Patience is not simply the ability to wait - it's how we behave while we're waiting.
Joyce Meyer
Well, it’s been a month and unfortunately, we are still not on board our ship. Villa Vie was unable to secure insurance that would allow us to sleep on the vessel while they finished up with the certifications, so we’ve bounced around available Airbnb’s and continued to explore the area. We rented a car and spent two weekends in Inishrush in a beautiful cottage on a family farm. This allowed us to check out a few more places outside of Belfast.
Antrim sits on the shores of Lough (Lake) Neagh which is the largest lake on the island of Ireland and in the United Kingdom. It covers 392 square kilometers and supplies 40.7% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water. The Antrim Castle Gardens are around 400 years old and made for a lovely walk.
The cottage we stayed in was just outside of the small village of Inishrush and while driving to larger towns for groceries and whatnot we kept passing through Randalstown. The main road takes you right past the Shane’s Castle estate gates and a stunning viaduct, so we made a special trip back to wander around. The town was incredibly beautiful, and they have done an exceptional job turning the old railway into a beautiful walking trail. Shane’s Castle is a ruin, but it sits on a working Estate consisting of about 800 acres of farmland and about 1000 acres of woodland. They also run a paintball course onsite. The gate to the estate is still standing and definitely makes a statement.
During our second stay at the cottage our lovely hosts gave us a heads up that the Ould Lammas Fair was happening in the nearby coastal town of Ballycastle. It is Ireland’s oldest traditional fair, so we figured we should swing by. I’m pretty sure everyone in Northern Ireland was in Ballycastle that day. They had carnival rides, a petting zoo, a craft fair, food trucks, and much more. We were a little overwhelmed by the number of people, but we came across the stall for Scorched Earth and ended up ordering a sign for our cabin door from them.
Since we had made the drive, we also checked out Pan’s Rock Pier in Ballycastle. The pier offers great views of Ballycastle, the coastline and the bay. On the way home we stopped at Kinbane Castle. It was a steep descent down the stairs on the cliff to the ruins. There wasn’t much left of the castle, but the views were worth the hike and the inevitable climb back up.
We were invited to a reception with the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Micky Murray, which was interesting. It turns out that we’ve been in town longer than he’s been the mayor. He began his term on June 3rd and most of us have been in or around Belfast since the middle of May. He assured us that the Titanic was fine when it left Belfast.
When we first came back to Belfast from Liverpool our cab driver recommended the Ulster Folk Museum and I’m glad we finally went. It is very similar to Heritage Park in Calgary or Fort Edmonton Park in Edmonton. They’ve brought in several heritage buildings from around Northern Ireland and created a small village to explore. They also have a rural area with working farms and they offer demonstrations in various crafts throughout the village. We didn’t see any cats, but I did get to pet a horse, a donkey, and a sheep!
We had an afternoon out with some new friends from the ship. We watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in the IMAX theater, had a lovely dinner at Zizzi, and went mini golfing at The Lost City Apocalypse Adventure Golf.
Bangor is a town along the coast from Belfast, but within the metropolitan area. We took the train there to check out Bangor Castle which is home to the Bangor City Hall. We didn’t actually go into the building, but we explored the grounds and walled garden. Afterwards, we wandered through town, found the Gerard Butler mural, and headed out on the Coastal Pathway.
The North Down Coastal Pathway runs from Holywood to Orlock and covers over 15 miles. We were just interested in a nice walk, so we picked up the pathway in Bangor and walked back to Helen’s Bay before jumping back on the train to Belfast. It’s a very accessible pathway and a pleasure to follow. While passing through Crawfordsburn Country Park we were able to see Sharman House; an incredible ‘home’ from the late 1700s.
We’ve been making a point of going for nice long walks every day which has given us the opportunity to explore a lot more of Belfast. There are several great walking/cycling routes, and we’ve enjoyed the time in nature. We walked through the Botanic Gardens again recently and saw a poster for the Autumn Fair. We made sure to go back and check it out. It was quite small, but lovely none the less.
One of the pathways we found led us to the Belfast Parliament Buildings known as the Stormont Estate. The estate and gardens have parks, trails and historic statutes. We hope to return for a tour of the inside of the Parliament Building as well. There is also a castle on the grounds, but it is home to the Northern Ireland Executive and is not open to the public.
We’ve managed to keep ourselves busy, but it has been difficult waiting for the Odyssey to be recertified. They did complete the initial sea trials the first week of September; however, they found a few issues with the engines that need to be addressed. Unfortunately, they could not test the engines under load until sea trials which was the last step in the refurbishment. Of course, certification cannot be granted until the engines are performing within DNVs specifications, so we are still waiting…
We feel that we are being kept well informed of the progress and we are confident that Villa Vie is doing everything in their power to get the ship certified and sailing. The delays have been disheartening, but we are still hopeful that we will get to explore the world on board the Odyssey.
I almost forgot the cats! Our Airbnb on Egeria St. had a cat living across the street who was very affectionate. We got to pet her each day when we left; her friend in the background not so much. We got to meet one of the resident felines aboard the Odyssey, Captain. We don't have any photos of this handsome Siamese just yet. And finally, while walking to the Parliament Buildings we met a lovely light coloured fluffball; apologies for the camera angle...blame Mike.