Arrived in Belfast!
Hey all!
Yes, I have arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland ... not without one "bump" along the way ... my connecting flight to Belfast from London (Gatwick) airport was canceled on Saturday morning. Apparently, the weather was bad in Jersey and Gurnsey so the planes never arrived in London on Friday evening to take us out Saturday morning to Belfast. I was lucky in a sense because I had just gotten off a 9-10 hour flight from Houston, which gave me first priority, and I was able to snag one of the last seats on the only flight out to Belfast later that day - at 4:30 PM! Lots of folks were booked on a 10:45 AM flight the next day, Sunday morning. Ugh - glad that wasn't me - although, in hour 8 of the 8 that I spent at Gatwick airport (those who have been there know the holding pen I am referring to) ... I may have been better off in a hotel for the night in London. Well, it wasn't too bad considering I spent about half that time laid out on a nice couch in the Continental President's club with very little noise and no concern that someone would steal my belongings. It was well worth the $45 charge for the 4 hours - I am only of "gold" status ... those "platinum" status snobs! I did, however, nearly pull my hair out the last four hours in the holding pen ...
I managed to make it to my hotel around 7ish on Saturday night ... it is quite cold here due to the WIND ... wow, it is brutal! It has been a bit rainy but still beautiful here. Saturday night, I was wiped out and got to bed early - then woke up to head to Downpatrick (about 45 minutes south towards the North Sea coast) with my co-worker, Chris, to visit the area that he is from, which is where St. Patrick is actually buried. His family took me to a nice lunch in this beautiful hotel that is named after a famous irish song about the area "where the mountains meet the sea" ... it was just gorgeous ... again, I have never seen landscape like this before - so green! The hotel was beautiful and very old. Apparently, it had been bombed a couple of times in the 70's and used to have marble staircases and the like --- but looks quite different now.
Today is my first day at work here and I can already tell what a needed trip this is/was ... an overdue break and change of scenery! I am excited to be back in the UK - will update y'all more later ...
keely :)
Yes, I have arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland ... not without one "bump" along the way ... my connecting flight to Belfast from London (Gatwick) airport was canceled on Saturday morning. Apparently, the weather was bad in Jersey and Gurnsey so the planes never arrived in London on Friday evening to take us out Saturday morning to Belfast. I was lucky in a sense because I had just gotten off a 9-10 hour flight from Houston, which gave me first priority, and I was able to snag one of the last seats on the only flight out to Belfast later that day - at 4:30 PM! Lots of folks were booked on a 10:45 AM flight the next day, Sunday morning. Ugh - glad that wasn't me - although, in hour 8 of the 8 that I spent at Gatwick airport (those who have been there know the holding pen I am referring to) ... I may have been better off in a hotel for the night in London. Well, it wasn't too bad considering I spent about half that time laid out on a nice couch in the Continental President's club with very little noise and no concern that someone would steal my belongings. It was well worth the $45 charge for the 4 hours - I am only of "gold" status ... those "platinum" status snobs! I did, however, nearly pull my hair out the last four hours in the holding pen ...
I managed to make it to my hotel around 7ish on Saturday night ... it is quite cold here due to the WIND ... wow, it is brutal! It has been a bit rainy but still beautiful here. Saturday night, I was wiped out and got to bed early - then woke up to head to Downpatrick (about 45 minutes south towards the North Sea coast) with my co-worker, Chris, to visit the area that he is from, which is where St. Patrick is actually buried. His family took me to a nice lunch in this beautiful hotel that is named after a famous irish song about the area "where the mountains meet the sea" ... it was just gorgeous ... again, I have never seen landscape like this before - so green! The hotel was beautiful and very old. Apparently, it had been bombed a couple of times in the 70's and used to have marble staircases and the like --- but looks quite different now.
Today is my first day at work here and I can already tell what a needed trip this is/was ... an overdue break and change of scenery! I am excited to be back in the UK - will update y'all more later ...
keely :)
posted by Keely @ 5:30 PM
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