Summer Unrest

The past few days there has been some unrest in Belfast as we are approaching the Twelfth of July. Rather than celebrating the success of Rory McIlroy, violence and hatred have been at the forefront of people's minds. For two nights there were riots about 2 miles from our home, but we have been largely unaffected by the violence. A majority in Belfast desire to leave the rioting and violence in the past, but there is a minority that still feel strong hate toward the opposite side of the community. After peace talks yesterday and more strategic police initiatives, last night was largely calm. We will be praying for the Holy Spirit to intervene with love and peace over the next weeks and would ask that you join us in this prayer.

For a bit more information on what has been going on, check out the links below.

Monday Night

Monday Night

Tuesday Night

Tuesday Night

Tuesday Night

Wednesday Night

The Roths take on the UK and Ireland!

Lucy's parents and little brother arrived on May 26th. After a nap for her mom (Carolyn) and brother (Jacob), we walked around the neighbourhood and had some leek and potato soup for dinner. The family was in bed pretty early after a long day of travelling!

On Friday, Lucy worked in the Ember and Micah worked in the office. Lucy's family headed up to the Giant's Causeway to explore the North Coast. Although it was a bit rainy they had a great time. It was Thomas' birthday so the clan headed to Wolfes for some burgers. Traffic was a mess because of a few bomb threats, but we all eventually made it and had a great time!

Saturday morning bright and early (4:30 a.m. but it really was bright because the sun was up!) we flew to London. We had lunch with Lois and Wayne who attend Lucy's church and are currently in London with MMN. After lunch we visited St. Paul's cathedral and then headed out of town a bit to visit Aileen, a woman who lived with Lucy's dad (Peter) while he was in junior high. The family had the first experience with formal British tea. After the visit we went in search of a place to watch the Champion's League final (soccer). Although we were in London and so was the game...we did not go to it! Instead we ended up watching it in a Thai/English pub. The food was Thai but the rest was English! Such a weird and awesome place!

Lunch at London Mennonite Centre with Lois and Wayne.

St. Paul's Cathedral

After tea with Aileen.

Sunday was our day to tour London. We started at the Globe Theatre for a tour. Then we walked across the Tower Bridge to the Tower of London (where the crown jewels are located). Afterwards we went on a Thymes Cruise. Once off we saw Big Ben, Parliment, and Buckingham Palace before getting back on the cruise. We walked across the London Bridge before having a London Bridge Experience (but we were too tired to find humorous) and ended the day back where we started, at the Globe Theatre watching 'Alls well that ends well'. We were all 'groundlings' which meant we stood down by the stage. Micah, Lucy and Peter where right by stairs that led up to the stage and enjoyed being so close to the actors as they entered and exited. It was an awesome experience!

Globe Theatre

London Tower--where the crown jewels are!

Big Ben and Parliment

Buckingham Palace

In the stinky phone booth!

The little brother!

Tower Bridge in distance. London bridge in front.

Westminster Abbey

Monday we began driving around England (well technically Micah began driving the rest of us just rode along). The first stop was Windsor Castle where the queen was in residence! We saw the changing of the guards but not the queen. Then we headed onto Stonehenge, Salisbury Castle where an original copy of the Magna Carta is kept and then down to stay near Land's End. Our hostel was a bit tricky to find as it was off the beaten path a bit hence the following directions, but after as Jacob put it a 'sixteen point' turn on a narrow road, we found our way.

By car or bike: IMPORTANT: The only road access to YHA Land's End is via Kelynack on the B3306. Turn off the B3306 at Kelynack and follow the road through the farmyard and past the sign "Unsuitable for motors" - although narrow the road is tarmac and in good condition all the way to the hostel entrance. Follow this road without making any further turns until you reach the gate with "Letcha Vean", YHA and Hostelling International signs.

Windsor Castle

Changing of the Guards

Stonehenge

Salisbury Cathedral

On Tuesday, the two of us started our day with a coastal walk before the whole crew headed to Land's End. After hiking around, we went to a cove where seals are known to be seen and enjoyed watching them swim about for a while. Then it was on to St. Michael's Mount. We missed the time of day when you are able to walk on the causeway to the castle (low tide) and had to take a boat across. The two of us decided to stay back and explore the little town. We had Cornish Pasties, ice cream and tea before the rest of the group came back. After a light lunch it was back in the van and onto Bristol.

Coastal Walk

Land's End

St. Michael's Mount

Wednesday we went to see the Roman Baths built in Bath. After we all made our way through the exhibition, we went to Avebury, which Jacob can tell you is just rocks and sheep poo and nothing impressive even though it was created thousands of years ago! Then it was back to London to drop off Lois and Wayne and rest up!

Roman Bathes

Big Stones at Avebury!

Thursday we headed onto Stratford upon Avon, where Shakespeare was born. We visited his birthplace, Mary Arden's childhood home (his mother) and Anne Hathaway's cottage (his wife). Afterwards a few of us went out for some Indian food while the others rested up!

Shakespeare's Birthplace

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

Friday we headed onto Liverpool to go to the Beatles experience. There was a couple right in front of us that took a picture of everything!! I don't think they missed a single object in the museum! Afterwards, we had some ice cream before getting 'Mexican' food and watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

Lennon Peace Monument

Saturday we left England and drove into Scotland. The first stop was Glasgow for the People's Palace. It was geared more toward local people and was interesting to see Glasgow's lack of hope toward any change in the future. After we finished in Glasgow we headed onto Edinburgh for a relaxing evening.

No description needed.

On Sunday we went to the Edinburgh Castle before walking down the Royal Mile. The day was filled with walking and seeing/experiencing a bit of Edinburgh. By the end of the day we were all a bit wiped out!

Monday was our last day in Scotland. We headed to Inchcolm, an island with an old abbey, for the morning. Our trip over was a bit ruined by a school group of about kindergarteners who were all but quiet. It was great that they were having a good time, but we missed all the information! Once we were on the island, the trip was well worth it! The abbey was an amazing maze of passages and there were old tunnels used during time of war, but we were not able to see them because the sea gulls were nesting and were quite protective of the area. A few dive bombed toward our heads!! Once we were back on the mainland, we had some lunch and coffee and then it was time to return the car and head to the airport. After landing in Belfast, we picked up the next rental car and Peter got his first experience driving on the 'wrong' side of the road! The rest of the evening was spent doing laundry and repacking for the next day!

The family in front of the Abbey on Inchcolm.

Tuesday morning, Lucy, Peter, Carolyn and Jacob headed out to Donegal, while Micah stayed behind for a course on Wednesday. Those of us travelling went to Slieve League. Micah did some reading and rested up after so many days of driving!

Family tradition - changing flat tires.

Donegal Beach

Wednesday, Micah headed to his course on managerial leadership. The rest of us headed to see the Marble Arch caves, which were spectacular wet caves! Then we went onto Galway for the night.

Thursday was a day filled with wrong internet information. Lucy was supposed to get a bus back to Belfast on Friday morning, but the bus station said there was not a bus at the time the internet said there was. Then it was decided that Lucy would stay with her family till Saturday and then the whole group would head back which meant the family missed seeing Dingle Penninsula, but everyone was okay with that after so much driving and travelling. Also, we went to Galway Crystal for a tour, but again the internet information was wrong so we headed onto the Burren. Since there was no tour in the morning, we were there a bit early so we had a chance to explore the wee town and go through the exhibition on the Burren and the town. The walk in the Burren was amazing! We saw Arctic, Mediterranean, and Alpine flowers growing side by side! The landscape was so weird and unique! It was awesome!

Friday we headed to the Aran Islands. Lucy had been there once before with Micah's family but to a different island. The island we went to this time was a bit smaller but had some amazing ruins. Jacob thought it was just rocks and cows, but the rest of us found it quite amazing! On the way back we sailed under the Cliffs of Moher, which was pretty spectacular to be at the base of such awesome cliffs! AND it gave us the chance to see HUNDREDS of puffins nesting! So neat! Once back on shore we headed to the top of the Cliffs of Moher and the exhibition before we had some dinner and tucked in for the night! Back in Belfast Micah attended his first night out with Belfast Street Pastors. It is an inititiave just started with the help of local churches, Belfast City Council and Belfast Police to be a positive presence on the streets late at night. We went out at about 10:30 and finally finished up about 3:00. It was a fairly slow evening, which isn't a bad thing. We spent most of our time chatting with quite intoxicated folks and making sure everyone had a way home. It is a great experience and Micah is looking forward to going out regularly on the weekends. Although, there are drawbacks to the program, like having to ride your bike home as the sun is beginning to come up...

A bit blurry but hundreds of puffins or miniature flying penguins.

Saturday began early with our drive back to Belfast. On the way we stopped at Newgrange and saw the passage tombs of Knowth and Newgrange. Once we arrived back it was nice to just hang out for an evening.

On Sunday we went to City Church and then spent the afternoon with Joy and Bobby! It was so nice for my family to meet the Orfs! Once back, we had another relaxing evening which was definitely what was needed after so much sight seeing!

On Monday, Lucy and Micah went to the team meeting and the family relaxed in the morning. In the afternoon, we headed to Grey Abbey which is where Lucy's great great grandparents lived. We visited the Abbey where relatives are buried. The cemetery was in a bit of disarray, so we were unable to find the specific stone we were looking for, but it was still quite interesting. When we arrived back in Belfast, we looked at pictures from the trip which is always fun!

Tuesday, Lucy and Micah had a meeting in the morning and worked in the afternoon. The family went into town for a Black Taxi Tour. In the evening, Thomas came down for dinner which was really special! It was fun to have him meet my family.

Wednesday morning, Micah headed to Root Soup and Lucy hung out with her family until they left for Dublin after lunch. They had an early flight back home on Thursday It was really hard to see them go, but it was so lovely having them here and travelling with them! It will be great to look back on this time in years to come! Wednesday evening we had dinner at the Ember and then did a whole lot of nothing!

Thursday was a rest day so we took advantage of the chance to catch up on some rest and enjoyed a really yummy dinner at the Ember!

Since my parents arrived, it has been really really nice weather whenever they have been outside pretty much. Now that they are back in the USA, it is pouring! Poor Micah is up at the allotment working away in the rain! Lucy is working in the Ember today. It is great to be plugging back into community life after some time away!

In the past weeks we have seen A TON and had some great time connecting with Lucy's family and some friends! We are looking forward to the slower pace that summer brings here. Hope you are all well and not too hot as the summer sets in!