Dover Castle and Ireland

Off to explore Dover, England I ended up randomly at Dover Castle and decided to spend a few hours there. The castle has an interesting history and it was exciting to wander around the grounds of my very first castle.
The town of Dover looks so picturesque from the hill where the castle is perched.

I can't imagine living here, but people did. Not very cozy.

But with a fantastic view.

I didn't spend too much time in the town but it seemed pretty.
The castle and the cliffs from the pier.
The famous white cliffs of Dover.

Dublin's busy streets.

Belfast, in Northern Ireland, was a surprisingly beautiful city. Silly me, I expected it to be poor and war-torn after all the negative media attention centered on Northern Ireland up until the late 90s.

Once I was in the city and realized my error I had to scold myself, especially since I have been to Israel and have found the reality of the country so different from what you see on the news.

Belfast was a lovely, refreshing city and I am happy that I had a chance to visit there and overcome a little bit of my ignorance about this small corner of the world.

Cobh, another quaint village we visited in Ireland.

I loved how colourful it was.

This seemed to be a little shrine on the sidewalk.

I am a sucker for unusual buildings.
The requisite Irish pub.


It was cool to come across this propellor in Cobh. Samson was my mother's last name before she married my dad, and is actually French. I wonder how this ended up in Ireland?