A brief history of where we just spent the night
The dining room was very inviting
Kathy had Eggs Florentine. There was at least one pound of spinach with perfect hollandaise and ham. She declared it the best she has ever tasted!
Tom had the same old, same old.
This tool was provided in our room as a corkscrew....or whatever. Tom fell in love with it, ravishing over it while at breakfast.
John and Paul, the owners and chefs, gifted one to Tom as we were checking out!!! These Scots are wonderful people!!! Need to reiterate that as we are leaving their country today: "The Scots are wonderful people!"
Passing a lighthouse as we head to the ferry
The Queue
We are going in the tail this time rather the mouth!
Inching along very slowly and very carefully
There is our All Black nestled with the motorcycles once again, the tour buses, trucks...guessing about 100 vehicles. This is the Stena Line. Our previous two ferry crossings have been with the Caledonia Line. We note how much cleaner, well lit, better organised this is.
Dogs are not allowed in the passenger area....another big difference from the Caledonis Line.
Once inside the ferry itself, there were many other improvements. We thought the Caledonia very comfortable and well appointed. The Stena raised the bar quite a bit higher!
A SPA ONBOARD!!! 2.5 hours travel time....Kathy is quick to go have her tacky toes tended to! This is Jackie, a native of Belfast where we are going. She has her own shop at home and does this on the weekends. Mum to 3 children, grandmum to one. Her children are 25, 21, and 5. Notice that she is sitting on the floor on pillows. There are no chairs....'tis not a luxury spa, but hey, it's a FERRY!
While K is in spa, T is exploring the bow of the ferry
Back together and nearing Belfast.
Once again the Director of Transportation in in charge of lodging for this one night. We are both holding our collective breaths as he checks in....and Kathy takes a few pictures of the surroundings, noting that we are in the middle of student housing for Queens College.
Bingo!!! Two in a row!! Way to go, T!
OK, not a very exciting picture, but it is a very exciting sight to Kathy. There is never a plug for the hair driers in the bathroom. No matter where we have stayed, that is the case. Conclusion, there is some safety law against it. Shavers may be plugged in the bath, not hair driers. So the hunt begins to 1)find the hair dryer and 2)locate a plug. The latter is the most difficult which usually involves either moving some furniture or unplugging some other device. Whichever way that happens, there is not a mirror anywhere nearby! So this very prominent hair dryer, already plugged in, by a mirror awards Tom extra points!!!
We are on Belfast streets looking for a place to eat. It is pouring rain, not a sprinkle, real rain. And Marian's rain shoes and Bob's hat and jacket are way back in the car. We are "Singin' in the Rain"
Tom has been drinking some really weird beers
But then we are in a very weird place and had the very worst meal we have tasted anywhere
And we are thinking that we are grateful we are only staying one night in Belfast. Jackie told me there have been some "troubles" again. This time it is over the British flag. The Protestants don't want it flown daily, only on special occasions. The Catholics, of course, the opposite. Currently, the Catholics have control of the legislature, so it is flying everywhere. For the past two years, there has been some unrest, some of it violent....Good bye, Belfast.
