Van Morrison!!!

Wow! What a date night! What started out as a struggle and worrisome previous night trying to find a place to stay and figuring out the logistics of the concert turned into one of the best nights in my life. We stayed at the Portaferry Hotel and let's just say that the place isn't really for backpackers. We waited a bit in the lobby and everyone that walked by was wearing super nice clothes and looked incredibly wealthy. Then there was us haha. Portaferry is across a bay from Strangford and Castle Ward, but there is a ferry that crosses the bay, connecting Portaferry to Strangford. Once from Strangford, Castle Ward was a little over two miles up the road. After walking the Camino, those two miles seemed like nothing. The only thing we were worried about was making sure that we made the last ferry back over to Portaferry, but the ferrymen said that because of the concert, they were going to run until the traffic died down. But with us being on foot, we were still worried. We arrived at Castle Ward pretty early and just hung out until the concert started. When you walk into the property, there is about a mile long driveway that leads to the newly built Castle Ward, then about half a mile down property to where the Old Castle Ward stood, where the concert was being held. The newly built Castle Ward was beautiful with a large grass field all the way around it. 

We checked that out for a little bit and then made our way down to where the concert was being held. Apparently, the Old Castle Ward has been used numerous times by Game of Thrones. I didn't quite catch the name of it in the show though. Very medieval looking buildings. 

Because we got there so early, Sarah and I were one of the first people to go into the venue. And man did that pay off! There were three rows of VIP seating up front, followed by two rows of Endowment seating and then the rest was General Admission seating. We ended up sitting two rows back and in the aisle, just off the center!! Incredible seats!

The concert started with Van Morrison's daughter, Shana(??) singing three songs from her new album and then Van the Man came out! The entire place went nuts and the rest of the night there wasn't much sitting down. The aisles were jam packed with people dancing and it was just very joyous. It is hard to remember a time where I could look around and see so many happy, smiling faces. It made me laugh how Van Morrison's music brings back memories and such. He sang most of the classics and I was super happy because he played all songs that I knew except for two. Amazing playlist! I only wish he would have played Tupelo Honey!

The concert is something I will remember for the rest of my life! That was definitely the highlight of the trip thus far! Not many  people my age know, yet even listen to Van Morrison songs and it definitely showed at the concert. Sarah and I were the you hear people there. I thank Sarah for surprising me with tickets for my birthday back in February!! It was better than anything I imagined. I missed out on my chance to see him when he played at The Gorge in Washington, so we just had to come to Northern Ireland to see him! I love you bub!