where to start?! northern Ireland, of course!

sooooo . . . it's June now. Woah. I've done sooo much since my last post almost 3 months ago, i don't know where to start! quick overview of the first weekend--i did my first ever solo travel to Northern Ireland! i was on a quest to find the IRA, against the advice of my parents of course, but all I found were remnants and graffiti. It was still cool though, and everyone that i met was so nice, Irish hospitality almost rivaled Norway. Almost.

I saw someone getting arrested! and i happen to think most european police cars are funny looking. This one was in Belfast.

This was a kind of creepy plaque erected by the IRA, "Let our revenge be the laughter of our children" Yea, it still kind of creeps me out.

This is the coolest picture I took. Ok, so maybe i'm a bit obsessed with the political atmosphere of the place, but it was really cool. This was in Derry.

When in Ireland . . .

This corner of the wall is probably my favorite spot in Derry, I was by myself, and not really hungry yet, so I decided to get a book from the bookstore and just sit outside and read. It was a gorgeous day, and since Derry is a walled city (the only one still standing in the UK!) I just got ontop of the wall and found a nice corner to lean against for a couple of hours. Wonderful.

There were murals like this all over--painted by this group of people called the Bogside Artists, I actually met one of them when I was trying to find the Museum of Free Derry. I think there were 12 murals in all, each on a different building in a 2 block radius.

I really enjoyed my solo trip, even though I was glad to meet up with my friends just 3 days later. It's interesting seeing all these historical and meaningful things that you want to talk to someone about, but not really having anyone there to talk to. I would see something and want to point and say, "Oooh! Look!" but, it was just me, wondering around the city. I'm glad I had the experience, and I'm sure i'll travel by myself again someday, but especially because I was in a place like Northern Ireland that has the kind of past which encourages discussion, it made me really appreciate having friends to travel with if I need one. But I would say solo travel is a necessity for everyone, even if you just take a weekend to do it.

I'll try to post more about my spring adventures . . . there are quite a few! I leave Cambridge for good in 14 days, can't believe it's almost done--but i'll write more on that later, it probably deserves it's own slot anyway :)