From Ireland to Scotland

Most of the second day in Belfast was spent stressing out about where we were going to sleep when we got to Edinburgh.  Every single hostel is booked, no one on couchsurfing.com could host us and every hotel tripled in price since it is Easter weekend.  We were waiting on our last hope, a reply from airbnb.com.

Northern Ireland Parliament house... and me

While we waited for the response, we went to an oyster bar for lunch to eat some of the famous Irish oysters.  They were deeeeelicious!  I cant remember ever having had oysters so I wasn’t to sure what to expect but I’m happy I tried them.  Then we wandered around the great city and made it to the brand new Titanic museum.

Belle of Belfast city :P

Since the museum is so new, we weren’t able to get tickets to get in but we wandered around the lobby and gift shop then stayed for their free wifi.  The majority of tourism in Belfast is based on the Titanic.  It was in this city that the ship was constructed, and it was from Belfast that is departed on its fateful journey.  Titanic has been redone in 3D and is in theatres now that Ive seen the birthplace of the Titanic, I am definitely going to see it soon.  Since it came out Friday and we were there Thursday we instead went to see the Hunger Games which was sooooo good!

Titanic Museum

Friday morning we went to the Saint George’s market.  It is a huge market where you can buy anything from bras and underwear from a sketchy lady to fresh fish and delicious curry dishes.  I bought some dulse (sea weed… really high in minerals) and it was tasty but I put the left overs in my bag which now reeks of fishiness :(  For lunch, I got steak and Guinness pie from a cute vendor; it was so tasty!  Then we met a nice old fisherman who offered us some fresh oysters, mmmm.  I realize that a lot of these posts and pictures have to do with food but its because its hard to eat any good food in Norway because of the ridiculous prices so I am taking full advantage of decent priced foods and beer while I’m traveling here.

Eating oysters at Saint George's market

After the market we grabbed our bags from the hostel and headed for the ferry to cross the Irish sea to get to Scotland.  The ferry may as well have been a cruise ship!  There were bars, a spa, restaurants etc…  When we got to Scotland we hopped on a bus that went through the countryside, through Glasgow and finally arrived in Edinburgh.  For you North Americans reading this, it is not pronounced “Ee-din-burg” as I though but rather it is “E-den-bour-ah”.  I learned this the hard way when I got laughed at by a Scotsman for my butchering of the city’s name. 

We finally heard back from a host on air Bnb which is where we stayed.  I was a little bit apprehensive at first to stay in some random person’s house but it couldn’t have worked out better!  We are staying in a beautiful apartment near the harbor with a guy names Tom.  It is very clean, has two beds … it is a nice break from hosteling!  We spent the night with him and his 2 friends, slowly getting used to the Scottish accent.  Although this is my first experience, I would definitely suggest www.airbnb.com to anyone who needs a place to stay in a new city.  It’s a great way to meet locals and cheaper then a regular hotel