Guys! I finally had a long vacation for myself YAY! I couldn't be happier than this seriously. Me and Sam came up with a bunch of countries we wanted to go but, at the end, the UK was our decision because Sam really wanted me to visit his granny and his relatives in the UK, as well as travelling around the UK. The most painful part of this entire trip was the visa. I was very worried whether I gonna get it. I provided heaps of document to the embassy, just to make sure they got everything they wanted. Anyway, my visa had been approved. I was so chuffed!
We went to the UK in February and I remembered it clearly that the weather was freaking cold! The first step I got out of the plane, I knew immidiately I gonna need 5 layers of sweaters. First night was very rough for me and Sam because we flew from the other side of the world. Yes, we had massive jet lagged. We fell a sleep at 3pm guys. I'm not kidding. We woke up at 2 in the morning on the next day. Brilliant!
Alright I gonna pause the story in England and focus on Northern Ireland from now on...
I fell in love with Northern Ireland so much even though the weather was even more miserable than England but I can totally forgive that. When we arrived at our Airbnb place, took a shower, unpacked our stuff, blah blah blah then we went outside to see the city. The first thing we noticed was, Belfast wasn't crowded at all. It gave us such a good chill! We kept walking and walking then we spot a very beautiful Baroque Revival style city hall in Donegall Square. The idea of Belfast city hall began in 1888 when Queen Victoria awarded city status. 10 years after, the construction started under the supervision of architect Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas. This building cost £369,000 to complete, the equivalent around 128 million pounds today. Yeah, very costly. It was a pity that we didn't get inside. I bet it must be very stunning.
Just across the city hall, there was Marks & Spencer (M&S), the shop that Sam mentioned to me a few time. He said "Mum and gran always say, go to M&S for a good sweater". However, M&S doesn't have only good sweaters, but also gloves, snacks, perfume, etc. Basically, everything they can think of.
Next day, we woke up a bit early because we booked the tour to see Game of Thrones location around Northern Ireland. We wait at the location they told us to but I didn't check my email before leaving accommodation. Turned out the tour was cancelled because, on that day, the entire booking was just me and Sam. Nevertheless, a man who works with that tour company came to the meeting point just to check on us. He managed to get us in a tour, but with different company. Our first stop was Carrickfergus Castle, the beautiful Norman castle located in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim. This charming castle was built by the Anglo-Norman John de Courcy more than 800 years ago. Sounds very interesting but we didn't get inside because we only had 10 minutes for this castle. It was a very pity. I'd love to walk around and explore a bit more.
When our 10 minutes was over, we hop into the van and I immidiately fell a sleep. I was so tired but Sam managed to stay up until the next destination, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. OMG guys, this place was freezing our butts off! When we stepped outsife the van, we literally didn't wanna cross the bridge anymore. Me and Sam immidiately walked into the indoor shop/cafe that serve very yummy soup. However, when I looked through the window, the scenery in front of me was very gorgeous but again can't fight with the weather. Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge was first erected by salmon fishermen in 1755 (salmon is my favourite fish by the way). At that time, this crossing comprised just one handrail and a handful of gapped wooden planks. Very lucky that we are in 2018 now otherwise I'll definitely pass out on that bridge.
It's time for my all time favourite place on earth - the Giant’s Causeway! Woohoo! I was so extremely excited to see it for the first time. According to legend, the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet. In one version of the story, Fionn defeats Benandonner. In another, Fionn hides from Benandonner when he realises that his foe is much bigger than he is. Fionn's wife, Oonagh, disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle. When Benandonner sees the size of the 'baby', he reckons that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants. He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn would be unable to chase him down. Across the sea, there are identical basalt columns (a part of the same ancient lava flow) at Fingal's Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa, and it is possible that the story was influenced by this.
Look how beautiful! I've never seen anything like this before, I mean hexagonal columns? That's never appeared in my textbooks before. Nature always gives us a wonder, right?
The last place before finishing the tour was the Dark Hedges, an avenue of beech trees along Bregagh Road between Armoy and Stranocum in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Those trees were planted by the Stuart family in around 1775, to create an imposing approach. Guess what, it works! Right now, it's becoming a tourist attraction plus a filming location for the "King's Road" in the television series Game of Thrones and Transformers: The Last Knight! We didn't spend much time there because it was getting dark, which means less sunlight, so we were cold again ｡(*^▽^*)ゞ We were back at our accommodation around 8pm, the tour ended at 6pm but the van stopped at city center so me and Sam did some shopping there. We spent so much at Primark. Everything was so cheap! but when those everything combine, it wasn't cheap anymore! (இ﹏இ`｡)
Before we went to bed, we talked briefly about the places we gonna visit tomorrow. We listed a few attractions that really interesting such as Crumlin Road Goal, Belfast City Hall (again), St Anne's Cathedral, Titanic Belfast etc. Then we fell a sleep on the comfy bed.
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