Travels | Belfast and Northern Ireland

1 week before my recital, I jetted off for a well-needed break to Belfast. I didn't realise I needed a break, but I feel so much happier and calmer than I did a week ago. Anyway, there was a reason, Mother was doing her first public speech on the mistakes on property.

I was meant to be meeting my parents out there, so when my plane landed at 12:30, I grabbed my backpack and hopped on a bus. The first thing I noticed was that the people of Northern Ireland are so friendly! While I was waiting for the bus, a girl around my age just said hello to me, which is something that barely happens in Britain. And then while I was wandering around the centre, someone passed me and said "there's a penny on the floor over there, go pick it up and you'll have a lucky day". How nice is that?! I think more people should go out of their way to make a stranger's day a little bit brighter.

Anyway, I digress. While I waited for my parents, I found this adorable little cupcake shop where I ordered a delicious bowl of chickpea, lentil and bacon soup, a great big hot chocolate and a lemon and white chocolate cupcake for lunch. It was delicious, and a proper locals place. A little out of the proper centre (I would no way have found it if I hadn't of gone right instead of left out of the bus station - away from the centre....), it was so lovely. It was called The Little Cupcake Cafe if anyone is interested. I would highly recommend it. The food and cupcakes were all homemade, and cost me around £5.70!

Anyway, I then wasted about 2 and a half hours wandering around the city, and getting a feel of it (all with my backpack on my back), before eventually my parents' plane had landed and they'd picked up the car. I found my way up to a viewing gallery of the city, and although I'm a little wobbly when it comes to heights, all the steps and the collywobbles were worth the view.

When my parents arrived we didn't have that much time to relax and settle into the hotel, before we had to rush back out to the meeting.

The next day, we got up, had breakfast in another really adorable cafe, and the breakfast was delicious - I had a bacon and mushroom omelette, and it was cooked to perfection! After breakfast we headed out for a roadtrip to the Giant's Causeway. We drove along the coastal road, and the views were spectacular! Some pictures are below.

I then had a plane to catch at 8:30am the next morning, so after we got back, we had a spot of dinner at TGI Friday's (YUM), and hit the sack.

It was a great few days, and it was the first time I'd ever flown by myself. I hoped that it would have calmed my constant wanderlust (at least for a little), but it did the opposite. As soon as I landed back in Manchester, I wanted to jump on another plane and travel somewhere else. Maybe in the next few weeks.....

Phobias

Phobias. We all claim to have one. But what exactly is a phobia?

The Oxford dictionary definition is: 

However, how do you tell the difference between a normal little fear to a Phobia? I personally, don't like spiders. I hate them, loathe them, despise of them, and hope that one day they all die out. It's not unheard of for me to go sleep in the room next door because I saw a spider crawl under my bed and therefore cannot sleep. Is that a phobia? Do I suffer from arachnophobia? Or is it just a little inconvenience? 

I also rather dislike small enclosed spaces. I feel uncomfortable if I am in a small space, for example, a cave. Hate caves. Can't go in them, one of the reasons being that I have an irrational fear of them collapsing. The likelihood of this actually happening is very slim, I have never experienced it, and I know perfectly well that they've been standing for thousands of years. So why am I afraid of them? When I was younger I was uncomfortable when standing under a bridge. For the same reason: incase it falls down. Do I have a phobia of things collapsing? Or is it a fear? Or is it just the over-active imagination of a child, and I have just associated these objects with these thoughts? 

If you often read my blogs, you will know that I went to Norway last week. This involved flying on a plane. I really don't like taking off. I hate it when the plane suddenly speeds up and you're glued to your seat and then the jolt as it leaves the ground and then when they turn corners and the you're looking down at the world beneath you. Yeurgh. I did discover, that I am mostly alright for the flight, only when I forget that I'm on a plane. "How can you forget you're on a plane?" I can hear you sneering from here. Like, when you get really into a book or you have a nap or you watch a film. When I am aware I'm on a plane, I think these thoughts: if anything were to happen there is no way of getting out. You can't run away, and you have to face these enevitable death which comes in the form of falling to the ground in a plane. I begin to panic slightly.

I see phobias like this. If you can live with them and you they don't have that much of an impact on your life? Then it's not a phobia. If you can't, if you, like me, feel the need to leave your bed because you'd rather sleep somewhere else because of a possibility of a spider being under it? That's not healthy. I know I have a deep irrational fear of a cave collapsing, and not being able to be free. What is I am afraid of? Is it the actual cave? Is it the collapsing? Or is it the possibility of it collapsing and then not being able to get out? If it is the third one, then that can be linked to my fear of flying. I wouldn't say that I'm afraid of flying. I am willing to go through it in order to travel to new places. If I couldn't fly at all, that's when I have a phobia. 

Do you see? A phobia isn't a set thing. It is a mixture of different things that can sort of be analysed. This can then help you conquer your fears/phobias if you feel the need to.

To put it simply: do you have aluchophobia (a fear of darkness), or are you afraid of what is in the dark?

Please feel free to comment and tell me what your phobias are, and what you think of my opinions.