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For me, it was a day of tears as well as laughter.
We HOHO’d it again today. Walking to the bus stop along the Falls Rd, we passed many murals remembering those that died in the Troubles or shouting out against Government, police and the British army. The tour guide on the bus spoke very eloquently, informatively and objectively about the history of the Troubles. I certainly learnt a lot! I think we both did. I remember watching TV news in the 70s and 80s, hearing the names of places and the names of some of the people, but at the time not really having an insight into what it must have been like living in the situation. I know I still don’t have a good insight, but certainly more than I did, now I’ve visited the roads where the people affected lived. In fact, we’re staying in a house which would have been lived in by people directly affected by the Troubles. Incredibly thought provoking, and I did have a brief visit from the onion fairy.
Anyway, we hopped off the bus at the Titanic exhibition. Wowzers! What a fabulous display! Loads of information, interactive screens, and even
a theme park style ride on cable cars through a virtual shipyard ?? It was well worth the entrance fee, and it’s a must-do if you visit Belfast. They also have the SS Nomadic, which was used as the tender to Titanic when she visited Cherbourg; she’s in dry Dock next to the main exhibition, and you can board her and visit the different decks.
The Titanic Studios are next to the exhibition, and various films and shows have been made there, including Game of Thrones. They don’t look like anything is happening there at the moment though – it all looks in a bit of a mess!
Once we’d got back on the bus and finished HOHing we had a wander round the city centre. Then it started to rain. We found shelter in a bar called the Cloth Ear, part of the Merchant Hotel. They have a good cocktail menu, and I had some Belfast Coffee, a twist on Espresso Martini and Irish Coffee combined. It was rather lovely ? Susan had Guinness.
Google doesn’t tell us how many pubs there are in Belfast, but there are notably fewer than in Dublin. We actually had
to search for one, which Susan says isn’t as much fun as you’d imagine.
We ate supper of Chowder followed by Raspberry Creme Brulee, then headed to the Waterfront Hall to attend a gig by the very very clever Joe Lycett. He was absolutely hilarious! His support, Brendan Reece was very funny too, and lots of laughs were had over the 2 hours. Well worth a ticket if he’s anywhere near you.
Finally, we successfully braved the Belfast Glide bus service home.
A few observations:
-Dog poo. There’s a lot of it around on the streets in Belfast and Dublin. I even saw some white poo!
-Smoking. There are very few vapes in Ireland, and quite a lot of smoking cigarettes on the streets.
-Belfast has a very different feel to Dublin. Susan describes it as a kind of emptiness and I get what she means. There are a lot of boarded up shops, lots of desolate areas, especially around the Peace Wall and the dock area. The city has much less bustle and joy. Probably still a legacy from the Troubles ?
Today was around 13000 steps and 8.5km.
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Louise Parslow
non-member comment
HOHO
I have now worked out what HOHO means!! Hop on hop off! Growing up I always thought white dog poo was from white poodles!! Funny though, not so many white poodles around now and not much white poo!!? I was surprised there wasn't a photo!!