No, its Northern Ireland

So this will probably be my last foreign post (tear...wipe...sniff), but congrats to all of you who have kept up with my banter thus far.  I think I'm floating somewhere near the 20 post mark, so good on all of you.  There may be a treasure map waiting on the other end...

I flew into Dublin on the night of the 22nd, hopped on a bus to Belfast, and was greeted at the stop by a local friend of a friend named Richard who I have stayed with these past few days.  Richard and his wife Lisa live in a Belfast suburb named Hilsborough, and have been extremely generous and selfless tour guides during my time here.

Yesterday we woke and enjoyed some waffles which I smuggled through customs, then jumped in the car and took a tour around the greater Belfast area which is pretty much the epicenter of the struggles which have taken place over the years.  The streets and neighborhoods we drove through were painted with murals of various heros (either Catholic or Protestant depending on the neighborhood) who had influential rolls during the struggles through the years.  It was really remarkable to drive down the streets and be so close to such a fresh and recent part of Irish and British history, and see some of these philosophies applied in other scenarios like the current Israeli/Palestinian situation.  Truthfully I couldn't believe how ignorant I was to the entire conflict which was so recent, and it was an eye opening experience to witness firsthand, especially through the Treacys perspective of it all.  Afterwards we came back, took a nap, then went and had dinner with some of the Treacy's friends from church.

Today we woke and went to the 8:30 service at the Treacy's church.  Richard is a former Anglican priest, and he helped out with communion this morning, so I got to tag alo

ng and go to the service.  Afterward Richard and I came back, changed, and went north to the Giant's Causeway, which is about an hour and half north across the sea from Scotland.  Depending on who you ask, the causeway was either a result of volcanic activity, or constructed by an ancient celtic giant, but none the less, it is a really remarkable sight to see.  Afterwards we took a drive up the coastline for a bit, then headed on back home to catch the tail end of the closing ceremonies of the olympics.

Tonight will be low key, dinner here, and tomorrow I ship off to DC!  I hope you all are well, and have enjoyed keeping up with this blog as much as I have.  Be well, and I look forward to catching up with all of you on the other side of the pond!

Best,

Blake