April 8, 2008: Take me back...Take me way back....

For the unenlightened, today's tag line is something often used in various guises in Van Morrison songs. (Thinks, must take the kids by Hindford Street....)

Today, we went back, way back in time in fact, at one point some 300 years, in the Ulster Folk and Transport museum.

The Folk Museum is situated in Cultra, just on the outskirts of Holywood, and another town of my youth. Sad to say, when I lived there, I wouldn't have thanked you for a trip to the folk musuem, it was a thoroughly lifeless and pointless place. Now that I have a few years under my belt, I can look at the place with a fresh appreciation. Today, we saw just how much of a gem the Folk museum really is.

The Museum itself is comprised of several preserved buildings, each painstakingly dismantled, relocated and reconstructed with remarkable precision. The kids learned about life in Northern Ireland in "two-up, two-downs", making the connection with the Irish writer Christie Brown of "My Left Foot" fame along the way. It was neat to watch the lights go on with them, soon they were exploring the other various restored buildings, learning about shoemakers, blacksmiths, seamstresses, banking, policing and the judicial system, farming and on and on all from the collection of restored churches, shops, and thatched roof cottages (real thatch).

They have a restored cinema at the folk museum now, it dates back to the days of silent film, and we watched a Charlie Chaplin silent movie for a while. It occurred to me that this was the fist time I was aware of that my kids had even seen a silent movie, never mind Charlie Chaplin! If you haven't watched Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd (or for those of you who need spoken words, early Laurel and Hardy), you might want to fix that sooner than later. It's all rewarding!

We had the pleasure of Julian and Deborah Halligan's company today, as well as that of Sarah, their beautiful daughter. Julian and I worked together, and I have yet to encounter a more kind, thoughtful, honest and trustworthy individual. I am proud to be able to name him as a friend, and a better person for his friendship.

We all went from the Folk museum to the Ulster Transport museum across the road. Northern Ireland has a surprising number of unsung heroes when it comes to transportation innovation, for example:

1. The ejection seat;
2. Vertical Take-off and Landing technology (as seen on the Harrier Jumpjet);
3. The Gyrocopter
4. The DeLorean gull wing car.

All in all, another cracker of a day, spent in a fun and enjoyable venue, with solid friends, all topped off with Indian food. Mmmmmm, korma........... The craic was almighty!

Another long drive ahead of me tomorrow, we are off to Portaferry and the Exploris aquarium. G'night!