Chapter 25

Dun Laoghaire to Belfast return......

We are now settled into our apartment and are loving it.  We have a non-stop flow of ferries, catamarans and yachts to watch from our living room and balcony.  The local village shops are varied and plentiful and there is a big Farmers Market each Sunday in the local park which offers a wide range of local produce. 
I have resumed my morning walks which now involve a 40 minute walk along the west pier. Sea air, a breeze and vistas far reaching.  I love the sea.
As I have said previously, we want to discover what is north of Dublin, so headed to Belfast for a weekend on the train. 
Belfast, or Beal Feirste, is Gaelic for "mouth of the river", and is the capital and largest city in Northern Ireland with a population of about 250,000, on the river Lagan. Once riddled with destruction and conflict, a period in history called "The Troubles", it has changed enormously.  It is still a politically sensitive city, and the scars  remain, with a wall that divides the Catholics and the Protestants called the Peace wall still in existence.  We signed the Peace wall, as have thousands of others.  We both found our stop here extremely moving and hard to comprehend.

We stayed at a marvelous boutique hotel called Ten Square which was very central.  Upon arrival we were handed a glass of champagne, as we completed check in.  We thought how wonderful is this......!
So we decided on dinner at the hotel.  After carefully studying the menu, we chose a fish dish and steak dish.  The chicken dish would have to wait for another time........

An intriguing description, but we decided against...

To help utilise our time for the weekend we chose a personal tour of the must-see sights. This was an 8 hour trip.  We were picked up at 9.00am by Mick, or Michael, (we were allowed to choose what we called him), very Irish and very funny.
First stop was Dark Hedges.  Architectural, atmospheric and peaceful are words I would use to describe these 150 beech trees planted over 200 years ago on a road in Co Antrim. Creating a natural arch with entwined branches,  the trees are now protected and a tourist attraction.

Next stop was Ballintoy, a small village with a quaint harbour.  Both have been showcased in the TV series Game of Thrones, with the village renamed Lordsport and the harbour redressed as the Port of Pike.

We were lucky with the weather, with only a few short showers to dampen the day, which was fortunate as our next stop on the coast involved adrenalin and concentration.  After a 15 minute walk to the cliffs edge, we saw a rope bridge.  30m above the rocks and with a 20m span, we crossed to the island of Carrick-a-rede from the mainland.  We were rewarded with fantastic views and a glimpse of Scotland 17 miles in the distance.  Wind gusts added to the adventure as we tried to stop ourselves from falling over. 

View of rope bridge

PC returning

View to the south east from rope bridge

View to the west from rope bridge

Keeping in the theme of adventure, 12 miles further on and lying on the NE coast is the Giants Causeway.  A Unesco World Heritage site of geological wonder with over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, a result of volcanic activity many millions of years ago.  The regularity of the stone shapes and the vastness of number has made this a well known tourist attraction.  It is also steeped in legend and myth with a giant called Finn MacCool apparently building this causeway to get to Scotland.

 

Our driver asked if we liked a tipple, to which we replied a resounding YES!  So, after lunch where Michael ordered the "Pheasant Beater's Nosebag", he did a detour to The Old Bushmills Distillery.  Now whiskey is not a drink we favour, but we have to say Irish whiskey was decidedly different to Scotch whisky - and spelt differently as well.  We quite liked it.

1 barrel down - 29 to go (hic)...

We climbed back in the car, with our next stop Dunluce Castle. The earliest standing remains date back to the 13th century when it was built by the 2nd Earl of Ulster.  It has a fascinating history with involvement from the English and the Scots at various times.  It gradually fell into ruins, but you do get an idea of the isolation, wealth and power of the last 800 years.

Inner courtyard at Dunluce Castle

A lone musician playing a hammered dulcimer

View of Dunluce Castle

It was getting late in the day, so we headed back to base.  The last part of our day trip was the Belfast sector.  Behind every city is a story, with Belfast one of fascination and heartbreak.  Our driver gave us an insightful look at "his" home.  Bought up a Protestant who married a catholic and was subsequently shunned by his "Mam", he drove us through both areas.  West Belfast is Catholic and East Belfast Protestant.  Political murals, particularly in the poorer areas,  are situated on gable walls of buildings each depicting a story of conflict. There were also hoardings with names and faces of people "murdered" but not forgotten.

 

Confronting...

A new addition to Belfast is the Titanic Experience.  Completed 12 months ago, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of her departure from port.  The building is in the shape of a star to represent White Star Lines, the highly prominent shipping line that owned Titanic.  An excellent display telling the story from conception in the early 1900's through construction and launch to her catastrophic demise.  We also walked in the dry dock, where she sat on keel blocks to be fitted with propellers and be painted.  At nearly 900 feet long and just over 46,000 tonnes, she would have appeared whale like when viewed from beneath.

View from half way along the dry dock

Titanic Museum building

When we checked the opening times for the museum, their web site stated "Monday-Saturday 09:00 - 17:00, and Sunday 09:00 - 17:00".  Had to read that twice before seeing the Irishness of it.  That went well with sign we saw at the Dublin train terminus station which tells you to remain behind the yellow line since high-speed trains pass the platform!  Philip chuckled for quite a while over that one.

Having had a wonderful weekend, we vowed to return to explore more of Belfast and beyond.  I am sure there are many more stories.

Just to finish off this blog, I want to share this quote.....

"A wise nation looks back with one eye, a blind nation looks back with two eyes."

Till the next blog
Love Annie
Xxx