Holly from Uni came a visiting Belfast...

Jubin and I went to the University of Rochester for undergrad. During freshman year, we lived in Wildwood Tower, where we met lots of people, including Holly Arrigoni from MN. We have kept in touch with Holly throughout the intervening years, visiting her where she lived in Chicago and Seattle, and she has visited us in MI as well. Holly LOVES to travel. She has a serious travel bug, and always has. Even more than my Aunt Ruthie, which is saying a lot! Anyway, when she heard that we would be living in N IRE for a year, she was ready to visit! 

Holly flew first to Paris for a few days (she brought us a great bottle of wine and yummy macaroons) and arrived in Belfast just as Jubin's brother and my parents were leaving us and heading back to the U.S. (May 2014) We were a bit tired from all of the visits, but she was such a pleasant guest - easy to please, laid-back, and self-sufficient. Friday during the day, she did the bus tour and wandered on her own a bit. Then she came to our place ~5pm. I took her for a walking tour of the neighborhood, including a quick drink at the pub Cutter's and then we got take out from Sphinx up the hill (first time, good chicken kabob), and visited a bit. 

Saturday, she and I went for a run in Lagan Meadows and then we went down to City Centre to the Farmer's Market, Victoria Centre Dome, and had a general wander back through the Botanic Gardens (the rose gardens were in full bloom!) and on home. Jubin and the boys were going to meet us out, but after Jamie's nap they ended up checking out the Stranmillis Primary School Fair instead - crowds of kids (as was the Botanic Primary Fair the day before...)! A low key dinner of local sausages, chips, and veg for dinner capped the day off! 

Sunday dawned an amazingly beautiful day - this week we really turned a weather corner and it has become summer. Sunny, warm (65-75 degrees F) and gorgeous. The days are so long as well - light from 4am to 11pm! It is interesting how 70 degrees F in Belfast can feel downright hot when the sun is out (strong sun, so far North!). Anyway, the weather was so nice that we decided to give Jubin a day of quiet alone-ness for Father's Day.

Holly and I took the boys to Castle Espie, her driving a rental car. You might recall that we went here last fall - NOT a castle, but a wetland wildfowl reserve. It is so great. This time, since the weather was good, we got to see the whole place.  A special bonus was a behind-the-scenes tour of the duckery that was starting right when we first arrived. We got to see chicks in their eggs, just starting to peck through, and we saw them just hatched, still being kept inside. SSSSOOOO adorable! Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the camera lens was smudged (little fingers!), so the pix I took there came out blurry... :(  But, it was great. 

Then, out to the duck feeding area, a quick lunch at the cafe, and then the long walk along the paths to the various blinds to view the wild birds, the ponds, the round house, the lime kiln, and the playground in the woods - what a great playground! Finally, back to the visitor center for a short play at the indoor soft playground. All this time (12-4:30pm) and Jamie did NOT nap - he was having so much fun that he didn't even want to be in the pram. He was running around everywhere, following his brother, and getting more and more tired...I think that he was asleep within 5 minutes of us pulling out of the car park! What a great afternoon. When I first told Watson we were going there that morning, he complained and said that he wanted to stay home to play with his friends. But, he was glad he came with us - the baby birds were so cute, and it really is an amazing place. And, both he and Jamie had already warmed up to Holly. Watson even went with her on a little side jaunt on a  swamp walk! Good stuff. 

On our way home from Castle Espie, we stopped off at Sainsbury's to gather supper supplies for Thai green curry - yum! It was a really really great visit with Holly in Belfast - thanks for coming!