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Yesterday I decided to go to the start of the Maritime Festival in Belfast, as it was the first time in 18 years (1991) that the Tall Ships had been in Belfast.

It all began yesterday morning, when I was waiting on the platform in Coleraine to get the 1015BST train from Londonderry/Derry to Great Victoria Street. It seemed that everyone had heeded Translink’s call to leave the car behind and use public transport to get to Belfast. The 1015 departure time came and went – people were still piling on to the train. Eventually someone decided that they were going to sacrifice the other 3000 Class DMU that was due to operate the Portrush Branch Line service, so we were all ordered off the train to allow them to couple the two together. Then the platform staff decided they weren’t going to do that so we were all ordered back onto the train, which lead to frustration as some were physically unable to board as it was already crush laden.

1030 came and eventually after much shouting and running up and down the platform by the Conductor we were on our way, having found a space in the vestibule area, along with about 13 other people who couldn’t get a space in the aisles –it was the same in the other carriages. Severely annoyed I decided to phone NI Railways Customer Services and gave them stink; about half an hour later they phoned back to say that “all available trains were in service” (which, when in Belfast transpired to be a bit of a lie, as two class 3000 DMUs were sitting at their Fortwilliam Servicing Depot and at least another one or two were at Yorkgate Yard). At the subsequent stops of Ballymoney, Cullybackey, Ballymena, Antrim, and Mossley West there were crowds waiting. They were all told to wait for the bus substitution which would be with them sometime.

Eventually we arrived at Central, and I got off, and went through Central and made my way along Oxford Street and over the Lagan Weir to Queen’s Quay. An hour and a half, some photos and a whole lot of walking, I decided to return to Central, where I waited for the 1425 train back to Coleraine. Honestly, I was glad to sit down! The train home was much a much more pleasant experience.

Lessons to be learnt:
1. After years of Planning, there should have been a 2nd train coupled on the Londonderry-Gt Victoria Street 1015 Service – what did they expect?! The usual half-full Belfast bound train? I do acknowledge, however, that rolling stock is limited in number, but surely it would have been better to get every train on the lines, rather than having them sitting at Fortwilliam, Yorkgate and probably Adelaide?
2. There should have been a greater appearance of a co-ordinated approach by all Translink (NI Railways) staff as this lead in part to customer frustration – I heard 3 different stories being circulated by 3 different Translink employees in Coleraine.
3. The people left stranded, while veritably annoyed, should have been more understanding and less hostile to the Conductor – policies for crush laden trains are there for everyone’s safety.

You can view my photos of the day here.

Well it’s been quite a while since I last did a blog on here!

A few things have happened since then, most notably that the summer holidays are nearly 2 months old (well for me, at least!) and there’s 69 days left until the start of Semester I of Year 2 – can you tell that I’ve been counting the days?!

I haven’t been very active on HF or VHF of late, I don’t know why though as I have been known to say “I’m bored” a tad too often.  I finally got HRD installed onto the laptop and it makes a pleasant change from one of the very early v3.4 builds I used until fairly recently on a desktop and got a USB to dual RS232 9 pin serial converter so I can plug in the ZLP interface and have CAT control for the FT-857 on the go at the same time

I’ve also been footering with MS Train Simulator with the Irish Enterprise Route pack and designing a very simplistic NI route, in no way related to the MakingTracks Irish Enterprise Belfast-Dublin route, for my own amusement, the only difficulty is trying to lay the track graphically as close to the actual coordinates of the Larne, Londonderry/Derry, Bangor, Knockmore-Antrim, and Newry lines.

And in future I must remember to update here and my YouTube vLogs more often as I have yet to publish my 2^nd vLog after publishing the first in January past, whoops!

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, nonaddictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter/summer solstice holiday, practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that it is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference.

The small print:

This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the sending of this message; however, a significant number of electrons were slightly inconvenienced.

On Sunday 17 August we set off early in the morning to go to Aldergrove (Belfast International Airport), the flight wasn’t until 1115 though we didn’t want to risk getting caught up in the aftermath of the flooding which occurred the previous day.

With the car safely parked in one of the independent car parks, we made our way to the terminal. Thankfully we checked in the previous evening on the Aer Lingus website, so all we had to do was “tag and drop” (get our hold baggage tagged and then put on the conveyor to go out to the plane). With Border Control and Security cleared, we hung about in the Departure Lounge for a while waiting on confirmation of the gate number on the screens. There was an overabundance of American Passengers waiting on the boarding to begin for the Continental Airlines Flight CO-095 to Newark, New Jersey, which was due to take off 5 minutes before Flight EI058 – our flight, so there were a lot of clear sealed bags of cigarettes and alcohol to be found. Finally, the gate was confirmed and we made our way onto the plane once our group of seating rows was called.

The plane, an Airbus A320, (as far as I can remember) was the Saint Comgall (all Aer Lingus aircraft are named after an Irish Saint.) About 20 minutes later, safety procedures demonstrated, we were in the air having taken off from Runway 25L. The flight to Charles de Gaulle lasts around 1hr20mins so it was a relatively short flight. After 1hr15mins, the purser announced over the PA “Mesdames et Messieurs, bienvenue à Paris” (Ladies & Gentlemen, welcome to Paris.) Baggage reclaimed, and a taxi journey later, we were in our hotel, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris in the Latin Quarter.

First excursion of our stay in Paris was to its most famous Church – La Cathédrale de Notre Dame. As expected crowds outside it were huge, so we joined the line that snaked its way around the square in front. Eventually the giant façade loomed directly above and then another sound filled the air (having heard ‘Emmanuel’ – the 13 tonne Cathedral Bell some moments earlier) – that of the Cathedral’s Pipe Organ. Stepping over the threshold was quite an experience – simply a huge building, the largest I’ve ever seen and add to that the fact that the organ was making the floor and walls vibrate. After several pictures and following the crowd around the perimeter of the nave, we went out and back to the hotel to see about something to eat.

The following day we set off to visit another sight of Paris – the Eiffel Tower. It took a while as we were following the course of the Seine, passing some landmarks in the process – the Palais Bourbon (where the National Assembly – the Lower House of Parliament – meets), the Musée d’Orsay, the Hôtel des Monnaies, the Ministère des Affaires Etrangères building and then finally onto the square where the Tower is situated. We crossed the street to the Palais de Chaillot and the Trocadéro where we got another few photos taken. Everyone seemed to be quite tired so we crossed the Seine once again and made use of the “batobus” – a waterbus service on the Seine – disembarking at the stop closest to our Hotel, Notre Dame.

The next day we set off up the street to the Jardin du Luxembourg, in which was the Palais du Luxembourg where Le Sénat (Upper House of Parliament) is based. After a dander around the gardens we then made our way to the Church made famous by Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code, Saint Sulpice. After a circumnavigation of the nave and side chapels and a few photos later we then headed towards the Seine, stopping briefly at the Church of Saint Germain des Prés. We decided to cross the river and have a look at the Musée du Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe de l’Etoile. The distance between the two sites is roughly 3km but when the place is crowded beyond belief it certainly took a while to walk the distance. Father and I pressed on, leaving the rest of the party about half way along the Avenue des Champs Elysées, and walked as fast as we could to the Arc de Triomphe. Eventually it loomed in all its grandeur before us so we made our way to the underpass which took visitors under the incredibly busy Place Charles deGaulle. Relieved of €14 (between us) and 284 steps later we were standing atop the Arc, looking over Paris, the Basilique du Sacré Cœur in the distance. After a few moments we started the walk back to the bottom of the Champs Elysées to get the Batobus back to Notre-Dame.

Wednesday was our last full day in France so we went to Place de la Bastille and sat opposite the Opéra de Paris Bastille. A few moments later, the Police Nationale appeared on motorbikes, directing traffic and holding traffic back from the side street next to which we were sitting. A large crowd appeared in the distance blowing whistles, shouting and holding placards with messages and pictures of Nicolas Sarkozy with blood on his hands. I was handed a leaflet informing me of what they were protesting about – a scanned copy of which is included here. After the crowd passed we went along the Rue Saint-Antoine, stopping yet again in another Church – this time Saint-Paul Saint-Louis, eventually coming out at the Quai de l’Hôtel de Ville, crossing the river to Notre Dame where we went in one last time, as a few people asked us to get a candle. Unfortunately, the Organ was not playing but the crowd was just as large as the Sunday previously.

After the last of the packing was done, we set off to get some breakfast and after which we checked out and walked down the street to the RER Station, St Michel-Notre Dame, to get the train to the Airport. The journey lasted about 40 minutes. It took a few moments to figure out that we were dumped off in Terminal 3 and had to get to Terminal 1, so after discovering the shuttle service we arrived in the proper terminal, and practically next to the check in hall. With the bags on their way, we went upstairs through Border Patrol, where I was greeted by a rather stern looking female member of the Police Nationale, who didn’t look so stern after a greeting in French was given – I even got wished ‘Bon Voyage’! After a quick look around duty free we headed to gate 11 to wait on the plane. With Security successfully passed through, with about 2hours until the plane was due to be in the air it was a case of waiting and watching planes landing and taking off. Eventually the Green and White Livery of the Aer Lingus plane, the Saint Emer, an Airbus A320 again, arrived on stand, and not long after we were called to board. Take off was on time, and 1hr10mins later we were back on NI soil.

Pictures of the trip to Paris are available here.

In my opinion, 5 days in Paris was enough, that’s not to say that I wont go back, and I’ll certainly travel with Aer Lingus again! The next time, Nicolas has promised to keep his appointment for tea with Carla and him! Sorry for the extremely long waffle!