A Break In Beautiful Belfast

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Dear Blog Readers,



The last time Mum and I were having a holiday together was the well-rehearsed Manchester to Vienna trip that she'd been doing whilst I was working there. We were chatting over my birthday weekend about our next trip and there was a deal on British Airways for a return flight to Belfast and a 5-night stay at the Hampton Hilton hotel with breakfast for £594 - bargain! Our recent trip to the cinema to see the brilliant movie of the same name only made us more intrigued to learn more about the city and its history.



Mum's trip to Heathrow was anything but easy with the tube strikes meaning by the end of the day she'd traveled on most conceivable modes of transport. Our flight was slightly delayed but went very quickly, felt like we'd just gone up and down! Once landed at Belfast City Airport, we went to the information desk where they call you a free minibus to the nearest train station, Sydenham, and we just managed to get the train to Great Victoria Street (every half hour) which was just outside our hotel. After a long day traveling and feeling weary, it was only a 5-minute walk away from The Crown pub. One of the most recognized facades for a pub in town, and directly opposite the most bombed hotel in Europe, the Europa, we were soon seated upstairs and tucking into an Irish Stew which was wonderful!



We woke up to cracking views over the hills to the west of the city and were pleasantly surprised by the weather. We'd packed for drizzly rain and cloud...I'm not even considered sunglasses. The buffet breakfast at the hotel was spot on - full Irish breakfast, fruits, cereals, yogurts, and even a waffle machine! We filled our boots before walking into the center of town, only 10 minutes away, and soon orientated ourselves around the wonderful City Hall. The Tourist Information was close by, and we were soon in possession of a 3-day Visit Belfast card. For £15 each, we had unlimited transport and other discounts to attractions/food, and it was soon put to use as we caught the G2 'Glider' bus nearby which took us out to the harbor.



We joined the small queue as the doors opened for the Titanic Museum. The building is immense, and actually equals the height of the ship itself, positioned exactly where the ship was built and placed on the slipway to go into the harbor. The museum itself was fascinating, with tonnes of information, and goes at length to talk about the quality of workmanship that the people of Belfast are so proud of. There are also sections around discovering the wreckage and the ticket included a tour of the nearby SS Nomadic which is the only White Star Lines ship in existence today. It acted as Titanic's tender to transport passengers and cargo to the main ship which would have dwarfed it in scale.



Afterward, we popped into the lovely Dock Cafe whilst we waited for the G2 bus back into town. The cafe is a not-for-profit enterprise where you only pay by donation (either in cash, using PayPal, or as we did, on the website so you can also bump up your donation with Gift Aid) so we tucked into a delicious scone with a brew and a coffee. Once back in town, we had a little walk around and checked out the Victoria Square shopping center before making our way back to the City Hall to begin our city walking tour. Our guide, Brian, was in a tough spot at the start of the tour as over 20 had turned up and he didn't have enough headsets to go around. The background noise from the busy main road meant that by the third stop we were down to 8 people, however, it was quality, not quantity who stuck it out! He also informed us that they'd paid £2.5m for Victoria Square to be demolished to make way for the shopping center they'd built there - he said he knew people that would do it for a lot less just to keep their eye in!



Brian was fantastic, his knowledge was incredible, and every stop had plenty of information, side stories, and useful nuggets of local touches which helped bring it to life. We covered plenty of ground, learned about some of the key watering holes where secret meetings took place for political parties, the linen and tobacco factories which Belfast was renowned for, and some personal recollections about the Troubles and the impact it has had. It was as honest as it was eye-opening leaving us plenty of food for thought as we got lost in the city afterward! One of Mum's work colleagues had sent through some food/drink recommendations (including The Crown) so we went to The Yardbird for dinner which had a simple menu of ribs or chicken essentially. We shared some chips and coleslaw but the half rack of ribs and quarter chicken were plenty! Mum ordered a half-pint of Guinness - never have I seen bar staff so confused trying to find a suitable glass for such an unusual order!



We went back to the hotel before getting a train out from Great Victoria Street to Finaghy to go and see a band called Beoga play at The Devenish Complex. Mum and I thought we would be turning up to an old Irish folk pub but instead were greeted with a huge ballroom with round tables, comfy seats, and a big stage set up. The first band on, called The Rapparees, was great but had to adjust to an atmosphere of everybody chatting and catching up at their tables. It was an odd setup, but they were on for over an hour and had some great songs/harmonies. Very impressive! Beoga was up next and brought with them a mixture of traditional Irish folk/dance songs as well as some pop-style numbers. They closed out with their most famous riff which is 'Minute 5' which appears as the main motif in Galway Girl by Ed Sheeran and spurred the crowd to storm the empty dancefloor. We both felt it was a little too late to get going, and we had the last train home to catch, so had to make a slightly early exit but absolutely loved it!



The following day, we caught the 1e bus from near where the G2 bus picked us up and headed out to the northwest of the city to visit the infamous Crumlin Road Jail. The format of the jail was almost like a four-forked bicycle wheel with each wing holding different prisoner groups, most recently, splitting the Loyalists and Republicans. Opposite the jail is a crumbling Courthouse, with a connecting tunnel to the jail going under the main road to transport prisoners between the two after sentencing. The history of the jail was fascinating and the self-guided tour was decent, it is a shame a few of the videos weren't working, but well worth a trip around! I've heard they have an escape room there too...one for next time!



We got the bus back into town and stopped off near St. Annes Cathedral which looked great but was closed unfortunately so couldn't see inside. Outside the cathedral was a demonstration for International Women's Day and outside the City Hall was a protest against the Ukraine War so there was plenty going on in the city center and activism is strong. Whilst on the hunt for some souvenirs, we got a closer look at Belfast's very own leaning tower in the shape of the Albert Memorial Clock which has a distinctive slant due to the dodgy foundations, as well as each clock-face saying a slightly different time on it!



In the evening, we'd got tickets to the SSE Arena to see the Guildford Flames play the Belfast Giants in the ice hockey. Fresh from a 6-2 defeat the night before, we were ready for a comeback. The atmosphere was great, a much grander affair than the Guildford Spectrum's attempts, and we were in a small section of the arena with about 100 other away fans. Unfortunately, we were on a continuous uphill battle, and despite scoring one of the better goals of the evening, we left humbled with a 5-1 defeat. Mum was glad to go to her first ice hockey game though, and came away as clueless as I am about the rules!



On Sunday morning, Mum navigated her way to the First Presbyterian Church which had been pointed out to us during our walking tour. She passed the Alice Clock on the way which was a 12 bell chime on the hour too - worth a look! The service was great apparently, and also poignant as some of the attendees had just come back from Eastern Europe / Russia on a mission so they were reflecting on that experience. Once back to the hotel, we walked to our meeting point for the Conflicting Stories Political Tour. I'd been recommended it when I was in Dublin and we picked up tickets for £18 each. The tour is unique in that you do half the tour with a Republican and the other half with a Loyalist so you get to hear and experience both sides of the conflict or Troubles, which are arguably still ongoing albeit much more peaceful than decades ago.



We initially stopped at the iconic Divis Tower at the end of Falls Road where the first child, Patrick Rooney, was killed in the Troubles, and was a sobering start to the tour. Our guide was full of stories as we walked up the road, stopping at the remembrance gardens, murals, and him regularly catching up with people on the street - I've never seen somebody so popular! He knew everybody by name and shared a story with many of them, including one that was shot in the back by a Loyalist. The Bobby Sands mural was spectacular, and a special place of Irish heritage, but our guide was quick to remind us that it was only after 10 fellow political prisoners had died of hunger before it was called off. It was fascinating getting his perspective from being in the prisons at the time talking about the blanket protests and the struggles faced.



Leaving the less-intriguing taxi tours behind, we continued walking and made our way to The Peace Wall which continues to act as a barrier to separate the two sides. I was getting flashbacks to seeing the 10m high concrete walls of the West Bank with a similar feeling of disappointment and sadness that whole neighbourhoods and communities are needed to be separated. We worked our way around to the Gates of Lanark Way where our guide shook hands and handed us over to our next tour guide, a Loyalist, for the second half of the tour. The gates here are still locked every evening at 10:30pm and opened again at 7am.



We initially looked back at the Peace Wall we'd just been at but from the other side before heading to the top of Shankill Road. Mum couldn't believe she was able to walk these streets, the same ones she grew up with seeing on the news with scenes from a war with army personnel, fires, and the aftermaths of bombs. We were soon to see the site of one of these bombs at the Northern Ireland Club as we learned about the different factions of the Ulster divisions, like the UVF and the UDA, and our guide's close family connection to Gusty Spence, one of the leaders and then eventual influencer to the peace talks.



The murals had a very different tone on this side of the wall, a constant reminder of the dedication to the Queen and country. Plaques on the wall regularly appear along the road, and some are flagged for those bombs which were with no warning. In particular, the 1993 bombing of the fish & chip shop killed 10 people including 2 children, and wounded 50, acted as another flashpoint resulting in retaliation between the two sides. We finished the tour at the site of Bayardo, which is now a memorial to the 1975 bomb that took place here, but also serves as an observation post for several different atrocities and the lives lost. I think we both came away feeling that there are still very raw and charged emotions on both sides in a very complicated a difficult situation. Both guides said it'll take another 20 or 30 years for peace to be embedded as a norm but that progress is being made. We just hope that this progress continues, and hopefully, the wall and curfews become a thing of the past rather than the present. We left to catch a bus back to the town centre from Falls Road (which runs parallel to Shankill) via the Solidarity Wall which would have arguably been a nicer place to finish the tour. We'd booked a delicious Sunday roast at the Home Restaurant on Wellington Road - definitely would recommend it! The lamb and beef were fantastic (although Mum had to cut up the beef for me due to my broken wrist!).



The following day we'd earmarked for a lovely road trip but not after trying out the waffle making machine on the breakfast bar which tasted great with Nutella and bananas for breakfast! We managed to get a hire car booked in at the City Airport for £30 from Sixt. Unfortunately, we'd forgotten Mum's credit card and had a bit of an ordeal trying to find her NI number to get the DVLA code so ended up having to pay an extra £30 just for using a debit card for insurance! We were soon on our way though and quickly on the other side of the Belfast Hills we'd been looking at from our hotel room every morning. After about 45 minutes drive north, we parked up near The Dark Hedges which was a beautiful country lane with intertwining beech trees over 200 years old made famous as it was featured in Game of Thrones. As we'd approached from the other side to the main road, we got some nice pictures once the tour bus coach crowds had gone!



Our next stop was only about 20 minutes further north and onto the coast where we ticked off our bucket list to see the Giant's Causeway. The legend is that this was the setting for a clash between the Irish giant Finn McCool and a Scottish giant Benandonner. What's left is a World Heritage Site of 40,000 basalt columns in an amazing geologically landscape. We parked up at the top of the cliff and had a pleasant, albeit it was very windy, 20 minute walk down to the site. We clambered up the rocks and got some great pictures and views. Helpfully there were some National Trust employees there to tell you where best to scramble up and down the rocks. There were a couple of other potentially more challenging walks around but we headed back to the car and continued along the wonderful coastal road out to the east.



On our way to Ballycastle, we had spectacular views of the bird-watching famed Rathlin Island and passed the currently closed Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge (although Mum said she wouldn't be getting on it even if it were open!) and the ruins of Dunlace Castle perched on the side of the cliff-face. We'd been recommended going to Ballycastle by a friendly woman who served us at the Dock Cafe on our first day in Belfast. She was raving about Morton's Fish & Chips so we found a parking space close to it but found it was unfortunately closed when we got there. However, a short walk down the street and we managed to grab the last available table at The Promenade Cafe. The staff were so nice there, and thankfully, the fish and chips that they served were from Morton's! They tasted great too - I got the cod, Mum had the hake, and the food was fantastic. The town is a three-time winner of the best place to live in Northern Island and it's not hard to see why - certainly worth staying a day or two next time!



Full of grub, we decided to continue following the coastal route around passing the small seaside towns of Cushenden and Cushendall before heading further south towards Belfast. The sea colour and roughness chopped and changed as we moved, going from a choppier darker blue to an almost turquoise calmness with fantastic views out to sea as we were blessed with another wonderful day of weather. We parked up and debated the walk up the cliffside to the secret village of Galboly (also of Game of Thrones fame) but decided against it as we wanted to get back to Belfast before it got dark. A quick pitstop in the town of Larne, which had nothing going for it except being the ferry passenger port, and we were back at the hotel dropping the car off. We timed it perfectly with a bus heading back to the city centre and decided to spend our final evening with a cracking drink in one of the saloons of The Crown pub.



It was sad to be leaving Belfast but we made the most of our final breakfast and packed up our things, leaving them in the foyer of the hotel as we still had the morning to make the most of the city centre before catching our flight home. We booked on the free self-guided tour of the City Hall which we basically had to ourselves. The rooms and exhibitions are well worth a visit and gives you a great insight into the construction of the city's landmark building as well as the history surrounding it. Very little is mentioned about the modern history and the Troubles so stops short at some fascinating war stories and the impact of the ship-building, linen, tobacco, and whisky industries that dominated the city.



Afterwards, we went over the road to the Linen Museum and Library which houses the most spectacular tearooms which is well worth a visit. We were both sat on thrones drinking our Irish Breakfast Tea and attempting to play a game of chess (we were trying to remember the rules anyway!). Finally, on the way back to the hotel, we passed the Alice Clock which Mum had heard on the morning she went to church so took a couple of photos but missed out on the chimes unfortunately. We decided to get the bus to the airport rather than the train - although 60p more expensive (at £2.60 vs a £20 taxi!), it at least takes you door-to-door rather than the train stopping at Sydenham and needing to order a free shuttle bus.



We left Belfast satisfied we'd done as much as we could in the time we had and loved absolutely every minute of it. The people were beyond friendly, hospitable, and kind. The food and drinks were great and we learned so much about the history of the city and the complexities around the Troubles which you only get a true sense of when you've been there, and fortunately, been able to talk to people who were at the heart of the conflict from both sides. It has truly been an eye-opening and humbling experience and would highly recommend coming to check this city out!



Tink & Mum

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