Seeing where my grandfather grew up, the church he attended, and where lots of family members are buried was, as cheesy as it sounds, really rather moving.
Dad's cousin mentioned that she had invited the family for a some tea and cakes on the afternoon of the bank holiday. Our little immediate family didn't really know what to expect. What does one wear to meet as many as 20 cousins (and all of their families)? The day was a blur of learning (and forgetting) people's names, copious amounts of tea, 'festive drinks', cakes, soda bread, sandwiches, and that was just for lunch! I thought it was the Italians that showered family with food. I now know that the Irish do it just as well!
I really can't describe how amazing it was to meet so many people with the same surname (and who all seemed to share my pasty white skin and big head). Certainly the highlight was meeting with grandfather's only two surviving brothers. I don't have any memory of him but it meant so much to all of us to be able to connect with his brothers, who both have such great wit and humour!
Here is my sister and I with some of our second cousins. (And yes, we made everyone wear name tags and how they were related!) Ha ha.
The weather couldn't have been better for our trip up to the Giant's Causeway along the Antrim coast the next day. The coast road is considered one of Ireland's most scenic drive and it really didn't disappoint. There were some narrow bends that made for some hairy moments but my Dad and uncle manoeuvred the standard right-hand drive cars with ease! :)
We visited the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge first and although it was a bit shorter than I had expected, it still was rather frightening to cross.
We were able to get some gorgeous views along the walk to the bridge.
I can't believe that not too long ago, there were no wooden planks along the bridge! Not too sturdy!
The Giant's Causeway was just as pretty - and just as busy - as I remember when I was first there in 2001.
Before we all flew back to either the UK or Canada, our family visited Belfast, which has changed immensely in recent years. I couldn't believe how busy and how cosmopolitan it felt, even compared with only nine years previously. Obviously things were extremely different from when my Dad was last in Northern Ireland in the mid-1970s. The city isn't without its problems but we had a lovely time and to be fair, the shopping was fantastic!
The funniest part of the day was finding a Tim Hortons kiosk in one of the small convenience shops. I wasn't completely shocked as there is one in Birmingham but the look on my sister's face was priceless!
Can I have a large double double?
1 comment:
Your pictures are gorgeous and it looks like you had a fab time! I'm shocked that Tim's finally popped up over there. I remember there being chatter about it back in the day when I lived in London.
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