On Thursday evening, I hopped on a plane to Belfast, in Northern Ireland. I brought a few snacks along for the ride (and the weekend in its entirety). In hindsight, its a very good thing that I I did that! When I arrived in Belfast, I had about 150 euros with me. I figured that I would exchange these at the airport and use the sterling to pay for my three nights in two guest houses, food, and whatever else. I brought along my debit card and credit card for back up and to pay for train tickets.
After I collected my luggage in the Belfast Airport, I made my way out to the main area, only to find that the Bureau de Exchange had closed five minutes before I landed. No biggie right? I wandered over to the ATMs to pull out enough for transport to my hotel. Problem? The ATM said that I didn’t have enough in my account to pull out anything.
Start the panic that would endure for most of the weekend.
The night before I left, I made sure to transfer PLENTY of funds into my account, just in case I needed to pull out anything. I pulled out my phone and dialed the international Wells Fargo number to see what I could do. I was talking to someone, and was just about to find out how much was actually in my account…. when my minutes ran out. I was left not knowing the situation with my account, and still stranded with no viable currency.
I talked to the tourist desk, and the woman there told me that taxi drivers would in fact accept Euros. So I made my way out to the taxi lane… to find that the first three drivers I talked to would in fact NOT accept my money. I’m fairly certain that the only reason the fourth driver said he would accept Euros is the fact that I was about to burst into tears.
When I finally arrived at my destination, I was ready to collapse. It was only about 8:30, but the stress of the situation was a little much for my system. Besides, I was waking up early to catch my train.
In the morning, I went down, had some breakfast. Being the only person awake, the owner came over and talked to me for a while. As I finished up, I asked about checking out. I explained the Euro situation, and asked if she accepted them. Nope. Cards? Nope.
The internal panic began again.
I asked if there were any ATMs near by, just incase the bank situation had cleared up over night. She gave me directions to the nearest one – I made my over, to find that I was still unable to pull out any money. After explaining the situation, she decided to be nice. I gave her a fifty Euro note, and she gave me all the sterling she had – 2o Pounds. All in all, I probably lost about 10 Euro from the deal, but I was happy.
I walked over to the train station, and luckily I was able to pay for transport with my credit card. Phew! The train ride to Corelaine and the subsequent bus ride to Bushmills were fairly uneventful. The scencery was nice, but nothing spectacular. I was fortunate to have a very accomadating bus driver, who dropped me off at the lane that led to my second guest house, which was not an official stop.
The panic subsided for the most part after that with the exception of one issue: food. With only about 5 pounds extra once I took out the cost of the bed and breakfast I was staying at, it was going to be slim eatin’s for the weekend. I decided to get the most nutrient rich thing I could: Peanut Butter. I also got some soda bread and a bag of apples. Luckily, the B&B did have a pretty great breakfast buffet, with an optional cooked breakfast (although, not very vegetarian/lactose-intolerant friendly. However, the tomatos and potato bread were divine!). I pretty much survived on breakfast, PB, bread and apples for my trip.
And now to the non-panic laden part of my trip: as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
On Friday, the sky was gorgeous, and I took a lovely walk from Bushmills to the Causeway.
The Causeway was incredible. As a geologist, I was in heaven.
Picture taking FAIL
Even when it started to rain, it was absolutely beautiful!
Even when it rained all day Saturday, it was gorgeous.
Okay, so when it started to rain AND blow, I called my hike quits. The weather was just … terrible. I ended up spending about half of Saturday curled up in bed with a book (Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris), and ended up finishing it. I haven’t done that in a while, and it felt lovely.
On my last night in Bushmills, I ran into a couple – a middle aged man from Scotland and his Indonesian girlfriend. It turns out, they were taking the same train to Belfast that I was. They asked me if I would like to take the taxi to Coleraine with them – at no charge! They seemed nice, so I took the gamble…
… and it was a great decision! Barry (the man) was rather, erm, well off, and paid not only for my taxi but also bought me some tea in Belfast and gave me a few pounds to get something to eat at the airport! But beyond that, both Barry and Fina (his girlfriends) were absolutely wonderful people. We had a great time just chatting and wandering the streets of Belfast for a while. Hurrah for meeting people!
I’ve spent today chatting with friends, studying for my Mineralogy test on Wednesday, and generally chilling . Exciting, I know.
This week – classes…. and that’s it! Thanks for reading (and leave some comment love!)
Great adventure (down and out in Belfast). Glad it all worked out OK.
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Oh man, what an adventure you had, dear! But it sounds like you handled it in stride. I’ve been having such a fun time reading your blog and imagining what you’re up to! Enjoy your week!
That sounds wonderful, Emma! It’s so fun reading about all of your exploring. I loved your photo of the jointed rocks too
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