The awesomeness of Northern Ireland

After Junior left to Dublin my friend Will arrived from England. Next day we started a road trip and headed up north aiming the Giant's Causeway.

Along the way we checked the Downhill House and the Mussenden Temple ant the cliffs close to the city Castlerock, in the county Londonderry.

"A place of an outstanding beauty"

That is one expects to see in Ireland: a great meadow and sheep.

Such an breathtaking view from the cliffs.

 Now to Bushmills and Giant's Causeway.

Cheers peeps!

In Belfast

Belfast makes a totally different impression from Dublin.

It start with the currency, Northern Ireland (NI) is part of UK and they don't use the Euro, like in the Republic of Ireland.

The city makes also a less traditional impression. Kinda modern, commercial and planed.

The people don't use much of Gaellic in NI as they do in Ireland. One thing is the very same wherever you are on the Island: Irish people are really friendly, real mates, as they normally say.

Some weight seeing spots are the Town Hall, the Queen's Square and the Titanic museum. Pics coming soon.

Now meeting Will and tomorrow heading to the very north of NI. To the Giant's Causeway.

Cheers everyone!

Heading up north to Belfast

Now sitting in the bus and heading up north from Dublin to Belfast, capital of Northern Ireland.

We took the bus in the Dublin Bus Statio (Busáras) close to the Conolly Station in the very centre of Dublin. A single ticket costed 17€ and the journey will take almost 3 hours. There are buses from Bus Éireann (www.buseireann.ie) leaving every sharp hour every day of week. It makes an obligatory stop at the airport.

Plans for Belfast: sightseeing of course, Titanic museum, and meeting Will an heading further north to the Giant's Causeway. Excitied!

It feels very pleasant to see the green landscape passing by, sun shinning and blue sky.

Oops! Talked too soon. There comes the rain.

Cheers peeps!

Back in Dublin... in an awesome sun shinning day

Landed safe and sound in Dublin and having an amazing sun shinning day.

Met my old bro Junior, made new friends and even got costumised for Halloween. Couldn't be better!

Now off to sightseeing and photographing! Yay!

Lovely afternoon with the sunset from view from the Liffey.

Tomorrow heading to Belfast with bro Junior.

Cheers everyone!

Above the clouds

Above the clouds the sky is always blue and the sun is always shinning... Stay up there!

Back on the island of green

Ready for the last trip in Europe before leaving it. Yes!

Soon I'll be leaving Germany after 13 years on the Germanic ground. But this is stuff for the next post. This one is intended to be the initial report about my last trip in European.

Destination, better, destinations are Ireland and Northern Ireland. Roaming around the island of green and meeting my bro Junior in Dublin, my friend Will in Belfast and the globetrotter Travis Elenytski somewhere along the way.

Besides Dublin and Belfast, the Giants Causeway, Sligo, Limerick, cliffs of Moher, lots of nature and the local beer are in the plan.

It sounds just perfect for a farewell trip in Europe. Excited! Yay!

That's me along the way!

Cheers!

About changes and the ground

It may sound a bit weird but this post is about a building, more exactly, about the construction of building.

Almost involuntarily I've been following the construction of this building for a while, for a long while actually. I stood by it at least once a week observing it from different perspectives. Additionally the weekly appointments in that vicinity I frequently walked or cycled past that place, and realized its presence and the changes it was going through. Kinda randomly and letting the impulse of photographing to take over me I collected a number of shots of it and registered some stages of its development. Last time I pictured it, it was standing, looked like no big changes would come upon it anymore. It seemed to be ready. Coincidentally, I was about to have my last meeting by then.

I don't know what was standing on that very place before. Maybe an older building, or a house. Whatever it was, needed improvements, some changes. It possibly didn't fulfill its function anymore. Maybe it didn't fit to the way the neighborhood looks like, maybe someone just saw the possibility of earn a lot money buy removing the old building and putting up a more modern and functional one on its place. I don't now! And I can't do nothing but speculate. Fact is it was time to change, to empty it, demolish the old walls going down till the foundation. To get rid of the huge piles of debris produces during the process. It was time for something new to come.

For the new foundations and the new walls contractors had to be hired, concrete, sand, water, metal had to be delivered, cranes had to be lift up and scaffolds assembled. These are the basics for a new construction. The workers and the materials! What about the non-material? What about a plan? A plan is needed. Oh! And the most important: time. It must be worked night and day, during summer as well as winter. To rise up a new building substituting an old one is long and complex process. It needs time!

Lets go to the work: lay a new foundation, a very strong one, to give the new building stability and hold. To lift up new walls comes next: brick by brick cautiously, giving the whole building a new shape, separating floors and the rooms, redefining the space. Then the new doors and windows. It also needs water installation and electricity. Light, light is essential! For the  external finishing some color has to be applied.

A new building deserves a new face and nothing better than a new color to solve the problem. Yes! It's seems like everything was put together and it's standing. I suppose things went more or less this way. Now its standing!

Two years it took till the new building stood as a whole, till I could start picturing it from down upwards. It's standing on the place another construction, old and not functional one stood before. It's modern, clean, built with new materials and new technology. It looks very solid, stronger and will surely last longer. It's more resistant against bad weather conditions, fulfills higher safety requirements and, maybe not essential but surely also important, looks awesomely good. Surely better than the older one, however it may looked like. It really does!

One important aspect besides all these changes has to be considered. The base for the existence of this building and maybe the only thing that couldn't be changed during the whole construction process  the ground. The ground, on which it's standing, it's still the very same that supported the older construction, and the construction before that. It was there before and will be there till the end, till the next change is needed and this brand new and shinning building must be substituted. It doesn't matter what happens on the surface, if it gets a new color, new material, bigger rooms, or some tree is planted. The very foundation of this building is in it and this piece of earth is unchangeable.

Whatsoever! Its finished and standing upright!

Cheers peeps!