Catholics VS Protestants (Derry Girls)

 Has anyone here watched Derry Girls? I'm late to the party, but I discovered it recently on Netflix and binge watched it with delight. Really enjoyed it. The sitcom first caught my attention during our trip to Belfast last year. There was this chalkboard a the Ulster Museum, which I thought was funny. It was taken from the show. In context, it's absolutely hilarious. Anyway, you can watch it here. But I cannot encourage you enough to watch the full series.

I wish they had elected an Irish pope

Well, habemus papam. I don't know how you are feeling about this, but the former Catholic that I am, now atheist, still wishes they had elected an Irish pope instead. Because of this sketch from Irish comic group Foils Arms and Hog. They sure make a very compelling argument for it. Maybe the next one...

Écureuil roux

J'ai pris cette photo à l'Ulster Museum de Belfast. Un peu parce que j'ai toujours aimé la taxidermie, mais aussi parce que j'aime les écureuils roux et qu'ils se font rares dans la vraie vie. Maintenant, on ne voit que des écureuils gris. En fait, je ne me rappelle pas en avoir vu des roux à l'état sauvage depuis mon enfance. Il y en avait un qui venait faire des tours chez nous parfois. Mais c'est peut-être une fausse mémoire: peut-être que c'était aussi un écureuil gris. Je demanderai à mon père, il a peut-être une photo de la bête.

Fish & Chips for Good Friday

Today is Good Friday. I always loved Good Friday: it's a holiday, it's generally a relaxing day and it means that I can, ahem, fast. By fasting, I mean stuffing my face with fish and chips. Since I live in England, it's not Good Friday without fish and chips. I often enjoy more the Good Friday meal than what we have at Easter. I had these ones last year in Belfast, at the hotel restaurant.

"Pro tanto quid retribuamus"

 Photo prise lors de nos vacances à Belfast il y a un an. C'est le blason de Belfast avec la devise latine de la ville: "Pro tanto quid retribuamus". Traduite en français par moi même et de mon mieux (je suis un piètre latiniste), cela veut dire: "En retour de tant, que pouvons-nous redonner?" Connaissant l'histoire trouble de la ville et de l'Irlande du Nord en général, c'est une devise assez ironique. Comme c'est le cas de bien des devises latines, à bien y penser.

Tim Hortons in Belfast

Okay, so you might be interested to know (or not), but we found out that there is a Tim Hortons in Belfast. We saw it last year during our holiday there. The question I asked myself seeing it is: haven't they suffered enough already? For my wife, it was a no brainer: we had to stop there. For some reason, probably because she is British and an Anglo, she finds Tim Hortons very appealing, as if it is both familiar and exotic. For me, it's a chain that gives rubbish adverts (the Québec ones are notoriously abysmal) and is grossly overrated.

Black and Green

You may forgive me to come back to Saint Patrick's Day. It was only yesterday and I haven't completely taken it out of my heart and mind until next year. It is my favourite holiday this time of year. Anyway, yesterday on social media, I was sharing this picture from 2015, with the pint of Guinness and the disgusting looking pint of lager with green colouring. I first saw green coloured beer in Montreal, I found it disgusting then, I find it disgusting now. So I wrote: "General principle on Saint Patrick's Day: wear green, drink black. (No but seriously, who thought green beer was a good idea?)" I think it deserves to be a great unknown line.

Valid Reasons to Celebrate Saint Paddy's Day

 I found this meme on social media yesterday and I wanted to share it here today. I am not Irish, but I may have some Irish ancentry, maybe. I do enjoy a Guinness. I also visited Dublin once in my life and have been wanting to go back ever since. I tried Tayto's more than once and enjoyed it. So yeah, I think I'm legit.

Drapeau irlandais

 Depuis le début de la journée, j'ai écouté de la musique irlandaise en regardant les photos de notre voyage à Belfast l'an dernier. Je me sens vaguement irlandais aujourd'hui. Je sais, ce n'est pas vraiment original, tout ce qu'il y a de pseudo-irlandais se manifeste lors de la Saint-Patrick, mais je pense avoir un peu légitimement le droit. Parce que selon l'un de mes oncles maternels, nous avons des ancêtres Ulster Scots, donc d'Irlande du Nord. Alors j'ai un certain attachement pour le drapeau irlandais.

Luck of the Irish

 Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone! It is one of my favourite holidays, not only because I have many fond memories of of many Saint Paddy's, since I started observing it in Montreal nearly 30 years ago, but because I love Ireland and the Irish people. I took this picture during our holiday in Belfast. Not the most original, but I do find it fitting to start the celebrations with a friendly leprechaun and a pot of gold. I wish all my readers the luck of the Irish.

Smithwick's for St Paddy's

Saint Paddy's Day is tomorrow and I thought I would blog about Irish beers. I took this picture during last year's holiday in Belfast.But I drank Smithwick's countless times before, during my first year at uni here in the UK specifically, but also in Montreal from time to time. Ironically, I kind of stopped after a while. I just can't seem to see Smithwick's anywhere round here. Or maybe I was channelling my Irishness more then? It certainly was a big part of my earyly twenties. People tend to forget that there are other Irish beers than Guinness. If you don't like stouts, or you rather have something different for variety's sake On Saint Patrick's Day, I suggest this one.

Concerto en O Mineur...

Quand la Saint-Patrick approche, ça me donne envie de relire Corto Maltese d'Hugo Pratt. Pour être plus précis, son aventure en Irlande, Concert en O mineur pour harpe et nitroglycérine. Elle m'a fait découvrir le pays pour la première fois. Vous le retrouverez dans Les Celtiques. Ou en version dessin animé sur YouTube, en anglais, mais c'est mieux en bédé, et en noir et blanc. Enfin bref, ma bibliothèque chez mes parents est remplie d'aventures de Corto Maltese, il faudrait que je songe à garnir celle ici, histoire de le faire découvrir à petit loup.

Guinness: Out of Stock

It is Saint Patrick's Day in less than a week and I haven't really prepared for it. But this post is sort of about Saint Paddy's. Last Sunday, we stopped briefly at the local Travelodge. The place was empty but for one staff member, we thought about staying for a quick drink and a snack, but we decided against it, because the one staff member there was pretty much ignoring us. But this sight caught my attention: they were out of Guinness. Even though the place was, like I said, empty. Just like the barrel, I guess. This is not good. The Travelodge is maybe the nearest drinking place. It's nothing fancy and I never actually drank there, but for a quick pint on St Paddy's, it would actually be perfect. I guess I will have to either go further, or buy myself a can. Still, this is a sorry sight.

Preparing Saint Patrick's Day

 I took this picture last time we went to Marlow. One of their high street's pubs, the Duke of Clarence, was already advertising for Saint Patrick's Day. Now that's a pub after my own heart! Preparing for Saint Paddy's more than a month in advance. And it looks like they are starting the celebrations with a brunch, so they will start drinking before noon. How perfectly Irish. I am not sure if I will be around there come the time, but short of a typical Irish pub (how I miss the one we used to have), this might be the next best thing. Time to start planning, anyway.

Titanic on the bookshelves

During our trip holiday in Belfast, our favourite part was probably the time we spent at Titanic Belfast. Espeically Wolfie, who grew obsessed about the Titanic. Of course, we bought a few souvenirs, including this model of the ship, which I placed on the bookshelves. It just gives it so much style.

About Liverpool and Ireland

I recently reread Tremor of Intent by Anthony Burgess, my favourite writer. Subtitled An Eschatological Spy Novel, it goes beyond the spy thriller genre or the satire of spy thrillers to become a Cold War philosophical tale about guilt, Catholicism, good and evil, identity, well, a lot of things making our human condition. When I first read it, I hadn't lived in England yet, so this it gave me a new appreciation of the novel. And there is a quite I wanted to share today:

"The best Catholic schools are in the North, since the English Reformation, like blood from the feet when the arteries harden, could not be push so far so easily. And, of course, you have Catholic Liverpool, a kind of debased Dublin."

Now, I lived a year in Liverpool, before I got married. It was a long time ago, almost twenty years. Obviously, I don't know how the city is now. But at its core, when I was there, it sure was exactly that: a Catholic Irish city lost in England. Debased Dublin sounds right, although Liverpool does not look as nice. Then again, I haven't been to Dublin in nearly twenty-five years and I never lived there, so who knows. Anyway, I love that quote.

A Boar's Head

 You know how much I enjoyed our last holiday in Belfast. Sometimes it's not the big tourist sights that catch my attention, but the small things. One evenening, we had dinner at the Italian restaurant Fratelli, which goes really heavy, for some reason, on boar's imagery. Better than that: they actually have a true stuffed boar's head near the entrance. I loved it. I don't know why, but I always loved taxidermy and this beast looks deliciously sinister. And alive. Anyway, what do you think?

Chevreuil géant préhistorique

Photo prise à l'Ulster Museum lors de nos vacances à Belfast. Un squelette de chevreuil géant, je crois qu'il est préhistorique.

Irish Lager?

I tried quite a few beers during our last holiday in Belfast. Beers I drank time and again in the past, when I was a student here in England (more on that in a future post) and beers I never tried before. Including the Clonmel. I ordered it not knowing anything about it, except that it was Irish. It turned out to be a... lager. I don't drink lager, usually, it is against my most profound beliefs. I was surprised to enjoy it, it is very tasty for a lager, probably because it is Irish. Still, I think it's kind of weird, Ireland now producing lagers.

Titanic Games

There are a lot of things I learned on Titanic Belfast, a museum we visited with great interest. Wolfie most of all, as he is fascinated by the Titanic.In the last section of the experience, we discovered that there are games based on the ill-fated ship. Among them a puzzle and some board games. The puzzle looks very nice, so I will try to find it. But the board game is what truly caught my attention. We have too many board games already and too little time to play them, but all the same, I want to find this one, or another. What I find interesting about using the Titanic as a setting is that it adds a dramatic element to the game play. I think Wolfie and I might enjoy it a lot.