Easter Break: Part 1

It was great to be off for a week over Easter and the best thing about it was that it felt like more which is great in review but makes it more difficult when you're sitting in your office at 8.30am with heavy eyelids and a few yawns in the bank.

The break kicked off in style though as the Thursday afternoon had the sun splashed all over the sky and we finished up early, grabbed beer from the off-licence and sat up on the roof terrace.
The blue sky and hazy city skyline made for a great backdrop to sun ourselves and talk utter nonesense which it probably turned to later as we sat outside until the bright red ball disappeared over the mountain and it grew grey and cold and we said our goodbyes.

It was 8.40pm when I reached the enterance to Ormeau Park and although the sign said "This Park Closes At 8.30pm" it evidentally was not and I took this as my cue to enter and work my usual route across to the other side. It was only half-way through that I realised my walking was, well, drunken and all too soon the dim realisation set in that the other side was closed. "You fool!" I thought to myself, "Now you're stuck in the park!".

Instead of walking back I forged onwards and saw construction lights about 30 yards ahead and decided that I could always use dimplomacy with the workers should I wonder onto a hard-hat area and put myself in mortal danger. I navigated my way around the wooden fenced-off area and low and behold, a gate was still open. I increased my pace and before I knew it, I tasted the sweet air of freedom and bumped my way home.

On Saturday, we met up with Keith, Jenny and two of their Dutch friends that were over on a short trip to Belfast and snagged a booth in the Crown. Despite the history to the bar, its never really appealed to me although the respite of having your own space is prevalent to the hustle and bustle going on outside. I think it's the gloom that I find depressing. I'm pretty sure they had lights in the 19th century and sans smoke, I shouldn't need to be squinting across the table to read lips.

We were joined by our friend Sandra and her sister who came up from Dublin and after a few pints were sank, people were getting hungry and we walked up to the Jharna for some Indian food and I was quite surprised that the Dutch had never tried this type of food before. Cue a long and agonising deliberation over the menu and I was seated beside Lou with a bottle of red between us and we were soon chatting about the recent Richard Dawkins programme The Root of All Evil about the negative impact of religion.

In one memorable scene, he visits the New Life Church in America, where Pastor Ted Haggard once presided over a 14,000 strong congregation and claimed to have a weekly conference call with United States President George W. Bush. Haggard says that American evangelicals fully embrace the scientific method, expecting it to eventually show how God created the heavens and the earth. Dawkins asks if he accepts the scientific demonstration that the earth is 4.5 billion years old. According to Haggard, this is merely one view accepted by a portion of the scientific community. He goes on to contend that Dawkins's own grandchildren may laugh at him upon hearing this claim. Dawkins responds "do you want to bet?".

Once the meal was over we were offered some complimentary shots of Baileys and we grabbed a taxi and headed for Jenny's house for some Wii and drinks. We checked out the bowling game and were so engrossed, it was 2am before we realised. It's a very addictive game and great fun when several people are playing - I shall have to buy one in New Zealand...

Part Two tomorrow!