 11:30pm in America- about the time I would normally be going to sleep). This was because we had to drive another 2 hours back to Belfast to catch an 8:30am plane to Glasgow, Scotland.
Saturday was a long day. After waking up in the wee hours of the morning, we were all very tired. We flew an easyJet into Glasgow. When we got there, we got on a bus. Our youth leader got us a tour guide so we all tried to stay awake to listen. We made a couple stops on the way to Edinburgh. Our first stop was at Loch Lomond, but it was really touristy so I didn't prefer it. I was a little hungry while we were there, so me and another friend went to a cafe and had a prawn, lemon, and mayo sandwich. It was really good. Later, I was even more glad that we had eaten there because our group stopped at a McDonalds for lunch. I didn't eat anything because I was full from my sandwich (thank god). Our second stop was Stirling Castle. This was a really pretty stop (it was also the home of a memorial to someone in Braveheart- although I'm not too familiar with that movie). The castle was beautiful and the views were also stunning.


After this stop we went straight to Edinburgh. It was amazing to drive into the city, and I remembered going there about 5 years earlier with my dad. When we got to the hostel we were going to stay at, there was a mix-up with our rooms. It took a couple hours to sort it out. When we finally did, we ordered pizza and ate there. We decided to go into the city and walk the Royal Mile to get our first taste of Edinburgh (and walk off all the food we ate).



We went to a few souvenir shops and bought some things. Then we split into groups, some of us went back to the hostel while some went to climb Arthur's Seat. I went with the group to climb Arthur's seat because I hadn't last time I was there and I wanted to do everything I could while I was in Scotland (who knows the next time I'll go back). The views from Arthur's seat were beautiful and we climbed at the right time because the sun was just setting.


I'm glad I went with that group even though I had been up for 20 hours and was exhausted. When we got back I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Sunday morning, we all got ready to go to church. We went to church at St Giles, a beautiful church on the Royal Mile.


The service was interesting, definately different from Trinity. After church we split up yet again. One group went to the castle on the top of the Royal Mile, while the other group went to Holyrood Palace AND the castle (the first group didn't want to pay for the palace). I went with the second group because the last time I was in Edinburgh, I didn't see the palace because it was closed due to the royals staying there. Before heading off though, we went to a cute pub nearby and had lunch.


When we went to the palace, I was immediately glad that I decided to go. The rooms were beautiful and so were the grounds.

It was also neat to see the ruins of the abbey.


After the palace, we hiked all the way up the Royal Mile to the castle.


I had gone there before with my dad but I had forgotten what it looked like so it was fun to see it again.

It started to drizzle a little but we went on. When we finished at the castle, we headed back to the hostel and rested. Then we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and I had seafood rice. It was pretty good. After dinner, we had a ghost tour booked. It might have been the scariest things I've ever done. The guide was good (maybe too good because I almost passed out from being so scared). We went to the underground part of Edinburgh and it was pitch black, while our guide told us about weird happenings and stories from there. I was really glad to get out of there when it was done. Thankfully I was tired, so I had no trouble going to sleep!
Monday was our last day. I tried not to think about the fact that we were going home the next day. I wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. Today we went to St Andrews (home of golf). I didn't know too much about this place so it was fun to visit. First we went to the University Museum, saw where Prince William's dorm was and saw where Prince William and Kate Middleton met.

Prince William's dorm at St Andrews:


We went to the castle ruins and the cathedral ruins.


It was freezing. After visiting the the ruins, we split up to go to lunch and explore the town. My group went to a little kebab place. It was tasty. We went shopping at the University store. Then we met up with the other groups and got back on the bus. When we arrived in Edinburgh it was dinner time so we went to a pub-style restaurant called Filling Station. I got cheese and bacon potato skins for an appetizer and a goat cheese and bruschetta wrap. It might have been the best meal I had on the trip. It was sooooo good. After dinner we walked to a view on a small hill called Carlton Hill and took group pictures.


We looked out on to the city and said our goodbyes. We went back to the hostel and stayed up until 1:30am. But then we went to sleep because we had another long day ahead of us.
Our flights the next day were all on time and when we arrived in Atlanta, I was more than happy to get off that plane. I'm so grateful that I got the chance to go on this trip! I hope you enjoyed reading my shortened (believe me... I cut a lot of things out) log of my stay in the UK.

Here's a link to pictures taken by my youth leader. There are a lot but they are really great pictures: http://s1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee483/trinity_youth_atl/11%20SR%20HI%20Northern%20Ireland/?start=0