Belfast to Dublin


Headed for Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland.  This city on river Lagan had a thriving ship building industry and some of the big name ships from here are the Olympic, Britannic and Titanic.

The city is under heavy construction with an intent to promote tourism.  So, we decided we will take a quick look around and come back another time when it's all ready!



A fish statue, with each tile containing information on the history of the city.



A science center for children: W5 stands for Who What Where When Why :-)



A stadium for the Belfast professional hockey team:


A foot bridge across river Lagan


Tourists!


Lost tourist :-)


Fooling around !!






This cafe where we ate had a cool name; food wasn't that great.



Headed off south to Ireland. Once we entered Ireland, our portable WiFi started working again! So, it must be that it does not work outside Ireland.

Our next visit was to Brú na Bóinne.  This was an amazing place! It has passage tombs built in the 3000-4000 BC! These are about 500 years older than the Pyramids!  It was truly memorable to see evidence of Neolithic people and their way of life.

The passage tombs were used as burial places for the elites. It's a massive mound that rises above the ground. The site we went to is called Newgrange.


We are taken on a guided tour inside the tomb, but we are not allowed to take pictures inside the tomb.

The tombs are elaborately built inside and out. Large stones weighing up to 10 tons were transported from various parts of the region through river and land to build this.

There were geometric shapes and patterns on the stones (megalithic art), which have not been interpreted yet! These were most likely made using super-hard flint tools. The neolithic people had not mastered metal as yet.



Entrance to the chamber. We walked down a narrow 60 foot passage lined with huge boulders. The passage opens up to a central chamber that has ceremonial basins. The tomb is aligned east-west precisely. On Dec 21st, the shortest day of the year, a ray of light enters through the roof box above the entrance and reaches all the way to the inner chamber. This indicates this was most certainly a sacred spot for the Neolithic people and important for the death rites.


Neolithic dwelling and tools on display at the visitor center:




Dinner at Old School House pub. This pub was rich in exhibiting Irish history, artifacts and humor.







Fish and chips


We returned the car back to the airport, since tomorrow we will be spending the day in Dublin and a car is not needed.


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