Travel Day to Belfast, Ireland

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Today was mostly just a travel day After breakfast at the hotel, we took a taxi to Central Station for our train trip to Stranraer Port. We got there early so we could wander around the nearby shops, but being Sunday, most of them didn’t open until 11am or later. We walked down Argyle and Buchanan Streets (the two main shopping streets after Sauchihall…all of them are connected) and went in a few places that were open before walking back to the station to wait for our train.

The train left at 11:37am and we arrived at Stranraer Port at 1:51pm. I really haven’t thought much about swine flu since we’ve been here, but there were an abundance of people sneezing and coughing on the train so it was hard not to think about it. I’ve been using my hand sanitizer more than usual I think.

The Stena Line ferry is right across from the train station, so we walked over to check in for our ferry ride to Belfast. The ferry is ENORMOUS!!! There is a pub, a café, shops, an arcade…it almost looks like a small cruise ship without the cabins. I think that half the people who were marching in the parade in Glasgow yesterday were riding with us. (Apparently there is going to be an even BIGGER march in Ireland on the 12th, right when we’ll be there).. They were all quite drunk by the time we got to Belfast and singing at the top of their lungs in the pub area.

We arrived at Belfast Port at 4:40pm and took a taxi to our hotel on Wellington Park (the Windermere House). The taxi driver had us share the taxi with two other gentlement and then only charged us for half the fare, which was nice (especially because the city center is so far from the port). After dropping off our bags we were going to walk to Crown Bar Liquor Saloon but I got turned around when there weren’t any street signs to tell us which direction to go and I ended up walking in the wrong direction. We ended up over by Queens University on Botanic Avenue, where there are a number of cafes and restaurants to choose from. We ate at a little place called Maggie May’s, where I had a veggie burger and raspberry milkshake. It was cheaper than a lot of the places we’ve been and the food was good.

After dinner we walked to the other side of the street we’re staying at and found a pub called Ma Nelsons where I had my first Ireland Guinness. I was expecting it to be served warm, but it was cold and a wonderful beginning to our Ireland adventure.

Tomorrow we sightsee around Belfast!

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Photos

Windermere House
Our B&B