Belfast City Hall

The welcome reception for D's conference took place Monday evening at the Belfast City Hall.  Lucky us - we were able to tour the beautiful Victorian-era building and enjoy dinner and spirits in the Banqueting Hall.  The ornate building has impressive marble columns and many intricate stained glass windows.  It was a grand welcome to Belfast!

Note statue of Queen Victoria in front

Many, many physicists

Libations

The Belfast Coat of Arms is on the floor,

which includes two seahorses and a ship

Carrickfergus Castle

While D was at his EPS conference, I took the kids to Carrickfergus Castle.  The central keep was built in 1177, and the castle was expanded in the centuries after.  This castle is set up as a fun tourist destination, and the kids enjoyed exploring the set-ups of castle life.  I enjoyed thinking about people living in these rooms nearly 850 years ago!

Exploring Belfast

This morning we took advantage of sunny skies and explored Belfast.  We walked along the River Lagan, then into central Belfast for a hearty breakfast.  We saw the Alfred Clock, a focal point for Belfast.  The clock was built in 1869 to honor Prince Albert after his death.  Its foundation sunk slightly, and now it lists by 1.25m!  Then we went to the observation deck at the Victoria Square shopping mall and saw the landmarks from above.

Shipyards and docks

Observation tower at Victoria Square

Now you can see the clock tower listing

City Hall, where we'll go tonight for a reception

Belfast Beacon of Hope

Caerlaverock Castle

With approximately 4 hours in Scotland, we figured we had time to visit one castle.  What a great stop it was!  The triangular, moated Caerlaverock Castle was incredible to explore, both for kids and adults.

Crossing the moat

Exploring the courtyard

Inside a turret

Crossing Borders

Today we drove through Scotland on our way to catch the ferry to Belfast.  England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all in a day!

On the sun (i.e., wind) deck; Belfast in the distance

Castlerigg Stone Circle

Just out of town near Keswick is the ancient Castlerigg Stone Circle.  We enjoyed pondering how and why the massive boulders were moved into place by people some 4,500 years ago.  The mountain views were breathtaking, and there were pastoral scenes of grazing sheep.  I also tested out the pano function on my phone :)

Derwent Water in Keswick

We spent most of Saturday on Derwent Water, the lake near Keswick.  First we strolled through the medieval town center, where Moot Hall was the central meeting place and still hosts markets in the square.

Then we went to the lake and used their hop-on hop-off boat tour service to make a fantastic tour around the lake.  We enjoyed views from the boats and also hiked through the forest along the shore.  We saw quite a few sheep... we even knew if sheep had been around because their wool had snagged on grass and low tree branches.  The weather was a bit gray, but there was no rain, and the sun did occasionally peek out!  We went back to the lake in the evening around sunset to capture a sunset view.  Very beautiful scenery abounds.

Moot Hall and market square

Enjoying the boat

A moment in the forest

Secret hideout!

Local grazing sheep

Can you find the kids down by the lake?