September 29, 2024
Fellow Residents Farewell Bike Tour in Belfast
Today over 45 of my fellow residents did a bike tour through the streets of downtown Belfast for a final farewell to the City that has been our home base for the last 4 months. Can't wait to join up with this crazy crew tomorrow! Current plan is I fly tonight to Dublin, getting in at 6 a.m. and then I take the 2 hour bus ride to Belfast, arriving around 9 a.m. I then need to hang out with other residents till our 5 p.m. loading time at the cruise terminal. Hopefully boarding will go smoothly and we are set to sail away before 11 pm.
There are 97 of us on the manifest set to sail tomorrow out of Belfast. You should recognize several of the above from prior blogs!
It's never a dull Sea Day on the Odyssey! We have such creative residents, that are always coming up with new ideas to entertain ourselves and have a good time. This plot was the calculating of Eddie and Michelle - a Game of Clue! The rules were simple - find the party venue at 8:30 pm, come dressed as a character, weapon or room from the game and solve the mystery of who stole the Ship's bell.
In March of 1974, some local farmers outside Xi'An, China are digging a well and accidentally hit one of the great archaeological sites in the World! They were paid one day's wages for the find, roughly 4 USD! The Terracotta Army was dubbed the 8th Wonder of the World by France's President in 1980 when he came to visit and wanted to meet the farmers, the oldest was then, 89 years old.
Xi'An, China has been on my must do list , for awhile. The story of the Terracotta Army has fascinated me, since I first heard it. What I didn't know too much about, was the actual City of Xi'An and the walled inner City that remains today. It was built from 1370 to 1378 during the Ming dynasty on top of the older Tang dynasty foundations. There are 9 miles of City walls, they are 39' high, 45' to 50' wide at the top and 55' to 60' at the base. There are four main gate towers and the only draw bridge restored is at the South Gate. There are 98 ramparts, watchtowers, battlements and a wide surrounding moat. It one of the oldest and best preserved fortifications in China .