Today we didn't leave the house (except a quick stop downstairs at the grocery store). We spent the day sending requests to CS (CouchSurfing) hosts and searching for hostels in Belgium. We also were going to do our laundry but wound up doing it the next day. We made the classic Reischel-recipe baked macaroni and cheese with peas for our host and then spent the evening conversing.

Today was a fun day. It was nice to have another great CouchSurfing host - when we arrived the previous night he had already procured city maps for us and had even bought a pre-paid cell phone that he programmed with his number and lent to us while we were in Luxembourg so that we could call him if we needed to. Anyways, back to today. We started out with a great expresso from Andre's espresso machine and then walked downtown. (Luxembourg is a really small city...) There were a bunch of beautiful old buildings and the city center was surrounded by fortifications. Historic Luxembourg is actually a UNESCO site because in medieval times it was perhaps the most fortified city in the world. It was considered the "Gibraltar of the North". The city center was therefore on an extremely fortified hill surrounded by a river valley. (The river was even dammed so that the water could be released to drown attackers.) Unfortunately many of the historic fortifications were torn down when Luxembourg became a neutral country in the 19th century but those that remain are still impressive an hint at it's previous glory. These fortifications also had an extensive casemate system (remember Dover Castle?) which we explored. We went back home to meet our host (and another CouchSurfer from Hungary that was staying with Andre for just one night) and Andre gave us a tour through the valley, which is now a beautiful park. The evening concluded with us sharing a few good Belgian and Luxembourgish beers over some good conversation.

We spent the entire day traveling-- from roughly 8 am to 8 pm. All the Eurail seats on the high-speed trains were booked up for a few days so we had to take the slower trains and had to make 6 different transfers along the way. In Paris, we had an hour to waste before our next train arrived, so we went to a grocery store to get some Roquefort cheese (we had read about this specialty cheese in the book Etienne had lent us), chevre, and some French bread for our last French meal for a while. Arriving in Luxembourg, our next CouchSurfer host, Andre, met us outside his apartment which was only a few blocks from the train station. We chatted with him for a few hours before heading to bed.

We started the day off with a nice breakfast of French bread and home made jams (at least 5 different kinds to choose from) along with tea and coffee. We went to the grocery store to get supplies for dinner-we had to drive to the next town because all of the stores were closed in St. Pol-de-Leon since it was Sunday. Etienne explained that because it is a small town everything is generally closed on Sundays in order to give the shop keepers a day off. We also stopped at Etienne's parents house to get some greens from their garden. For lunch we had salad with tomatoes, tuna, rice, and a home made balsamic mustard dressing. We also had more bread and cheeses with cider to drink. Again we had tea and chocolate after our meal. We spent the afternoon exploring the city center. We visited the cathedral and a little garden area. We met back up with our host and accompanied them to a tour of a manor being built by a local architect and his wife. They have been building it for 8 years, just the two of them and they plan on living in it in another couple years when it is completed. It is strictly built in the style (including building materials) of a Gothic manor. Since the tour was in French Etienne and his friend had to summarize in English what they were talking about. After the tour we headed back to start dinner. Jon and I cooked baked macaroni and cheese with mushrooms. For dessert we had the leftover baked goods from the day before and more fromage. We ended the night with some piano playing and a game of scrabble, which Etienne won (even though we played in English and it isn't his native language).

We arrived in Roscoff around 10:30 am and took the next bus to St. Pol-de-Leon. We found our way to our CouchSurfer's home easily. He was just about to prepare lunch for himself and his friend who was visiting for a few days, so we joined them. We enjoyed french bread with 5 or so different cheeses as well as mixed cherry tomatoes fresh from the market. We also had some local cider and enjoyed apple and rhubarb cake with fromage blanc for dessert; it was in between yogurt and cheese in texture and tasted fantastic! Unfortunately, it is only made in that particular region of France and you cannot get it elsewhere. Next we had tea and chocolate out on the patio furniture in the garden. We discovered that in France meal time is really savored and enjoyed; they take their time, socialize, and take great pleasure in mealtimes. Etienne invited us to go blackberry and elderberry picking with them in a nearby park. We walked through the park stopping intermittently to pick berries. There were some french gardens, ruins of old buildings, an old mansion, and cows throughout (which is normal, they said). We walked to a bay area where we went for a swim in the ocean- it was quite cold! We returned home and sat by the fire while Etienne prepared dinner. We ate salad and tuna quiche with rhubarb crumble and fromage for dessert. We had more tea and chocolate by the fire. They made jam from the berries we picked while we read Six Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong (a book Etienne had recommended). Before bed Etienne played the piano some. It was a great day all around.

We woke up early to get the first train to Dublin, where we transferred to another train headed for Rosslare. The train delivered us right to the port; we waited a few hours before being able to board our Ferry to Roscoff, France. We watched our boat depart while sitting on the upper deck, then we headed down to the 5th floor where there was a complimentary wine tasting. We sampled a few wines then had dinner at one of the more affordable restaurants on the boat. After dinner, we headed outside to catch a glimpse of the sun setting before retiring to our room to play some card games before bed.

We had a nice English Breakfast at the hostel and then set off to the Causeway. It is a world heritage site and it's easy to see why. Giant pentagons and hexagons of basalt rock joust out into the ocean as large green cliffs tower behind. After thoroughly exploring the causeway we took a 4 mile hike along the top of the cliffs to Dunseverick “castle" (more aptly named Dunseverick rubble) and the took a bus to Carrick-a-Rede island. There is a 10 meter rope bridge built high above the sea and rocks below that you have to cross in order to reach the island; crossing it was exciting and a little nerve wracking. We took the bus back to the hostel, grabbed our bags and made our way back the Coleraine station where we took a bus back to Belfast. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop into nearby Bushmills to visit the distillery - a distillery so noteworthy that it's actually printed on one side of the bank notes from Northern Ireland. In Belfast we didn't have much time, but we managed to get an authentic Irish dinner at a local bistro (soda bread, veggie Shepard's pie, veggie Stroganoff) and then take a black taxi tour. The black taxi tour consists of a local Belfaster driving around the Shankill road and Falls road showing us the murals and monuments to those who perished in The Troubles. It was clear the tension between the two neighborhoods was still high, and the tour was sombering. On the train into Belfast we briefly spoke with a middle aged couple who lived on Shankill road, though we didn't have much of a chance to ask them about their experiences living there. We went to bed early again in preparation for our 6:50 train to Dublin the next morning.

We spent most of the day traveling with: An early train from Dublin to Belfast A train from Belfast to Coleraine A bus from Coleraine to the Giants Causeway On our first train a chatty old Irish man sat with us. We talked about religion, politics, traveling, marriage, and a bit more. He was really nice and made the trip go by quickly. We arrived at the causeway around 4 and our hostel was literally (and I don't use that word metaphorically like most people do) right next to the entrance to the causeway. Not only that but it was a decent price, came with breakfast, and had a sunroom with a great view (lush grass, cows, sheep, and the ocean in the distance). Unfortunately Amy had a pretty bad headache, so while she took a nap I went to explore the causeway.  It was a very windy day and the waves were impressive to watch as they smashed against the causeway. I headed back, Amy woke up and we spent the evening chatting with a man from Switzerland who was staying at the hostel. We had to pass on the £3.50 double cheeseburger BBQ dinner at the hostel but the proprietor was kind enough to give us the leftover chips and vegetables from dinner for free. We went to bed early in anticipation of an exciting day exploring the causeway.

We started today with a trip to the National Museum (of Archeology), with vague plans of things to do afterwards. It turns out we didn't really need other plans, as we spent almost all day in the museum. It was awesome. They had extensive exhibits on Irish and Viking history (including the progress of Irish civilization through the paleolithic, mesolithic, and neolithic ages up through the Bronze, Iron and modern ages. It was really cool to see how the tools and metalworks improved as time went on and to see how burial practices changed. What really was the coolest part of the museum was the bog bodies. These are BCE era bodies that were preserved due to being disposed of in bogs. They reveal a wealth of information about ancient Celtic cultures. We saw Old Croghan man, Clonycavan man, and Galagh Man. Along with the bodies, there were large chunks of bog butter. Apparently people would bury large amounts of butter in the bogs where it would keep fresh for later use. Sometimes they forgot or lost it... We had dinner at an awesome Japanese restaurant we had discovered our first night in Dublin (with a great vegetarian bento box) and then went back to the Temple Bar district for some more live music.

We got up early and ate our free breakfast (toast and cereal). We planned out our route for the day, which was going to be a big circle around the city center, stopping at museums, monuments, and other points of interest. We headed first to The National Museum (of archeology). Unfortunately, the museum is closed on Mondays, so we moved on to our next destination. The National Gallery of Ireland was nice, but it didn't have nearly as large of a collection as London's National Gallery. The museum advertised having work by Van Gough, Goya, Cezanne, and Manet (of which they literally had one of each). Their collection of works by Yeats was pretty extensive and impressive. Next, we walked by Trinity College and down O'Connell street, where we saw the Spire of Dublin (the monument of light) and the statue of James Joyce. We walked to another museum called The National Museum (of Decorative Arts), which was also closed. We walked past the old Jameson distillery, across the Liffey river to Dublin Castle. We checked out the Castle briefly before returning to our hostel to dry off. Later that evening we went to the Temple bar district where we listened to some live Irish music.