A 'Game of Thrones' Weekend

Near the beginning of June, Laura and I met in Northern Ireland to visit extended relatives who live outside of Belfast. Laura was new to this area of Ireland but I had been there twice before, once after Christmas and then with my parents in March. It is always worth the visit because of all the yummy home-cooked meals! My stomach may always believe I am a poor student. We were blessed with great weather so we celebrated with our first barbeque of the season.

 Beautiful BBQ weather!

 The amazing view from my relatives' backyard.

 Laura with Ben the Bassett Hound. Beware of his slobbery mouth!

 

On one afternoon we went together as a group to the nearby estate of Castleward. This property is owned by the National Trust and has a great assortment of walking trails, little shops and artist studios. During our visit I learned two very interesting facts about Castleward. The first is that the mansion was built in the 18th century in two architectural styles. Apparently, the couple who built it could not agree on which style so they made one side Classical and the other Gothic. With a happy marriage comes compromise!



 

The Classical side (above) faces the road, while the Gothic side (below) looks out at the sea. 

 

 The second interesting thing about Castleward is that it is currently used as one of the filming sites for the wildly popular television series Game of Thrones. For those who do not watch this show, it is a compelling plot based in medieval-like times, where warring families are vying for possession of the kingdom's throne. My kind sister managed to get me addicted to Game of Thrones back in April and I have been slowly catching up in episodes. Needless to say we were both fairly excited to know we were standing on the spot where it was filmed, though honestly I didn't recognize any of the landscape. The show is known for its battle violence and gory bits, so I think non-televised Castleward is too peaceful to identify episode backdrops.

Just look at the lovely grounds and massive trees.

 By a strange coincidence, we also discovered that there was a Game of Thrones exhibit for one week at the Titanic Center. How could we resist? It was a small but enjoyable display of costumes and props used through mostly the first and second seasons. It was neat to see how realistic the items were up close. I had not realized that some of the characters (Daenerys, Joffrey) are really short in real life. Here are some pictures to illustrate the items in the exhibit.

Costumes of the families Stark (above) and Lannister (below).

 



The sword of Night's Watchman Jon Snow.

The replica head of Eddard Stark for display on a spike.

One of the dragon models (one of the few things from season three).

We had the chance to try our hand at shooting flaming arrows of wildfire, but the best part was sitting in the Iron Throne. This throne was forged from 1000 surrendered swords, though when you sit in it they feel much more like painted plaster.

 

After our Game of Throne excursion and Laura spent a looong time in the Titanic exhibit, we got to take a walk through Belfast city centre to the area around Queen's University. Here are some of the sights along the way.

 A better image of the distinctive Titanic Center than the one I supplied back in January, plus now they have the added Nomadic. This ship ferried first class passengers from French banks to the Titanic.

A glazed ceramic fish near the waterfront which is decorated with various tiles related to Belfast.

City Hall with a statue of Queen Victoria out front.

We passed the historical Crown Bar, but alas no time to have a pint.

 





That is our trip to Belfast in a nutshell. It is actually today that I part ways with my sister Laura until the end of summer. This evening I set out on my trip to UK's Glastonbury Festival and Laura will fly home to Canada towards the end of the week. Her six month journey around the world is coming to an end. My adventures are not quite over though so stay tuned. I am sure I will have quite the stories from the biggest outdoor music festival in the world!

 

Happy Summer,

Shannon

My Irish Sunshine

Have you heard about Ireland's summer?

 

Apparently it's on a Thursday this year.

 

 

This joke was circling about a month ago around Ireland. Its prospect was a bit depressing, but I am happy to report that Ireland has already proved this stereotype wrong! The first week of June was incredibly beautiful with little wind, constant sunshine and temperatures rocketing as high as 25 Celsius! Alright 25 is not high by Canadian standards, but here in Ireland it is a scorcher so I got out to enjoy it while I could. I even wore shorts and sunscreen for a few days. Now I must admit that after this week the sun was replaced by rain, but the last couple days have been nice again. I don't think the weatherman even knows what each day will bring.

 

When I am around campus this summer I am keeping a fairly low profile working on my schoolwork, so in this blog instead of recounting long-winded stories I thought I would share a few pictures of Irish sunshine, just to prove it does happen!

 

As we were flying into Ireland after being in Rome, both Laura and I were once again stunned by the green richness of Ireland's landscape. All that rain pays off because when the sun comes out all the plants look incredibly lush. No wonder they call it the Emerald Isle. Just look at the Shannon at low-tide, framed by fabulous green!

 

 

Elsewhere around campus, flowers came out in full force. These vines are near the entrance to the library.

 

 Lots of people were outdoors being active in the beautiful weather. I took these pictures on my walk downtown to the Limerick Learning Hub where I taught a violin class. That day we held our lesson outdoors, played games and imitated the sounds of nature and the city.

 

 The swans are also out in full force. There are only seven here, but I must have seen about a dozen of them along the Shannon one day when I went for a run. I've also seen two parent swans with six fluffy cygnets (I'll admit I looked that word up).

 

When the sun comes out, my office moves outdoors onto the patio

 

 And when I'm tired of working it becomes a practice studio.

As a Canadian in Ireland how do you celebrate a nice day? With a cold beer from the homeland! Sadly it was sans BBQ... something I'm greatly looking forward to when I return home.

 

Unfortunately I have not seen too much sun recently because I've been cooped up in my room writing a paper. It is much easier to focus on schoolwork when the weather is gloomy. Most certainly the weather will turn drizzly as soon as I arrive at the Glastonbury Festival, which is only a week away! However I will not complain because what we have received so far is much more than predicted by the joke.

 

I'm keeping this blog short and sweet (just like Irish sunshine),

Shannon 



 

 

 



The Last of Italy: Capri, Naples and the Ballet

When visiting Sorrento, it is easy to hop on a ferry and head to the nearby island of Capri for a day. However a couple friends had recommended staying the night on the attractive island so as to see it at its best, without the tourist crowd. Capri is the small town situated around the main harbour, Marina Grande. It rises from the ocean, up the side of a mountain called Monte Salerno. The tiered levels of buildings add to the picturesque coastal view.

Our hotel was farther inland in the town of Anacapri. Since Capri is such a thriving tourist destination it tends to be a bit pricey and busy. In comparison, Anacapri offers the lovely charm of a small Italian village with tiny winding streets, local residents and lots of scooters. Anacapri cannot be more than a kilometre or two away from Capri, but since it is up a mountain it is advisable to take the bus. I don't think I have ever taken that many 180 degree turns on a road before. The buses are a tale to themselves! They are small orange things which can cram in about twenty people, and the bus-drivers have loads of character. One had a Vespa bag and would sing aloud to Italian music on the radio, while another had a print-out of a girl in a bikini taped to his glove-box. The drivers have mastered the art of honking. They tap their horn going around tight corners, signalling hello to pedestrians, and whenever the heck they wanted as far as I could tell.

There were some fabulous things to see in Anacapri so I'll be sharing quite a few pictures. First, our hotel owner recommended a viewing point overlooking Capri.

We entered one fabulous church, St Michael's (Chiesa San Michele), which has one of the most artistic floors I have ever seen. It was created by Leonardo Chiaiesa in 1719 out of majolica, a glazed pottery. The scene depicts the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and is so precious that you must walk along the border via a wooden walkway.

We also visited the top of Monte Salerno. Conveniently this can be accessed by chairlift, though there is a walking trail if desired. As I've mentioned before, Laura and I are "hard-core" tourists and do not mind walking, however when tackling a mountain we got smart. We decided to take the lift up and then walk down ... which was a good idea until we started on the rocky trail and realised our sandal footwear was less than suitable. Oh well, a few stubbed toes did not tarnish the fun! Here are the pictures to illustrate the "ups and downs" of our mountain climb.

 

Can you see me?

Bet you can see Laura! 

 

Alright so maybe we had a bit too much fun on the walk, but we had to get serious right after as things turned a bit romantic... we decided to go watch the sunset off the point, Punta Carena. The sun at our front, lighthouse at our back, and pointy rocks as our seats; it was almost perfect (except for the rocks).

 

 

 

The next day we visited perhaps the most popular tourist attraction on the island, the Grotta Azura or Blue Cave. When inside the cave the sea water illuminates a vibrant blue colour due to the way the sunlight reflects. The catch is the cave's small entrance; you must lie flat in a row boat to enter and if the waves are too large it is inaccessible. Luckily the cave was open on our second day, and we had a skilled Italian man to shuttle us inside. The system of entering the cave is fairly humorous because of the large quantities of people it serves. Rowboats collect passengers from larger boats, then crowd at the entrance. When everyone is ready, each takes a turn shooting into the cave (the Italian men have to limbo under the wall), you make a quick circle inside the cave, bunch up again near the exit and everyone takes turns shooting out. It was hard to get good pictures inside the cave, but at least you can see the colour of blue.

 

 

Before leaving Capri we visited the Gardens of Augustus, built by the rich German business man Friedrich Krupp in the early twentieth century. The weaving walking path is a quick way to access the Marina Piccola (small harbour). Unfortunately we did not have time to descend this cliff as we had a ferry to catch to Naples. 

 

Looking the opposite direction from the Gardens.

The weaving path of Augustus Gardens.  

 Pulling into Naples harbour via the ferry. Check out the size of that cruise liner (it had at least three waterslides on deck).

 

In my travelling this year, I have really enjoyed all the places I visited. I hate to admit it now, but I disliked Naples. It has an accurate reputation for being a "dirty" city, as litter fills the streets and graffiti covers the walls. The old city was definitely worse than the new city, which is almost a shame as the old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We entered one old, plain-looking church, only to be surprised at its magnificence inside. The interior was such a contradiction to the disorder outdoors I was shocked.

You can't judge a book by its cover. Unfortunately pictures were not allowed indoors.

 

Despite its downsides Naples is a very important city historically and has a lot of monuments which we did not get an opportunity to visit. Another benefit is how cheap it is in comparison to other places; a pizza was half the price as in Rome. When we spent some time walking along the harbour my impression of the city began to improve, but unfortunately we returned to Rome before it could redeem itself, and I do not think I'll make an effort to revisit.

 

 

 This massive building is the Church of San Francesco di Paola, located in the Piazza di Plebiscito.

The glass-domed Galleria. I've been in one very similar to this in Milan in 2010.

 

Our flight back to Ireland was on the morning of the 30th, so as a way to celebrate our last evening Laura and I attended a ballet at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome's Opera House). The ballet was La Sylphide, about a Scottish farmer who falls in love with a fairy though already betrothed, and loses everything when tricked by an evil witch. The ballet was not the most exciting I've seen, but the splendidness of the theatre compensated. I believe our favourite part was the costume display in the lobby, showcasing previous productions including Barber of Seville and Faust.

 

 

 

 

Both Laura and I loved our trip to Italy, and as I have written these blogs I have enjoyed reliving our travel stories. Glad I could share so many pictures and I look forward to writing more in the future!

 

Ciao for now!

Shannon