Three amigos

Two weeks after my return from Cornwall, my colleagues Rachael and Jasmin visited for the weekend. Rachael arrived on Friday and treated me to a harp and fiddle concert in town. There's a harp festival on to mark the 230th anniversary of a harpers congress in Belfast, which featured a number of famous blind harpers from the north of Ireland. Friday night's harpist was a young woman from Derry who was equal parts talented and adorable--a music nerd who spends a lot of time with 18th and 19th century manuscripts of the songs played by early harpists.

Then we went on a pub crawl. Saturday morning we collected Jasmin at Aldergrove then went to Antrim Castle for a lovely coffee to start the trip off right.

From there to Ballycastle on the north Antrim Coast. We got lunch to go then drove up the headland and down to Murlough Bay.

We talked about all kinds of things. The book Rachael is writing. Books we've read. Podcasts we like. What we could do if we could do anything--money no object. Recent dating disasters. Where we grew up and how that affected us. What we studied in university. Where we've travelled. They both speak foreign languages and learned violin. They are both much better read than I am--it helps if you don't have a dog or play golf.

We drove down the coast road then stopped at an off-the-tourist-path pub near Waterfoot for soup and Irish coffees (not me). Home, showers, then back in town for dinner and pub crawling.

We ended the night in Biddles Bar, in a flatiron buiding and known for its association with writers. I asked the bar tender whether the writers depicted on the wall (large canvasses featuring Wilde, Becket, Shaw, Joyce, Heaney etc) had frequented the pub. He said it was frequented by alcoholics and pedos. We thought that was hilarious. Also very Belast, which doesn't play up to tourists on principle.  

Sunday we had brunch in the Cathedral Quarter then Jasmin took the mural tour Rachael and I did on her previous visit. Rachael and I visited a few exhibits in the Ulster Museum. We collected Jasmin then went to St. George's market, where we bought stuff for dinner, and also treats for tea. From there back to Botanic Gardens, where we lay on the grass eating our treats and continuing our multifaceted conversation. We walked through the tropical ravine then visited an exhibit on the Troubles in Ulster Museum. Home to lie on loungers in the back garden and read--absolute necessity for editors' weekend. Then dinner, then we watched eipsodes of The Fall on my laptop--recognising some Belfast streetscapes. We both noted how much the show has aged in a short period of time. I think the fashion for beautiful female corpses has ebbed, as has the detective with satin shirts, perfect hair, and pouty lips.  

Monday was swimming at Helen's Bay, then home for showers, then down the coast to Whiterocks for lunch at Daft Eddy's, with a lovely view of the harbour. We quizzed Jasmin about her recent solo trips to Italy and Jordan--how to best travel alone. From there north to Belfast, where we left Jasmin to catch the shuttle back to Aldergrove. An hour or so later, I took Rachael to the city airport, concluding a weekend that was fun, interesting, enlightening, and empathetic. I'd say we are very good at listening to and supporting each other. How many people can say that about their co-workers? It's also very cool to be around people so much younger than me--they take a different viewpoint on a lot of things that I find it very healthy to consider.

15-18 July