January 18

After a cluster of eventful days in Belfast, the Ulster-Scots agency granted our group two days of rest. Yesterday, we enjoyed our free day. Many slept in and enjoyed browsing the impressive shopping mecca, myself included.

We were treated with another relaxed day today. Generally we board the bus around 9:30, but today, we gathered around 12:30. Before heading towards Carrickfergus Castle, we took a brief detour through Falls rd. If I am not mistaken, these particular murals are Nationalist. Some were painted with a high level of artistry, and all of them conveyed a deep commitment to the artist's and his people's cause.

After a drive-by view of the murals, we headed towards Carrickfergus Castle. Just outside of Belfast, the castle has been situated on the seacoast for an impressive 800 years. The castle has outlasted attacks from the Scots, Irish, English, and French before the Northern Ireland Environment Agency took the castle under its wing in 1928.

Mr. Hannah, our guide again today, gave a brief overview of the castle before unleashing the group to act as its own tour guide. Although cold and windy, we enjoyed scouring the castle grounds. The Northern Ireland Environment Agency has made the castle fairly interactive with an informative film and plaster molds. After posing for pictures and exploring the gift shop, we headed to the Andrew Jackson home site.

Just around the corner, Jackson's ancestor's home was unfortunately closed. The building is closed during the winter season, so we settled for peeking in through the windows. Eager to get back on the bus, we headed back to Belfast and were able to see more murals. Because we looked at Nationalist murals on our way to Carrickfergus, we viewed several Unionist murals on the way back to the hostel.

This post was supposed to go up a while ago, as you can probably tell. Anyhow, I hope that you have enjoyed stopping in with Caroline and me. On behalf of our group, thank you Ulster-Scots Agency!