Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

Thursday

I Love Northern Ireland - Travel



I was born in Northern Ireland.


I have lived there for most of my life with a break from 1992-95 when we lived in Delaware, USA and another one from 2004 -2010 when we lived in Tervuren, Belgium.








First I lived in Londonderry in the North West of Northern Ireland and then after I got married we lived in Drumahoe which is a village just outside Londonderry.



When we returned from The US we went back to our house in Drumahoe but when we returned from Belgium it was time to move to a location from which it was easier for my husband to get to the airports to travel for his work so we chose a house in Banbridge, a town just off the A1 which is the road from Belfast to Dublin.










 Northern Ireland is part of the UK 







though many people throughout the world get confused and think that all of Ireland is one country because it is one island.







It is rather like Spain and Portugal which are two different countries sharing the one large Peninsula of land in Europe.


Or maybe think of The US and Canada?




The people of Northern Ireland are some of the friendliest people in the world and are definitely known for their hospitality.




Northern Ireland has so many beautiful places to experience.



Northern Ireland is the home of one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World:


The Giants Causeway



Wikipedia.org



Other great features are:



The Historical Walls of Londonderry


My home city for many years.


Wikipedia.org




The Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge

Along the beautiful North Coast


Wikipedia.org



The Mountains of Mourne

The beautiful scenery close to where we now live.



Wikipedia.org



The Lakes in Fermanagh

In the South West of Northern Ireland.


Wikipedia.org




I have always loved Northern Ireland and will claim (rightly) that we have fantastic large beaches of fine sand, even though we do not have the warm weather for others to come and visit and fully appreciate them.


DiscoverNorthernIreland.com



If you have never been to Northern Ireland it is well worth a visit of much more than a couple of days.

Yes I have met people who decide to visit "Ireland" so travel from the US or Europe or Canada to Dublin in Eire / Republic of Ireland and spend almost 2 weeks there and then think they can go "up north" for a couple of days (or for one day as one family of 4 expressed this desire to me after a late breakfast in a hotel in the south end of Eire - I still shake my head at this one) and take in the beautiful places we have here but then are surprised that there is too much to do in just so little time.










Other Posts about Northern Ireland can be found at 









St. Patrick's Burial Site








A frequently asked question regarding St. Patrick is 

"Where is the Burial Place of St. Patrick?"


The answer is in the beautiful country of Northern Ireland



I want to take you to County Down where there is a town called Downpatrick and there you will find a quiet cemetery, the graveyard of the local Cathedral.







As we approached the church from the town we parked and walked up a short road which gives a great view of the entrance of the cathedral.


The day we went there was a lovely mild weather day but it was late in the afternoon hence the duller photo.







As you walk on around the left side of the cathedral you come to the tall tower at the end.








Here we saw the wooden sign telling us it is the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity but more commonly called Down Cathedral as the web page address shows








I remembered having been there many many years ago but had forgotten how struck I would be by the simple grave which was covered by a large memorial stone in 1900








We wondered around a little but mostly stood beside the grave.

It seemed rather surreal that this could be the burial place of such a famous person from so long ago.








In 1985 a plaque was added which gave a little information about St. Patrick but more importantly explained that this gravesite also fulfilled a specific prophecy because it held 2 other Saints from many years before - St Brigid and St Columba  








Anyone who has read my about me page or some of my family story posts will know that I was born in Londonderry so this information about the burial site was very interesting to me as St. Columb's Cathedral is well known there.

 




In the first picture of the grave stone and plaque you would not really notice that there is a symbol and a name marked out in the stone.

You will be able to see them in this picture below - a cross and part of the name Patrick.






We took some more time to wander around and admire the church building from the outside.   

Lots of little spire adornments on the roof.







  I think this last picture of the side of the cathedral helps to show you the calmness and quietness of the site during our visit as the sun was starting to get much lower in the sky.







The town of Downpatrick is also not a large significant place and not a city like Londonderry and Armagh (also in Northern Ireland) which have beautiful well-known cathedrals. 







The last time we had been in Downpatrick was for the 
St Patrick's Day Parade in 2015 but we had not taken time to stay on after the parade to do any sightseeing.



Other Posts related to St. Patrick and Northern Ireland can be found on our














I Love Unusual Fountains - Travel






I love fountains! 

BUT

 I have seen so many over the years in various countries where we have lived 
or gone on holiday 
that I now like to look out for unusual ones.


Maybe it is just because I love watching moving water 
or prancing about in waves. 
 I wonder - does paddling in cold ripples on the beach 
also qualify here?



When we lived in Belgium we were in a Village called Tervuren and it was a lovely village with a royal castle and the gardens were open to the public as a park.

There was a roundabout in front of the castle and a long road leading up to it and shortly after we arrived there they started to work at the roundabout.






It was a mystery as to what they were going to do with it because it was obvious soon enough that it was not just going to have nice flower beds.  Well you can probably guess it must have had a fountain because that's what I'm writing about today but for the story and to see just what type of fountain was involved you will need to read Tervuren Fountain



We have lived in America and Belgium as well as our homeland of Northern Ireland and we have also visited several places on holidays over the years so I've picked out some of the more unusual fountains in those places as a representation of


 "Fountains throughout the World".






From Top Left going round Clockwise we have:

  1. Washington D.C.
  2. Singapore
  3. Geneva, Switzerland
  4. Manneken Pis - Brussels, Belgium
  5. Paris, France
  6. Las Vegas, USA
  7. Seoul, South Korea
  8. Old Faithful Geyser - Yellowstone Park, USA


These are all beautiful fountains but my heart lies firmly with the one in Tervuren which is more unusual than these and as I would pass it on almost a daily basis it continued (over all the years we were there) to put a smile on my face each time.

Tervuren Fountain  will always be special to me - you really need to go and have a look.

About halfway through my time in Belgium I was fortunate enough to be in a ladies group which managed to arrange to visit the workshop of the man who created the Fountain.  This workshop was at his home and all around his large (very large) garden were many more sculptures of many different animals and people and objects.

I remember telling him that I already knew then that The Fountain at Tervuren would be the thing I would miss most when I left Belgium and it is true, although I do miss the friends I made there as well.

It took Tom Frantzen a long time to design, get all the materials necessary and then to create this beautiful feature.

This always makes me think of my wonderful creator who did not even have to gather together materials because He made the world from nothing.

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed 
by the word of God, so that things which are seen 
were not made of things which do appear.
HEBREWS 11:3


Tom Frantzen is a very gifted sculptor and has made beautiful things but even though we use the word create in this context he really made them out of other things whereas God is the true creator because he made the world and us and everything in the world from nothing.

Oh how marvellous is my God.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: 
for thou hast created all things, 
and for thy pleasure 
they are and were created.
REVELATION 4:11



Have you acknowledged God's wonderful creation?

You should, because you are His wonderful creation.






Our daughter now lives in South Korea and of course she took us to see a lovely waterfall on Jeju Island on one of our trips to visit her but also while we were there 

 I found another lovely fountain; 
quite small but I loved the idea of it 
so I'm adding it in for you to see here.






 Have you visited any of these places and admired these fountains?

Let me know in the comments







Saint Patrick - The Church at Saul






A frequently asked question regarding St. Patrick is 

"Where in Northern Ireland will you find a church to commemorate St. Patrick?"

The answer is "lots of places"


 I want to take you to County Down where there is a small place called Saul and there you will find not one of the Cathedral's named after the Irish Patron Saint but a beautiful small church.



As you approach the church up the long narrow driveway






you will see the sign introducing you to St. Patrick's Memorial Church, which is open to the public daily and has a service each Sunday.







It tells us that St. Patrick built the first Christian church in Ireland on this same site in 432 AD







The church is small and beautifully made from light coloured stone.   
Simple & elegant with a very tall round tower.








The adjacent small graveyard is also well looked after and just a few steps away from the arched front doorway to the church.










Even the front of this church is simple and elegant with it's arched doorway and brickwork framing the door and then as you lift your eyes up there is a small stained glass window.








As you look to the front of the church after entering you will not be disappointed because the interior is also elegant and simple and this was a welcoming place to walk into and stand and gaze around, which we did for quite some time.



There are three sections at the front but also there is the wooden stand just off centre which






holds the book of Sunday Service readings and if you look closely you may be able to see that it was open at the readings for the Sunday after Trinity which would fall within the week from 25th September to 1st October.
We were there on 25th September (our oldest son's birthday - it was his choice of where we would visit that day)

The Psalm for the day was Psalm 78 and the reading listed was from Ezekiel 18.









The left section at the front comprised of a simple wooden pulpit.








The right section at the front was the area where the Bible would be read.










In the centre at the front was the altar table and another beautiful simple stained glass window.  This time arched and depicting St. Patrick.








Also in the church there is some information about the church.








Looking from the front back towards the entrance we saw the quaint compact organ for the weekly church services.


The stonework inside and outside made this little church just perfect.







As you can see from the side view of the outside the church is not very long and the windows are narrow yet with the sun shining in through these windows there was plenty of light inside.







It is on this side wall that we find the foundation stone of the new church built in 1933 on the old original site - a beautiful commemoration to St. Patrick.







Other Posts related to St. Patrick can be found on our