We got up early to drive to Belfast for our appointment with the Lord Mayor. Along the way, our busdriver Robbie explained the history of “the troubles” in Belfast, what things were like in the last 30 years, and how many things have changed. Belfast City Hall is huge and quite opulent. When we arrived and entered the Lord Mayor’s chambers, they served us biscuits (cookies) and tea in china cups with saucers! He arrived and greeted each one of us. After our visit, we sang around the rotunda while a photographer from a bigger newspaper took lots of pictures. We may show up in the news on Monday! Councilman Ian Adamson, a former Lord Mayor, took us on a personal tour of the Great Hall, Banquet Hall and Council Chambers. We all got to sit in the Lord Mayor’s chair!!
Afterwards, everyone got a bag of goodies from the Lord Mayor’s office.
Tourism Ireland, which set up the meeting and made the connections, sponsored our lunch at a famous Fish & Chips place called John Long’s. We then picked up Robert Pimley, a great city guide who showed us all over Belfast, including segregated/gated streets and politically charged murals. The Parliament building is huge and sits up on a hill, one mile away from the street!
We are packed and ready to go on our next adventure tomorrow in Waterford. Farewell, Jurys Inn and Dublin for now!
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