Belfast, Northern Ireland

 

                                               

                                             

May 24, 2025 - We're  headed to Belfast this morning using Irish Rail.  It's a 2 hr train ride and we should get there around 1:00, so we'll have some time to do some exploring today.  We're staying 2 nights at the Bullitt Hotel which looks like it should be pretty centrally located.  After getting settled in our hotel we walked around a bit and had a few beers at the Duke of York.  It's a bank holiday so the bars in town are busy!

Waiting for the 10:50 train to Belfast.  It was a 15 minute walk to Connolly Station from our apartment and looks like it will be about a 20 minute walk from the Belfast Station to our hotel.

Kev's deep in another Jack Reacher book

Lots of cute little train stations on the way

we brought lunch, yum

pretty countryside

and cute little towns

We made it to Belfast Grand Central

A little rain on our way to the hotel.  This area of Belfast has lots of pedestrian only areas

We walked to the St Georges Market

Love this Bell Tower

The Duke of York

great little spot for a Guinness

the walls and ceilings are covered

We had dinner at a little restaurant in the area and then we headed to the Bullitt rooftop for a view and a pint

The clocktower lit up at night

May 25, 2025 - Today we booked a black Cab tour.  These guides give you their perspective on life in Belfast and talk about the impact of the Troubles (1968-1998).  Jim was a Catholic and talked about his family and how they were involved in IRA life.  It sounded a lot like the mafia to me.  We saw many murals and remembrance gardens.  We went to the peace wall, which is longer and taller than the Berlin Wall was.  There are 5 areas that have Gates that still close every night separating the Catholics from the Protestants.  After our tour we walked to the Titanic Museum and then we did Sunday Roast at Taylor & Clay Grill in our hotel.

These murals were designed by Palestinians and sent to Belfast where Irish artists painted them on the wall.  This mural will remain here until the conflict ends.  The Catholics are on the Palestinians' side of the conflict and the Protestants are on the Israeli side.

A memorial to the men who died on a hunger strike

Garden of Remembrance

The black cabs

Bobby Sands memorial

The Peace wall behind this garden

The other side of the Peace Wall

We signed the wall

When the Irish were polled as to whether they should remove the wall, 97% said no.  

A Protestant memorial wall

When we were in the Protestant area, the Union Jack was visible everywhere.  Jim said the Irish Protestants are more British than the British.  

Our hotel's weird entrance.  It was a pretty cool hotel with several restaurants and several bars.

Our walk to the Titanic Museum was next to the River Langan, which had a nice pedestrian walkway all along it.

The Titanic Museum looks a bit like an iceberg

We really enjoyed the museum ($34/person). The ship was built in Belfast at the Harland & Wolff Shipyard starting in 1902, by the White Star Line.  It took 9000 men to build it and 2.5 yrs.  There was a lot of detail in the exhibits that told just how much physical labor was involved to build it, which I found fascinating.  For each rivet 3 men were involved in seating it.  They would take a red hot rivet, put it in the hole.  One man would hold it in place with a special hammer while two men beat synchronously on it until it was flattened (all while it was still hot and malleable).  This was done 3 million times!

 

The scaffolding for the cranes used to build the ship 

One of the original life vests

These were pictures taken of the Titanic when they were launching it. It was on its way to Southampton where they completed the interior. 

The Big Fish sculpture

I've seen the Bell Tower from all over the city, but it's the first time to see it up close.  The Albert Memorial Clock was built in 1869.  It was built as a Memorial to Queen Victoria's husband who died in 1861.  It is of similar construction to Big Ben and a 2 tonne bell is housed inside.  The tower has a lean to it since it was built on wooden piles in marshy land.  In 2002 it was repaired and the foundation strengthened.

For dinner we decided the try the "Sunday Roast" which is popular all over the UK.

Of course dinner starts with a Guinness

A really yummy appetizer plate.  I especially liked the mushroom parfait and the Bombay hummus.

Now that's a plate of meat (and potatoes, green beans, carrots).  SOOOOO good!

and of course bread pudding for dessert.  

Wow!  We were stuffed.  It was a "shared" dinner, but I think it really could have fed 4 people ($40 each)

We're off to Edinburgh tomorrow to meet up with Jim & Jeanene.  We need to get packed up and ready to go, we have a 7:00AM flight.   So glad we decided on this quick stop to Belfast!