Blogs from Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 9

Geo: 54.5973, -5.93019We had breakfast and left the hotel with time to drive around the area some before our afternoon flight. We found a cute vacation community on Loch Lomond and took a walk around it. There were small lake homes that seemed to be mostly summer homes, but could be permanent residences, I suppose. The woman at the shop there said that the internet service is terribly slow so most people don't even bother with it.We drove back to Glasgow to return the car and make the 2:00 flight and saw a petrol station on the road before we got to the car hire return location so we could return it full. It has been a great rental car--just the right size. Other than that thing with the tires, we did really well. The woman ... read more

Geo: 54.5973, -5.93019We had breakfast and left the hotel with time to drive around the area some before our afternoon flight. We found a cute vacation community on Loch Lomond and took a walk around it. There were small lake homes that seemed to be mostly summer homes, but could be permanent residences, I suppose. The woman at the shop there said that the internet service is terribly slow so most people don't even bother with it.We drove back to Glasgow to return the car and make the 2:00 flight and saw a petrol station on the road before we got to the car hire return location so we could return it full. It has been a great rental car--just the right size. Other than that thing with the tires, we did really well. The woman ... read more

Belfast, Northern Ireland--Friday, June 13th After having a two-day rest, we were somewhat eager to leave the ship and explore this city. As we walked down the ramp, and while we were waiting for the shuttle bus, we watched fellow shipmates get into a line of London style taxis. They had signed up to take the “Black Taxi” tour. It looked like fun. We had hoped to take a tour to the Giant’s Causeway, but because of the interest in this place, generated by TV and games, everything was booked solid. We boarded the shuttle bus and it drove us from the pier to the heart of the city and let us all off right in front of the tourist office. Here, we again, inquired about a tour to the Causeway, but they too were booked ... read more

Geo: 54.5973, -5.93019The report from the Captain was that despite an overnight stay in Belfast, we would still run into the gale winds which have not passed southwards as fast as he had hoped. In order to reach Iceland in time we had to leave Belfast at 2pm and go as fast as possible. When the storm hits it is going to slow us down so do not know when we will reach Iceland. Having missed out on a stop at Stornoway we do not want to miss out on Iceland too.As the ship was in port, the singers and dancers who put on a wonderful Abba show did not have a problem with a rocking ship. Brilliant songs which always bring back happy memories.We took the shuttle bus into Belfast city centre as our original ... read more

Fun day today in Belfast. Explored the Ulster Museum across from the hotel this morning; lots of history about "the troubles" and everything that led up to it right back to the 1200's. LOTS of resentment built up here for centuries! They had a very good display of paintings from Irish artists. Walked through the Botanic Garden after that, right next door, and explored the Palm greenhouse then the rest of the 20 acre park ending up in a small café near the hotel for lunch. Walked down to Queens University after that and toured the grounds where over 20,000 students register each year. Supper was at the "Bot" Botanic Inn, next door to the hotel. The big attraction there is a meal and a pint for only 5 pounds! I had a half rack of ... read more

We travelled by train from Dublin to Belfast today; 2 hours and 7 minutes on the N. Ireland Translink. A very comfortable ride with food and beverage services, Wi-Fi on board (only worked for the first half hour though) and wonderfully pleasant staff. It was a beautiful ride along the coast most of the way with only three 5-minute stops at Drogheda, Dundalk and Newry before arriving at Belfast Central Station. Our hotel, the Wellington Park, was only a 5 minute, 4.30 GBP ride from the station. This hotel is a little more modern than the one in Dublin and a little cheaper. In fact, everything seems cheaper in Belfast. After arriving, we walked downtown towards City Hall and the tourist shopping district. It seemed that half of the apartments, store-fronts and offices were empty and ... read more