Game of Giants

Friday marked my day trip bus tour to Giants Causeway and Game of Throne filming locations. GOT has brought a huge amount of money into Northern Ireland with 80% of the filming taking place in Northern Ireland, either on location or (mostly) in the Belfast studios. Time to get my #tripofthenerds on! If you haven't see GOT up to Season 6, there will be spoilers ahead so you are warned now!

Our first stop was seeing these small steps leading into the ocean that were literally in the show for a minute or so. I was starting to doubt the legitimacy of these "fantastic filming locations" I was about to witness. The scene was when Arya is stabbed by the Waif and she falls into the water. When she comes up and scrambles onto the steps: bam! That's what I saw. Hahah.

Next, we continued on to the Cushendun Caves where Davos rows Melisandre into the caves to birth the shadow assassin. Now this was beginning to get more impressive. Our tour guide attempted to get some people to recreate the scene, but alas we had no volunteers  (and I have a rip in my jeans so there's no way I'm sitting on the ground legs open!).

RIP Renly

We arrived at the Giants Causeway next. After our tour guide told us the legend about how fighting giants from Ireland and Scotland built a bridge and then broke it, we disembarked and it took about 20 minutes to walk down to the rocks. Now to be honest, I was pretty underwhelmed at first. But looking at pictures after, they do look really impressive. I'm glad I had more GOT to look forward to.

They're kinda just rocks...

Next GOT stop: Ballintoy Harbour where they film the Iron Islands (specifically the port when Theon arrives and the baptismal scenes). There's also a beach where Melisandre burns non-believers and where Gendry is set free on his little boat adventure. Also, Sheep island in the background is often used as establishing shots to depict the iron islands from the shore.

Pyke Harbour

We came to Carrick-a-Rede Rope bridge next. It was a very pretty walk there. The Oceanside landscape kind of reminds me of Newfoundland. There was a huge queue to cross the rope bridge and after my tour guide talking it up so much, it was not scary at all..cool, but not terrifying or anything. There was also a quarry area where Brianne and Loras have their duel for Renly, but I missed it (I had tea and cake instead haha).

Rope Bridge!

Our last stop was the Dark Hedges. These iconic 150 beech trees were used for the scene of the Kings Road out of Kings Landing when Arya is escaping as a boy.
Planted in 1775, they form a natural arch across the road.

The Dark Hedges

They had costumes if you wanted and why not! Embrace the fandom! Even if plaid may not be traditional Stark garb.

Embracing my #tripofthenerds

When I finally returned from the tour, I was exhausted. A cheap curry from Tesco and I decided I wanted to experience a traditional bar in Belfast. I headed to Kelly's Cellar and watched some fantastic guitar players. I was befriended by a local Irish teacher Librarian named Sean, but after two beers and him constantly telling me horror stories of solo female travellers, I decided to play it safe and walk home early(ish).

Kelly's Cellar for some local lager and music

The next day was a trip to Derry and hopefully finding friends to have a proper night out with. SPOILERS: I did. ;)

Belfast: Familiar Faces

When I was planning this trip, I realised that my friend James was going to be traveling in the UK around the same time as me. James and I studied history together during undergrad at McMaster and did our first backpacking trip back in #eurotrip2009 (along with our friends Jesse and Alon). James was travelling with his friend Kurt who he teaches with in Alberta and we all had one solid day in Belfast together.

James and I reunited!

The day started out with brunch at Maggie Mays. The boys opted for lunch while I partook in a veggie Fry. When I had asked my friend Kevin who is from Ireland, what I should eat whilst here, he said: "breakfast". And while I think of that as a time rather than a specific meal, I followed his advice and had a big fry up. It was massive and filling and while I did try everything, I definitely did not finish it. It had 2 eggs, a veggie sausage, soda bread, potato bread, pancake, hash browns, mushrooms , tomato, and beans. I'm full just remembering it.

We then took a black cab tour. Everyone whose been to Belfast recommended it to us and we had a fantastic guide who told us the history of the murals and an insider view of the troubles. While not religious, he had a Catholic cultural upbringing and delivered his tour with a slight slant towards that bias. He even had a cousin, Charlie, who was killed and memorialized on one of the murals. One of my favourite nuggets from him was: "When the protestants were building the Titanic. The Catholics were building the iceberg". I tended to agree with him and it did provide some interesting point of view conversations.

Our awesome guide whose clearly "Seen some shite"

We saw a tower block where until 2005, the top two floors were used for British intelligence gathering. It was also an area of high turmoil during 70s as it was the area where the first child was killed during the troubles. We saw the Peace Line -- a wall that separates the protestant and Catholic areas of the city and still closes it's gates at night. It's eerily reminiscent of the Berlin Wall and a strong indication of how things are far from resolved in this conflict.

He took us to the top of the falls to see the political mural there depicting the struggles and sucesses of the Republicans. We saw the painted portrait of hunger striker Bobby Sands. All in All, most of the murals here were celebratory and reflective.

Republican murals

However, the contrasting ones on the loyalist side were strikingly different. They were much more militaristic, with guns pointing at you and tons of union jacks. There was a giant portrait of Stephen McKeag, a member of the UDA who despite his clean cut image on the picture, was more or less a murderer who died of a heroin overdose. The juxapostion is jarring. Having known very little about the troubles and ongoing conflicts/issues, I am keen to educate myself even more.

Example of a Loyalist mural

After the fascinating tour, we walked down to Botanical gardens and Ulster Museum. The gardens were gorgeous and I took quite possibly the best picture of a rose ever. We got caught in a downpour heading to the museum and had a quick tea break to warm up.

Beauty and the Beast would have been jealous.

We unfortunately only had an hour to explore before it closed and I only made it to two exhibits. I read more about the troubles and saw some artifacts, helping to frame my knowledge a bit more. The second one was the coolest (because #tripofthenerds) as it was a giant long tapestry depicting the entire past 6 seasons of Game of Thrones. :D

Spoiler: The Red Wedding

I took a video (will post when I'm home) but it took 6 minutes of film time to walk through it. It captured memorial moments and quotes and was beautifully embroidered. Colour me impressed.

After the Ulster, we walked to the city centre to begin our pub tour. We tried to go into the touristy but well praised, Crown Liquor Saloon, but it was rammed. So we started off next door at Robinson's.  We got a round and caught Kurt up with our former adventures around Europe and memorable history profs we had. We got caught in another shower but it proved to be helpful as a Belfast native told us which bar to go to next.

Luckily as we were leaving, we were able to get into the Crown and had another pint. We met two wonderful old ladies who showed us what kind of linen we needed to buy as a souvenir. We went to Muriels next which is well regarded for their gin drinks. As James is a big gin fan, we indulged him. The atmosphere was fun with Motown music and random underwear hanging from the rafters.

Wait here, I've gone for help.

We ended our evening with some fish and chips and headed back to fall asleep after all that walking and an early rise the next day. It was absolutely fantastic to meet up with James and to meet Kurt. I hope they have a fantastic end of their trip. Next up for me, a day trip to Game of Thrones filming locations and the Giants Causeway!

Belfast: The Ship Of Dreams

I arrived in Belfast with surprisingly better weather than I left in Cardiff. I checked into my new hostel, Belfast International Youth Hostel  which was definitely not as good as my last one. This one would probably be awesome for large groups of friends but as a solo traveller, it was really hard to make friends (the only one I did was a girl in my room on my last night. She was from Hull, Quebec but she had a cold and understandably didn't want to go out). It was very clinical/streamlined and lacked much character --- but the beds were comfy at least.

Welcome to.... 

I decided to check out the Titantic Quarter and visit the museum. I took the rail there but when I got off, no one else did and I began to wonder if I was in the right spot. I wandered along mostly deserted streets beside a lorry rental place until I finally saw some signs confirming I was heading in the right direction. Huzzah! Win one for my internal compass (.... and Google maps).

The titanic museum was HUGE. They allot you entrance at a specific time so until then, I explored the SS Nomadic. The SS Nomadic is the last remaining White Star ship in existence. During the Titanic era, it was a Tender --- which meant it ferried passengers between the harbour and the Titanic because the Titanic was too big to be docked at shore. It was also recommissioned  in both World Wars (as a minesweeper in WWI and to help evacuate Cherbourg in WWII) and eventually went back to being a Tender. They've redone the interior to reflect what it would have looked like for 1st and 2nd class passengers and the subsequent crew.

SS Nomadic in its dock (🎶24601)

Side note: it was also docked in the Hamilton Graving Dock and all I kept thinking of was the "Look Down" scene in Les Mis when they are building the ship. TWO-FOUR-SIX-OH-ONEEEE!

I was then allowed to go onto the Titanic museum but actually it's so much more than just the ship! The first few floors  (yes floors) are dedicated to early industry in Belfast (such as Flax mills and the linen industry) and the shipbuilding process  (including an interactive ride that takes you through a day as a shipbuilder... complete with heat lamps in the coal sections!). The titanic part has recreations of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class cabins; descriptions of guests; boarding procedures; samples of the fabric and carpet used; as well as survivor testimonies and a chilling depiction of the SOS conversations with the other boats around them at the time of the sinking.

Last messages from the Titanic

 There was also a small portion about the Titanic in the media (yes, Celine was singing) and a part about the underwater cameras/seeing the Titanic now. Overall, a very impressive museum that I spent 2 and a half hours in!

Whooooo Are You? Who, Who? Doctor WHO!

Onwards to Cardiff!

After a 3 hour train ride west, I arrived in Cardiff. I stayed at a lovely hostel... good combo of social things but def not a party hostel. I arrived and settled into my hostel room  (superior- aka single beds not bunks- 4 bed mixed with only one roommate! An older brit named Ray who is VERY chatty but very nice too). After I rested up, I headed downstairs to make friends and find a dinner recommendation.

Welcome to Cardiff, Wales!

Well, I fully felt like an awkward fool this first hang out in a hostel. There were two Americans and three hostel workers all chatting and seemed to know each other really well. I just sat there feeling like I didn't belong and didn't know how to jump into the convo. Eventually I did, but then quickly left to have dinner.

I went to a fantastic burger place and wandered around the shopping district, exploring all the cute shops in the unique Victoria style arcades. Ultimately I ended up at Primark (bc where else do I know where to shop at in the UK, hahaha). I bought some souvenirs for my sister and an umbrella for myself (since my last one from there lasted so long, I thought I'd make another investment).

One of the shopping Arcades in the City Centre

I met the American girl while I was grabbing some beer at the off license and we chatted for the rest of the evening until I headed up to shower and sleep. Kind of an unexciting evening but I was exhausted from my London adventures that I welcomed a more mellow night.

Private Tours and Travels in Time and Space (#tripofthenerds)

 I didn't have the greatest first sleep. I think I was nervous about not knowing who I was sharing the space with, but luckily I did not have that trouble the second night. Regardless, I pulled myself out of bed to make it to the walking tour in the morning.

They are supposed to cancel tours if there are less than 2 people that showed up, but the guy (Andrew from Wales) who gave me the tour wanted more practice so he gave me a private one! It was great. We walked around Cardiff Castle, the government buildings, the stadium  and some of the City Centre. My hostel, Safehouse hostel, was pretty well located so none of these were too far.

Random facts I remember: There was a gold painted post box because whenever an olympian won a medal in the London Olympics, they painted them a gold postbox in their hometown. The olympian from Cardiff? He had no idea. ;)

The red bricks along the bottom of the castle walls are actually the old Roman ruins, anything above it was the restoration.

Also, he was cute so I was a little distracted anyways.

After Andrew's tour, I took his suggestion to take the river ferry down to the harbour. Also, I had no idea how many swans there were in Cardiff! I've only ever seen one or two, but there were like 10 on the shore at one point. The boat also gave us some informative facts about places we passed along the way (such as the various yatching areas and tourist friendly places).

Cardiff Bay was BEAUTIFUL. Granted, it was a gorgeous sunny day, but still. I could definitly feel myself getting burnt -- who would have thought that would even have been a concern on this trip! I took some shelter in a cafe that used to be an old church (that Roald Dahl, a Cardiff native, was baptized in!).

Then.... The Doctor Who Experience (aka the whole reason I even came to Cardiff at all). It starts off with a theatrical walk/journey where Peter Capaldi talks you through a mission to collect crystals to power the Tardis and save the day! It was hokey and fantastic. I love interactive things like this. Also, I got kind of freaked out with the weeping angels portion -- if I was a child, I definitely would not have continued on that walk through.

The face of Boe

Next, you go into a museum that has all these monster props/prostheses, artifacts and costumes from the shows many years. I was in my nerd glory and earned Jac's nickname of "Trip o'the nerds"!

Ten's Companion Costumes (Donna, Cpt. Jack, Martha & Rose)

After my whovian adventure, I trekked back to the hostel for a massive curry. There was a new girl that had just arrived that was to be working in the hostel for the next month so the owner (Tom), Andrew, a French guy (his name was hard to pronounce -- eep!), her and myself went out to a traditional Welsh bar to enjoy a few beverages. The evening ended while trying to watch "The Secret World of Walter Mitty" in the common room but we couldn't work out the volume and ended up narrating it ourselves with he subtitles. Rather funny to be honest!

A very traditionally Welsh bar

All in all, my first few days on my own have been pretty successful. Excited to be heading to Belfast and beginning my Ireland trip next!

London Nostalgia Tour

The return to Trafalgar Square 

 Well, it's been 6 years but I finally made it back to London! I was invited to Martin and Louisa's wedding and figured it would be a great time to return to my favourite city. :)

This weekend has been an absolute whirlwind and blast! I've been able to catch up with a ton of mates (albeit not all of them!), see some old haunts, be a tourist and celebrate a wedding --- in just 4 days! As I haven't had a second to catch my breath, the train ride to Cardiff seems to be a perfect time to recap the weekend.

THURSDAY (#lewishamnostalgiatour)
I arrived early in the morning on Thursday after a red eye from Toronto. My flight over was fine, I had a cutie from Scotland as my seatmate who actually lives in Greenwich so he knew all the places I did! We chatted/I forced him to be social and then after a viewing of "How to Be Single" (garbage popcorn flick but perfect for a plane ride), I tried my best to doze for a bit.

Martin and Louisa were so kind to pick me up at Gatwick and after literally falling at their feet, we trekked into the SE. I knew Martin from the Felday days. He was good mates with Allen and used to date my friend Melissa (they are still friends, no awkwardness!). We kept in touch and I was staying with him and his soon to be bride, Louisa, in Catford.

Catford is the neighbourhood just below Lewisham  (where I lived). So after a nap, we started my nostalgia tour. And yes, I got really excited when I saw silly common stores like Aldi, Argos and Poundland. Haha. We went to a bar near Catford station and I had my first pimms! They don't make them proper in Toronto so I was very glad to see the cucumber/mint/strawberry/citrus combo. Then we walked to another and I had a pint of Amstel  (another one of my London regular drinks) and then ended up going to a wonderfully wierd and hip bar at the Broadway Theatre -- complete with crisps in teacups and a Lionel Richie cutout to pose with.

My old stompin' grounds

And then walking up the high street. Seeing all the shops that we used to go to, waving to the hospital, getting angry at the name change of "Kebabalicious" to "Lewisham Best Kebab", and of course, creeping at 45 Felday. It basically looks the same except they cut down the bush outside.

After our tour, we went to my old local: the Fox and Firkin (not to be confused with the chain restaurant back home) and met up with Ankles (Jamie). He's still a fantastic soul with so much energy and enthusaism. I was so glad to have been able to catch up and dance.

FRIDAY (#globeandgoodbyes)
On friday, I was going to get up early and tour Southwark (my favourite area of London) but jetlag messed me up and I ended up only doing a quick photo tour of borough market/tate modern/st.pauls before I met up with Sam (roommate from Mcmaster days) for a viewing of Twelfth Night at the Globe.

The play was hilarious and well staged. They turned it into a musical of sorts and had a drag queen as Feste. I had "acted" in this play in Grade 5 as Olivia so I luckily knew the plot pretty well so even if I got lost in Shakespearian English, I was able to keep on track with the story. We had the £5 standing peasant tickets but we persevered.

All ready for some Shakespeare!

Afterwards, we headed to Sam's place and got ready for her leaving do as she's going to Mumbai for a year this Wednesday! We went to super hip Shoreditch and had drinks at the Old Street Records Bar. Her friends were all lovely and the drinks were expensive but delicious. Plus the live cover band was really fun. I managed to navigate my way back to catford on the tube/train/bus with only one creeper trying to chat me up, but developed some blisters for my effort to walk in heels.

SATURDAY (#weddingbells)
Saturday was the big day! I hopped in a taxi with Martin and Louisa's friends (Llyod and Anne - funny and friendly!) and headed to Islington Town Hall. They got married in the council chambers which was pretty unique. I was able to catch up and party with a bunch of old mates including my flatmate Allen, his wife Sarah, Allen/Martin's friends: Jim, Duncan, Simon and Neil who I played poker with like 6 years ago -- great memory boys! :)

They hired an old school double decker bus to take us from the ceremony to the reception which was pretty epic. The reception was held in Leadenhall Market which was the filming location of Diagon Alley in Harry Potter ! We had a late lunch at the Lambs Tavern and then the party started! They had a fantastic band that played outside the bar so the dance floor was cobblestone streets.

Congratulations!

At the end of the night, the last few party guests went to the basement bar to continue dancing to Louisa's excellent wedding playlist ;) The drummer of the band attempted to pick me up at 1am but I was way too tired to deal with that. Such a shame, but definitely an ego boost. ;)

SUNDAY (#pj4andbeatles)
Falling asleep at 3am resulted in me sleeping in til 130pm! But I hurried out to make it to Abbey Road! It was the only tourist thing I didn't get around to when I lived here so I'm glad I actually did it. I was only there for about 20 mins, had a friendly lady from Mexico take my photo and then headed to Waterloo to meet up with Jen.

Just imagine me x3

Jen was a fellow teacher from Nipissing (PJ4 represent) who moved over the same time as me but still stayed! We went to the Udderbelly Festival near the London eye, had a drink and caught up.

When Jen had to leave, I wandered about Trafalgar Square and ended up having a vegetarian Sunday roast at a pub on the Strand. I'm trying to get used to the solo travelling as I'll be heading to Cardiff and Ireland by myself!

I capped off the night with a return to Catford and introducing Martin and Louisa to the epic film that was "Urban Legend" hahaha. That and a viewing of "Bill and Ted" ended my evening.

MONDAY #singletear
And I'm off! I did a load of laundry (thanks!), went to an adorable cafe for a coffee and toastie and then caught the rail to Paddington to head off to Cardiff! Much love to Martin and Louisa for hosting me this weekend and being so generous!

Man, I don't know if it's a combination of nostalgia or excitement or novelty, but after just one weekend here I want to move back! That's how I ended up here last time: I backpacked with James and was like "hey, it'd be cool to live here" and 6 months later I was. So who knows London, maybe I'll be back sooner than you think! Even if it's just for another proper Pimm's. ;)