Rotary Trip to Scotland

Sunday 24 September
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We had to get up fairly early to meet at 9:15 to catch the ferry across to Ireland. I still had vocal issues, but got plenty of sleep and felt fine.
The ferry is a monstrous boat that can hold 75 trucks (lorries) a bunch of cars and lots of people. We were going upwards of 45MPH for most of the trip as well. Very nice inside with lounges, bars, kids cinema, store, etc. A good way to travel.
We got to Belfast around noon and took a bus tour for a bit - up to where the troubles were. As the tour guide said, “10 years ago you wouldn’t want to walk in this area, let alone be on an open-topped bus. But now it’s a tourist attraction!” There are painted murals and graffitti all over from both sides of the conflict.
Well, that was enough heavy stuff for the day, so we got off the bus and found a pub for lunch and a Guinness! The Guinness was great, and I was pulled behind the bar to attempt to demonstrate how to pour a half-and-half (Harp on the bottom, Guinness on top) as they had never heard of it (”That’s a waste of a good Guinness”). I was not successful, but the barmaid was cute so I don’t mind.
I thought it would be fun to down most of my second Guinness (”chug” has a totally different connotation here that I won’t get into on this blog), and it was until about 5 minutes later when everything started spinning. Melissa took advatange of my disoriented state to get me to go shopping with her. Fortunately my banter and weak bladder kept us moving and not in women’s clothing departments. I was hoping to find “Irish” stuff, but the area of Belfast we were in was like any other shopping district in any other city. So I bought some gum and a candy bar.
We headed back to the ferry after an hour or so, and back to Stranraer. We had dinner on the boat, and more beer (Murphy’s Stout, because they didn’t have Guinness). Ian handed out goofy presents to each of us - I was given a tin whistle so I could still make music even without a voice.
When we got back, we were all invited over to Hugh’s house (where Bill is staying) for drinks. I had a couple whiskys, and then they broke out the slow gin and Glayva (a sweet whisky liquour). I became very profound. But I did see a shooting star when I went outside to get some air.

Scottish phrase of the day: “Hasten ye back” - seen on signs as you leave villages/towns. Means the same thing as “Y’all come back, y’hear?”

Jason

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