Bogside from the Walls

We soon realised that it was possible to enjoy a fine walk all around the city walls so we decided this was how we would spend the rest of the morning.

There were information boards every few steps and, as there was so much history to read about, our progress was fairly slow, but did that matter? - no, we were carefree bears, making the last day of our holiday last as long as possible.


As well as stopping to read the information boards we also stopped frequently to take in the views over the different part of the city. Not far to the left of where are looking in our picture was the green hill which inspired the hymn writer Cecil Alexander to write the famous hymn, There is a Green Hill Far Away.

However, the focus of our attention at the time the picture was taken, was the famous area of Bogside. It looked quite peaceful as we gazed across it and we found it hard to believe that it had witnessed so much of the troubles in the city since 1969. We certainly felt very safe even though we were sitting in quite an exposed postion. We were fascinated by the artwork depicting the toubles appearing as huge murals on the sides of buildings. There are about 11 of them and we think we spotted them all.

It was so peaceful now that we could have stayed there all day, but Patrick reminded us there was more to see and led the way to the next interesting sight.

Lots of love, Patrick, Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

Climbing the Walls (cheerfully)

It seems a long time since we started relating our Irish adventures and no doubt you'll find it hard to believe our holiday was only a week long.

However, for us, the last full day of our holiday came around all too soon. We were offered a day out in Londonderry and thought it would be a very fine way to spend our last day especially with such a fine and knowledgeable guide as Patrick.


As you can see we travelled from Ballymoney to Londonderry by Northern Ireland Rail. It is such a spectacular route, all along the coast, that even if you have cars available, it is best to leave them at home and sit back and enjoy the scenery. At one point we were so close to the beach and the crashing waves that we were quite glad the train had a non-opening window otherwise sitting where we were, we would have got very wet.

Once disembarked we strolled into the city centre and being bears who appreciate history and culture, we made for the historic city walls.


We knew we were in the right place when we found ourselves at this information board. We climbed up onto the walls intending to take in the views over the city. However, we quickly found ourselves distracted by some wonderful old artillery. The cannons were in such fine fettle that we were convinced that if only we had a cannonball to hand we could have really brought this city to life. The only problem was that we don't often travel with a cannonball in our pocket!


There was lots more to see from the walls as you'll find out soon.

Lots of love, Eddie, Patrick, George & Yorkie

4,000 Years of History

It's time to engage your agile minds again, as we're heading back to Ireland. You can tell what a great week it was, as the photos are still coming. There were just so many interesting places to visit and photograph even in the middle of winter. We simply must go back in the summer, when everything will look even more splendid and, more importantly, the water will be a better temperature for surfing!

Anyway, the day after the Giant's Causeway visit, in the interests if variety, we decided it was time to explore inland again. And so we spent the day in the Ballypatrick Forest.


This was a good time of year to walk in the forest as we had it all to ourselves as the forest drive (for cars) wasn't open. This meant we could sit quietly and enjoy the birdsong and commune with nature with no disturbances, other than the chatting of our minders who had linked up with friends and were catching up on all their news.

Our pointy perch wasn't too comfortable, as you will appreciate from our picture, and this, along with the background chatting, meant that although it was a lovely spot, it wasn't the best place for a bit of shut-eye (Patrick had kept us up late enjoying Guinness and good craic, so we were feeling a little tired).

Yorkie was the first to notice that this wouldn't have been a good place to sleep anyway, as it was a burial ground and we might have been taken for dead and accidentally buried if we'd been found. In fact, as we went to investigate, we found this was no ordinary burial ground. It was a 4,000 year old burial ground, dating back to the megallthic (note not megalithic) period. No, we haven't suddenly become culture vultures to know all this, we simply read the sign that was kindly provided.


Mind you, looking at the sign, we reckon it had probably been around a few thousand years. We took great care not to get any of that green slime on our fur. The risks we take in the interest of keeping our blog readers entertained!

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

We're Dreaming of a White Easter

We're breaking off from our Irish adventure once again, but this time to wish all our readers a very happy Easter.

We were up early this morning - in fact, at 4.30 a.m., we were up so early that we beat the snow which has been falling for several hours now! The reason for our early start was to take part in the dawn service at one of our local churches.

I (Bris) took my new friend Giovanni along. Giovanni will be introduced properly in due course, but he has just moved from the Hillfield Franciscan friary in Dorset to be with us and he was keen to find out how we celebrate Easter in Norfolk.

We wish our camera time stamped our pictures so you could see that we really were waiting outside the church for people to arrive at 5.00 a.m. It was very cold and very dark, although our flash makes it look lighter than it was.

Before long though we had an Easter fire burning to dispel the darkness and provide light and warmth - powerful metaphors that sum up why we were there.


We lit the special Paschal candle from this fire and then, from the Paschal candle lit candles for ourselves and moved into the church taking the light with us. Giovanni thought the service was great and we both especially liked the bit when we had to make a loud joyful noise: we both clanged the gong which George & Yorkie had brought back from an adventure in Thailand.

After the service, when it had become light, I showed Giovanni round the church and pointed out the design on the altar front which depicts the rising sun.


We both agreed it was a fantastic Easter symbol, and incidentally, a fitting theme for this year's Greenbelt festival.

By this time we were rather hungry and how lucky were we, that some very nice people made us all a lovely breakfast of bacon and egg sandwiches. They were simply delicious. Giovanni got so enthusiastic about his that he fell onto the buttered bread and got a very buttery nose. Can you see it?


Then it was home to another wonderful Easter treat. We shared round some scrummy Easter eggs (Fairtrade Dubble eggs no less). We'll be cracking these open very shortly before going out to make a snow bear.


If it keeps snowing as it is, there should be enough for a snow bear. The only question is, will it be Yorkie or Blue Bear sized?

We agree with our friend Naughty Bear that Easter is an amazing time of year and better than Christmas when you get to the heart of it.

Lots of love Bris, Giovanni & all at Bears Unlimited xxx

Our Big Climb

As you will recall, we have been talking about some of the less well known sights of the Giant's Causeway. Well here's another one!


Yes, it's one of those sad but true facts, that it isn't too often that you see bears out enjoying a picnic in the fresh air and with a great view all around. It should be an everyday sight, but sadly all too many bears seem to suffer from agoraphobia and rarely venture outside the house. The Bears Unlimited helpline for distressed bears, is always available to offer help and advice to any bear needing help to make a bid for freedom.

Anyway, back to the Causeway, we needed that lunch to give us the energy needed to walk back up to the cliff top from the Causeway. We certainly weren't going to cheat and take the easy road which you can even travel by bus. Our route back to the top was via the Shepherd's steps, a climb which is not for the faint-hearted or a bear with an empty stomach.


The steps seemed to go on forever, and while they might be the perfect size for humans, the rise of each step was a mountain to small bears like us. At the time we could have told you how many steps there were, but now we've been back for a few weeks we've forgotten. It's a good job that we spend so much time at the gym that we are very fit bears.

Once back at the top, it was a wonderful 5 mile coast path walk back to the car. We saw lots more rock formations of the same geology as the Causeway that were well worth seeing. We were very glad that we'd decided to incoporate some more coast path walking into our day out.

Lots of love, George, Yorkie, Patrick & Eddie xxx

One Very Big Boot

So back to our day out at the Giants Causeway. The causeway covered a suprisingly big area so it took a while to wander its length and breadth. There were quite a few foreign tourists and it was strange hearing foreign accents after getting used to hearing the charming Ulster brogue everywhere we went.

A couple of minutes walk away we found an indicator of the size of the giant who laid down the causeway: we found his boot.


As you can see, it suddenly went dark as we posed on the boot for our photo, and we had a scary moment when we thought it might be the giant's shadow being cast across us. Our moment of panic passed though, as we realised that the boot was so old and fossilised that the giant couldn't have been around for a good many years. We were quite pleased by this as just look how small we are in relation to that boot! We began to appreciate that with feet that size it wouldn't have taken many strides to get across to Scotland.

Being musical bears there was another causeway sight that was a must for us to see, and that was the rock formation known as 'the organ'. When you look at our next picture you'll get a hint of why it is so named.


We couldn't give you the whole picture or you would never have been able to see us. Even with our close up shot it's probably not easy, but you can probably appreciate that these big examples of basalt tubes do resemble organ pipes.

Sadly we weren't lucky enough to hear a recital on the day we were there, but our visit was still not over, so we'll continue in our next post.

Lots of love, George, Yorkie, Patrick and Eddie xxx

Happy St Patrick's Day

Top of the evening to all my friends and a very happy St. Patrick's Day to you. Today is a big day for all Irish folk, but especially for those who, like me, are named after the great Saint.

When I asked the guys yesterday if they celebrated St Patrick's day, they said not usually, but my arrival among them had changed everything and, as they now appreciate how many good things come out of Ireland (including me), they agreed they we had good reason to celebrate and have a party.


And so we are now relaxing by the fire and enjoying some good craic aided by a few glasses of Guinness and some party food. It's making me a bit nostalgic for my homeland, but I don't regret coming to live in Norfolk one bit, as I'm now at the heart of the Bears Unlimited family and been made to feel very welcome.

I'm enjoying helping George & Yorkie with the posts about our Irish holiday though as it reminds me of the great country that Ireland is. As everyone enjoyed their Irish holiday so much I'm sure I won't have any difficulties persuading them to visit again soon.

Anyway, we do expect to be returning to the tale of our Giant's Causeway adventures for our next post. Apologies to anyone who is being kept in suspense, waiting to see the less well known sights of the Causeway.

Lots of love, Patrick and all my Bears Unlimited friends xxx