Melissa's UK Adventure - Day 7

Today we were up early and on the way to the ferry heading to Ireland. The drive along the coast line of Scotland was amazing. It made me wish that I had rented a car and was driving it myself. All of the little fishing villages that were along the way looked so cute and I just wanted to stop and look in them all. Arriving at the port, we had only had about 10 minutes to wait until we could board. I have been on other ferries before, but this one was huge. I started to get off the coach and get on the ferry along with everybody else, only to be told that we were driving onto it. That was cool driving up the huge ramp and into the car hold. They really pack the cars and buses into a tight space. We then made our way up into the main part, and it was really nice. It had 2 restaurants, a coffee shop, a casino and lots of sitting areas. The ride took about 2.5 hours, but it went by really fast. The water was really calm which helped speed up the ride.


After arriving at the port in Ireland, we got back on the bus and drove off the ferry. We drove to the city of Belfast and had a quick drive around to see some sites. Belfast is an interesting city because of all the fighting that has been occurring there for years. At one point we drove by a section of the city that still has the "segregation walls" in tact. These were used to separate the catholics from the Protestants. Next we drove on to Dublin, were we will be staying for the next two nights. Upon arriving at the hotel, we had about 45 minutes to change and get ready for the evening. Tonite we are going to a traditional Irish dinner and cabaret. We drove 45 minutes outside of Dublin to the show. The show included a really good meal of soup,chicken, Irish apple pie and of course an Irish coffee. After dinner the show began with six dancers, and two singers showing us dances and singing songs that represent the Irish culture. After that, a comedian performed for about one hour. He was really funny and the whole show was really good and a must see.