Our visit to Belfast by Nathan

Hey Charlie!

            I just wanted to tell you a few words about my trip to Belfast!

Well I guess I should start from the beginning. So the whole trip started way before us leaving Marseille. We had to plan the trip, and it was terribly difficult to do so! but thanks to our teachers and “sponsors” we managed to get everything we needed to go on school trip.

            The actual trip started a Friday, April 4th. We left Marseille in the afternoon and we were all eager to leave. Six hours later, we arrived in Belfast. The plane rides were very short and incident less. That night, we met our host-families and went home for the weekend. On Saturday, I went sight-seeing in the town I lived in. It was quite cold and humid compared to our climate in Marseille! Later that day, I went on a muddy mountain bike ride. I went “to the beach” even though the water was “almost” freezing. We ended our day by going bowling, along with my fellow classmates.

The next day, I left Belfast/Bangor to go to the Giant’s Causeway. We took the scenic route there, and I’m glad we did, because the coast is splendid. We spend our whole day there and I had a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, our weekend was coming to an end and we had “school” the next day. Our first day in a Northern Irish school was marvelous. We baked and listened to teachers without taking any notes. Everybody in the school was so nice to us and we didn’t feel excluded at all.

On Tuesday, we took the taxi from the school “Strangford College” to the Stormont Government Building. We visited the building with a tour guide and I took plenty pictures. After getting back from our visit, my friend and I took the train and went to downtown Belfast. We walked around the city, and had a lot of fun.

The Wednesday was a short day, because we did a lot of interesting things. We drove down Strangford’s Bay to go to an aquarium. We saw what the marine ecosystem looked like in the bay; and we even saw some sharks and sting rays. Later that day, we went pottery making and in the evening we hung out by the beach with some of our new friends.

Thursday arrived too fast. It was our last day and none of us wanted to leave. We went to visit a chips factory all day. We all lacked energy, and we didn’t laugh as much. Fortunately, our last night was very lively. We went down to Belfast one last time. We got all our shopping done and then we went on a drive with our new friends.

After a very short night, I had to pack everything. My luggage was lighter than when I left, so I was very pleased with myself. I left for the airport, not ready to go home. 

Nathan