(quote from Nelson Mandela)
13th of May in 2018:
Another sunny day in Belfast. I can’t stand the warm temperature anymore. I even got epistaxis or well-known as the nosebleed. Having breakfast, uploading some blog entries and watching series started my Sunday. Son, Dome, Phi, Jenny and I left the house and went to Crumlin Road Gaol. The visiting of this prison was our plan for today. On the way to Belfast City Centre, we met Jakob and Leon. At Belfast City Hall, we met up with Tim and the group of eight German future information technology specialist specialised in system integration walked to Crumlin Road Gaol. Of course, we do a lot of sports here by walking a lot. The walk took us about one hour, but it was pleasant for the sunny weather (But not for Son and me, *snicker* Both of us don’t like sunlit days.). On our way, we saw St. Anne’s Cathedral, Ulster University and Saint Patrick’s Church. Adverse to the prison, there was a building, which was bought by someone for only 1 pound and refurbished for over 20,000 pounds.
The Crumlin Road Gaol has his roots in the 19th century, where it was first opened in 1845 and closed its doors as a working prison in 1996. Prisoners of this jail were murderers, suffragettes, loyalist and republican. 17 men were executed by hanging in this prison. You can explore more history about Crumlin Road Gaol under the following link: History (https://crumlinroadgaol.com/gaol-tours/visitor-experience/history-of-the-crumlin-road-gaol/)
The admission took us £9 and with student sales discount only £9. We booked a tour guide, whose name was Terry, for one pound also but not each of us but just one time. He seemed very motivated and talked with a lot of passion and knowledge about the history of this building and answered all the questions of the visitors. Sometimes it seems, he spoke 500 words in one minute. It was easy to follow, but every once in a while some words are unknown to me. Terry took us to view the C-wing of the five of the circle, showed us the office of the Governor, the condemned man’s cell and the execution cell and at last to the underground tunnel.
Everywhere we were allowed to take pictures, which I will share here:
Following the tour ended after one hour and 20 minutes. We made a stop at the bathroom and the gift shop. Founding some souvenirs and some pounds less in the wallet, we head to the City Centre. As might be expected, some of us got hungry, and we stopped at Subway. Our last break was at Tesco Metro to buy some ingredients, and then we went back to our accommodation.
Jenny started to made dinner at 6 p.m., and I went to sleep. I was exhausted. Maybe I should stop to set the alarm at half-past seven a.m. every Saturday. But for me, it is like wasting a whole day when I sleep until ten or eleven a.m.. I don’t know why but I prefer the early morning for work and doing something.
For the evening we had cutlets with chips and salad.
All in all, the weekend was enjoyable. And there are just two weekends left in Belfast before going back to Germany. I am looking forward to coming home.
-Huong Giang-