Failte Ireland!

Last night we enjoyed a great supper in a pub. I actually ordered and almost drank a 1/2 pint of Guinness. I was not able to develop a taste for the beer, so everytime the barman turned his back, I tried to get Eric to have a sip of the beer or we were never going to be able to leave. Given the fact that Eric has been lamenting the fact that he can't try the beer and after one sip he said he really liked it, he certainly wasn't drinking it fast enough for my liking. So, no more beer for me. Eric is already making plans to come back when he's 18 so he can try all the beer he wants!

This morning, we had a huge Irish breakfast at the hotel. We both liked the black and white puddings (just don't think about what it really is). We couldn't pick up the car until 11 a.m., and it was raining so we relaxed at the hotel until then.

When I picked up the car at Hertz, the first question they ask is, "Are you planning to travel to Northern Ireland?" When I said yes, without cracking a smile or missing a beat, the guy said, "So will you be taking the bomb-proof car or are you just going to settle for the bulletproof one? If you're interested, we do have armoured personnel carriers available as well." He really cracked me up! He felt the need to remind me that I would have to pay the deductible for any bulletholes unless I got the extra insurance.

So far I haven't had any troubles driving on the wrong/right side of the road. We had rain and construction on and off all the way to Belfast so it was just before 3 when we arrived. We immediately boarded the hop on hop off tour.

It is certainly not like the tour we did in Paris. You can tell we are in Ireland now. The live commentary is hilarious as the commentator pokes fun at the Irish but they drive so fast by everything, that you hardly have time to look at it, let alone take pictures! We stopped at the Parliament buildings for a "security check". This involved a patrolman boarding the bus, taking a cursory look and getting off. Good thing we all had our guns and Molotov cocktails hidden from his view! :)

We didn't catch much of the commentary because we had a Belfast native behind us who gave us his own personal running commentary throughout. He and his wife were very friendly and we learned a lot!

The tour only went until 5 p.m. so we returned to the hotel so we could eat up the goodies we brought with us from Paris. Most things close at "half five" here on Sundays and it is still raining off and on so we are taking the opportunity to have another goodnight's sleep. Our hotel is great - just like last night!