{"id":3773,"date":"2018-09-13T04:33:13","date_gmt":"2018-09-13T04:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/updates.xephalon.net\/?p=3773"},"modified":"2018-10-31T06:23:39","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T06:23:39","slug":"iser-in-belfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/2018\/09\/13\/iser-in-belfast\/","title":{"rendered":"ISER in Belfast"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>With this year\u2019s ISER<\/a> meeting in Belfast, we decided to challenge ourselves with a road trip through Ireland and the U.K. before the impending Brexit. We arrived in Dublin thoroughly jet-lagged but ready to drive<\/a> on the left side of the road. Despite realizing that I had left my credit card at SMF, requiring constant monitoring on the Chase<\/a> app, I pulled myself together for our tour of Kilmainham Gaol<\/a>, which was commemorating the life of Nelson Mandela as a parallel to its history as a political prison. After dining on charcuterie and Cockles and Mussels at the Winding Stair<\/a>, we crossed Ha\u2019Penny Bridge<\/a> to check out Temple Bar<\/a> before heading to Martello Tower Sutton<\/a>. Built in preparation for a Napoleonic attack that never occurred, the AirBnb<\/a> featured 10 foot-thick walls with poor cellular reception, but spectacular views of Dublin and the bay. With our Dublin Pass<\/a>, we set out on a whirlwind tour of the city – chancing an arm at St. Patrick’s Cathedral<\/a>, getting blocked at Christ Church Cathedral<\/a>, studying Viking life at Dublinia<\/a>, photographing State Apartments at Dublin Castle<\/a>, strolling St. Stephen’s Green<\/a>, rocking out at the Little Museum of Dublin’s<\/a> U2 exhibit, and exploring the literary collection at the Chester Beatty Library<\/a> – all fueled by Butler’s<\/a> famous hot chocolate and the Shelbourne’s<\/a> Sunday Roast. After pictures with Molly Malone<\/a> and some mediocre Korean food<\/a>, we spent another night in the tower listening to the crashing waves. We awoke next morning to brave the crowds at Trinity College’s<\/a> Old Library<\/a> and Book of Kells<\/a> exhibit. After a full Irish Breakfast at O\u2019Neill\u2019s Pub<\/a>, we crossed the UK border to Belfast, where we filled on fish and chips from John Long\u2019s<\/a>. I registered for the conference while Melody settled into our tiny, hip room at the Bullitt Hotel<\/a>, before reconvening for delicious fare at quirky Made in Belfast<\/a>. We spent Tuesday driving along the Antrim Coast. Our first stop at Carrickfergus Castle<\/a> confirmed our preference for non-restored castles, and we wove around the Gobbins<\/a> visitor centre, various Glens of Antrim<\/a>, and many sheep before hiking the scenic waterfall trail in Glenariff<\/a>. Our fish & chips at Morton\u2019s<\/a> nearly made another appearance when a brisk wind buffeted us on the Carrick-A-Rede<\/a> rope bridge, but settled after some honeycomb ice-cream at Ballintoy Harbor<\/a> and scenic panoramas at Dunluce Castle<\/a>. We spent the late afternoon on the surf-washed hexagon towers of the Giant’s Causeway<\/a>, then stopped for photos along the Dark Hedges<\/a> of Game of Thrones’<\/a> fame before returning for seafood chowder and bouillabaisse at Mourne<\/a>. On Wednesday, we immersed ourselves at the interactive Titanic Belfast<\/a>, learning about the city’s history as a ship-building mecca and the events surrounding the ill-fated maiden voyage of the “unsinkable” liner. A disappointing not-all-you-can-eat lunch buffet<\/a> and city hall<\/a> visit left us uninspired to explore further that afternoon, but our evening was saved by the inventive tasting menu at Michelin-starred Ox<\/a>. I gave my talk and received my travel award on our last morning in Belfast before embarking on the second part of our trip. With different hotels and AirBnb’s scheduled each night, we were prepared for a unique experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With this year\u2019s ISER meeting in Belfast, we decided to challenge ourselves with a road trip through Ireland and the U.K. before the impending Brexit. We arrived in Dublin thoroughly jet-lagged but ready to drive on the left side of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3773"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3830,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3773\/revisions\/3830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}