On the fourth day in Ireland, my true love gave to me....
No, sorry, wrong time of the year. Though I am creeping up on rampant playing of Christmas music at home. A topic for a different entry, however - let's get back to Ireland.
On the fourth day of the tour we left Dublin and the Republic and rolled through some remarkably verdant countryside
to a place just by Strangford Lough.
Not a library, nor a museum, no - we stopped at Tracey's Farmhouse Kitchen
for a lesson and then a hands on experience at making soda bread.
Prior to the trip, I'd seen that we were doing this activity, and I was a little unsure. I was a little wary that we'd be going to some big place and watching some demo amongst a big group and then getting "hands on" in only the vaguest sense before being packed through the gift shop. Also, I've baked soda bread at least a few times in the past, and it's nice to enjoy, but even though it's a quick bread, it still takes some time to make and bake. How wrong I was, though.
Tracey and her husband (Joe? I've forgotten, sorry, but really nice guy) welcomed us
into their farmhouse
that was rather clearly their home. Yes, if you check the website, you can see that they offer baking and other tourist experiences, but the space was lived in, it felt warm for the fact that it was cluttered in corners and imperfect and, well, just like someone's home. Tracey had buttered slices of a fruity soda bread and regular or herbal tea to offer us
while she demonstrated how to make the soda bread in the style of Northern Ireland or at least her part of it.
Griddled, not baked, a faster process. The demo done, she was then set up for hands on experiences for at least some of us in the living room and the dining room. Five people stepped up to it: Anne and Kathleen in the living room and Denelle, Mary Ann, and Peter (the other Peter) in the dining room. I was asked why I didn't do it. Two reasons. One, I had volunteered myself to take photos of the Ireland tour for sharing, and I wanted to get those photos. But also because I cook a lot, and cooking to me is a personal and usually solitary thing that I don't want to be doing with an audience or encouragement. Just let me be in my kitchen. So, instead, I went back and forth between the two rooms, documenting the progress.
That griddled soda bread? So good. Nice and warm. Tracey had laid out a table
with a simple and very satisfying lunch of her soda bread baked in the style of focaccia
and bowls of a soup of roasted vegetables from their own garden,
and as tasty as those were, I kept grabbing more pieces of the soda bread my colleagues had made, slathering it with butter, and wolfing it down. Yum! A little dessert of their own foraged berries with toasted oats, yogurt, and honey capped our time.
Tracey walked us down the lane to our bus and waved good bye from over by her horses,
and we were on the way. So, yes, there was touristy activity mixed into our travels, all the more so when the weekend rolled around, and that first experience of it pointed the way to us having other good touristy experiences.
That beautiful sunshine on green gave way to an overcast afternoon when we rolled into Belfast, past the city hall,
and stopped at the Linen Hall Library.
The oldest library in Belfast, it is a public library (but, again, not THE public library).
The Linen Hall Library was kind of a hoot. By that I mean that it has the look and feel in places of being an old, established, well-used, careworn library that may be found in many US towns and cities, perhaps especially out east.
Careworn is not entirely fair, I know, but although there were newer parts of the building, there were parts that retained a worn countenance. Still, I know Conrad, for one, enjoys seeing images of the building's structure, and I enjoy sharing them with him.
Handwritten signs, cluttered cramped spaces - none of this was bad, just familiar to anyone who has visited a lot of libraries. One of the staff gave us a tour,
and we were treated to the highlights of the collection, the older treasures (the largest Burns collection outside of Scotland!).
But it was lovely to see the newer in juxtaposition with the older, and materials for the young, not just for grown ups.
That staff person handed us off to the director eventually. Samantha, if I remember correctly.
I wish we'd had more time with her. One of the strengths of the collection was its immense documentation of The Troubles.
I'll talk more about The Troubles down the road, but it was clear that, 25 years from the peace accord being signed, there remains healing to do. The Linen Hall Library plays a role by providing access to a wealth of materials from both sides of the conflict. We were running out of time, and I was really keen to know about how the community at large and in its remaining factions feels about the collection, but, alas, we had to move on. I did appreciate the time we had with the library and its staff, but I wish we had had more.
was just the other side of city hall from the Linen Hall Library. Beyond going to Starbucks both mornings and to dinner the first night, I did not explore Belfast on foot. I don't know. I felt uneasy there even if the place gave me no reason to feel that way. The downtown was busy during the day, and there was no mention of needing to be cautious in the evening. A shame. I saw what I saw
from my hotel room
and in the two or three blocks nearby. I would have liked to have seen a little more.
Dinner was not as a group that night. Interestingly, whenever the eleven of us had the chance to go off on our own and dine, we really splintered. Some people dined together, and that was based sometimes on who answered a call sent out to the WhatsApp group. I asked if anyone wanted to join me that first night in Belfast, and only Anne did. She and I strolled the few blocks down to James St. and had a nice little set menu dinner there with a Belfast sour for me to start with.
A pair of oysters to share,
salad of heirloom tomato,
steak and fries,
and a sticky toffee pudding sundae for dessert.
It was a very nice little meal, one of the better ones I had on the trip.
The day ended, the next day promised to be a very very busy one. The Northern Ireland part of our travels was underway.
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