The Lord Mayor Herself

A few weeks ago, I met with a man at the Equality Commission and I hit it off with his Executive Assistant, Paula. We exchanged information and arranged to meet up today; I'd been looking forward to it ever since we made plans.

Vivi and I took the train from Belfast to Carrickfergus:

note the binoculars

 We met Paula at the train station and she casually said we could see Saint Nicholas Church.

 It's endlessly delightful how people so casually mention structures that have been around since the 1100s like it's no big deal.

Every aspect of this church is breathtaking -- each stone, each piece of mortar, each window, each pew...I think I gasped every time I turned my head.

This was not supposed to be upside down, but I guess it's appropriate.

These sculptures are so detailed that when standing from this distance, the people look alive.

This is a stained glass window of Saint Nicholas and at the bottom it reads Santa Claus.

I loved everything written here and it's blurry and I'm miffed about the blurriness. Let's not talk about it.

What? Oh, it's from the 1100s. NBD.

Oh, this old cannon ball that was actually shot and was found in the graveyard? Again, NBD.

From the church we walked toward the water and passed by this awesome mural:

And this:

heh.

PA in NI!

Check out this playground! And this is only part of it! And on there was a children's festival with a bouncy house.

Since 1523, Carrickfergus has had leadership positions held by men until...Audrey Wales took office. Who did we bump into on the streets of Carrickfergus today? You guessed it. The Lord Mayor Herself.

Oh, Northern Ireland. How will I ever leave you??