Gothenburg

View across from Stryso to the next little island.

On the boat out to the islands.

View from the Liseberg Tower. (In the foreground is the Gothia Towers Hotel and the Svenska Massan; the Ullevi Stadium in the backround.)

Inside Saluhallen market.

Haven't been posting as (1) still haven't got around to buying that new Dell and (2), we've been away on holiday. We're just back from a short-ish trip to Gothenburg. Gothenburg is really worth visiting - it has a wonderful archipelago of islands, a beautiful old town centre and is home to the terrific funfair Liseberg (imagine Disneyland Paris without the hard-sell and the queues).

runkerry strand

We've just spent a mainly very wet week up at Ballylinny (just half a mile down the road from the Giant's Causeway). We did have a few breaks in the weather - we spent a wonderful evening at Runkerry Strand, watching the surfers and letting the wave chase us up the beach.

strawberry season

I love this time of year. Almost the longest day, and at last our strawberries are ready. Hard to know whether to make jam or just to gorge ourselves on the fresh berries...

grim food....

FIRST of all, I'm sorry I haven't been posting for a while. I've been in a bit of a trough - nothing serious, just a bit out of sorts. I should have posted a notice - I am sorry I didn't do this, it was rude of me. And sorry to have caused any concern - I've been fine - definitely not buried in the allotment! (though maybe this is just what our asparagus crop needs). I'm still taking pictures but am feeling a bit up-to-my-eyes at present so I'm not sure if I'm going to continue on with this for much longer - I'll see how I get on over the next week or so.

Anyhow, God help our tourists if this is what is on offer. The first photo was taken outside a popular local cafe a few weeks ago - I can't imagine how any tourists are going to be attracted by this sort of menu - I thought this was the sort of depressing stuff only the Irish ate. (Can you imagine an Italian tourist sitting down to mince beef pie & chips?).

The second photo was taken in a cafe in Enniskillen last week - sadly I didn't try the special toastie of tuna/banana/redcurrent&cheese - so I can only begin to imagine what it tastes like... In this cafe we were charged £12 for two (soggy from the microwave) sausage rolls, 2 very tiny bottles of (warm) water, a cup of tea and a teeny little pie. Last summer in Rome we paid 5 euro for two gorgeous coffees, a freshly squeezed orange juice and 3 wonderful croissants. I know there is some wonderful food available in NI - a lot of very good restaurants have opened over the last few years, but most of our cafes have a really long way to go.

Happy St Patrick's Day

These two boys were celebrating at the Ulster Folk Museum this afternoon. Unlike last year, St Patrick turned the warm side of the stone today - the weather was wonderful - so hopefully we'll have a great summer to look forward to.

Europa Hotel

Viewed from Franklin Street. The building on the left has been deserted for years - a shame, as it could be lovely. Hopefully someone has sympathetic plans for it.

Spotted this today in House of Fraser's Paperchase concession. It seemed very appropriate, in Belfast's new temple of shopping.

Victoria Square

A quick snap of the new Victoria Square shopping centre, taken as I rushed through on Friday morning. For more & better photos, take a look at Dr Adder's post.

muggins

Have you ever seen so many spelling mistakes in grafitti?

phone box

On Howard Street. Glass smashed sometime last night (I guess everyone uses mobiles today anyway..)

pc problems....

So won't be posting for a few days. Have a good week...

on the beach

Just south of Strangford. In the distance you can see the lower end of the Ards Peninsula.

the car ferry

Waiting at Portaferry for the ferry over to Strangford earlier this afternoon. The trip takes about 5 minutes and costs £6.10 for a car and one passenger. I wouldn't like to be doing this every day.

Spending way too much time in Tesco these days...

Ducts

The Belfast city centre branch of Tesco is currently being refurbished. Shopping there this afternoon had a slightly surreal feel - I half expected to see a renegade heating engineer.

I get really angry with people who throw their cigarettes down in the street and I'm really glad to see that Belfast City Council now employs a number of litter wardens. Having said that, I think someone needs to ensure that cigarette bins, like this one behind Marks & Spencer, are emptied from time to time...

from M&S cafe...

View out towards the City Hall and, behind it, Windsor House.

Today I've been tagged by Clarice, so, here are five facts you won't have known about me.

1. I love to cook. I make good cakes and really excellent chilli jam.
2. I really wish I had never let my daughter taste white bread.
3. I'd love a DSLR, and the time to learn to use it properly.
4. I'd love to live in Paris (for the food, and the culture and the glamour).
5. I'm having a bit of a mid-life crisis at the moment (no scary behaviour, just a lot of soul searching).

I'm tagging:
Dr Adder
Mll (Mll - you've started a blog!!)
and
Pat in Guelph

Cregagh Glen this morning - a light dusting of snow overnight, thankfully much lighter than last month's snow.

Twilight

In the city centre tonight, just as rush hour was starting. This is the first evening I've left work in daylight for months - good to see that the nights are stretching. The building on the left, with the tall green domes, is the old Robinson and Cleaver department store building.

climbing frame

At Ballywalter. I loved playing in this little playground above the beach when I was a child. Now my daughter plays here - though it is time maybe for the equipment to be upgraded...

empty seats

At Rowallane.

Rowallane

Rowallane gardens are just a few miles, and a world away, from the centre of Belfast city. During the summer the gardens are famous for their fabulous floral displays, but they are worth visiting in the winter months too. We spent an hour walking through the damp gardens this afternoon, and it was lovely to see trees budding and clumps of snowdrops. Hopefully Spring isn't too far away.

fishy

Fish on sale at St George's Market this morning.

the tele

The Belfast Telegraph is our best-selling local newspaper. In past times it was sold all over the city centre by old men and wee boys, all drawing attention by guldering 'tele!!!'. No more shouting and today the paper is sold from these wee red stands. Today's headline refers to the plans of a local businessman to build a nuclear power station in Northern Ireland. I think this one falls into the 'I'll believe it when I see it' category...

Donegall Pass

Gable end mural on Donegall Pass. Interesting article (though not one I necessarily agree with) on Belfast murals by Grayson Perry here.

marmalade

Wonderful Seville Oranges are in the shops now, so we spent the afternoon making marmalade. For anyone not familiar with this stuff, a good recipe from Delia here.

winter wonderland

Winter has arrived overnight...most of Northern Ireland woke up to about 5-6 inches of snow. And as we're not used to these conditions, the country has more or less ground to a halt. Apparently the snow will be gone by late this afternoon and we'll be back to our usual rain...
Sorry for not posting over the last week or so- I've had a busy Christmas - so here's a belated Happy New Year.