Oh what a - -

- - brilliant weekend we had! Even the weather - and as you may know dear readers - British weather can be very unpredictable - was kind. Blue skies and sunshine greeted me as I woke - and although there was a chill wind - it remained with us all weekend. Our hotel was central - and so comfortable, the shopping was only 5 minutes away - and the new Titanic, Belfast only  a 20 minute walk along the waterfront.
We had booked out time slot for the Titanic building - good job we did - tickets were sold out for the weekend we were there.  It was PACKED - there were even monitored queues to get into the souvenir shop!!!It is a fabulous experience - in spite of the queueing - and we were there 3 hours - and I am certain there was so much else I missed! We did get in almost on our timeslot - only a couple of minutes late - so it is well organised even with its obvious, huge popularity - and I am sure it will calm down when the novelty wears off. It really is a "must see" exhibition/experience - and the building itself is - in my opinion anyway - beautiful. Very, very modern - and each of its 4 "points"really does look and feel like the prow of the "Olympic Class" liners. I really am glad we went - and I intend to go back again.

 

 Belfast is a great city - everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and we did take advantage of the City Tours to see the murals and other buildings of interest- as well as a trip to the Giant's Causeway, so we feel we managed to pack quite a lot into our weekend. Our hotel was one of the Malmaison group of "boutique" hotels and was in an old warehouse building, now converted into a luxury venue. It really was a great place to stay and the staff were lovely - at all times. The food was excellent too! I have added links but I am not receiving any commission or anything - and opinions are my own - Just thought you might like a little "nosy round".

Our Causeway trip was also very good value - and  on a very comfortable coach. We got to see some of Northern Ireland's beautiful scenery with an excellent driver as our guide - and once again the weather was kind - blue skies and sunshine! 

All in all we had a  really great weekend, and I am looking forward to adding my photos and thoughts to my "Week in the Life" mini album. Though it looks like I will also have to do a "Weekend in Belfast" one as well - for daughter number 1!! No crafty pictures yet - but will post when my album has a few photos in it!
Thanks for stopping by.
'til later -
Bannaghtyn - J x

A Week in the Life - - -

- - -A la Ali Edwards - - I have seen this  and often thought I should participate - so have decided to give it a go this year - and see how I get on. I am starting my week today though - rather than Sunday and my target for this week is to take photos!! And make some notes! I have a lovely little mini album - with 8 pocket pages in it - so I am going to use that and have decided to use my Polaroid Instant Digi camera to take pics - it's new - and hope the pictures will be OK as I am not really familiar with it yet.I will go back to my other camera if they don't print out well.Will test tonight and see how they are.
And of course - today is not only St George's Day, Shakespeare's Birthday - but World Book Night - and this morning our Head of English gave away 24 copies of Small Island by Andrea Levy to some of our 6th Formers. All recipients were chosen by their peers who are studying English at A Level - I think its wonderful - to be able to give away books - and this years list of chosen books has some excellent titles included - when I was a child a book or a book token was a favourite gift to receive - and I love that mum always said - "A book is a gift you can open again and again" . Check here for information on World Book Night.- actually one of this years list is one of my all time top 10 novels - but I might save that for 10 on the Tenth!
Are any on this years list in your top ten? I'd love to know.

Thanks for stopping by.
'til later

Bannaghtyn, J x