Turning 50! Belfast

So, May was a big month for me, my 50th and I'm extremely lucky that there are no Covid restrictions anywhere any more so I could have a good one.  So many of my friends had rubbish 50ths because of Covid.

I was also lucky in that Charles decided to have his coronation the weekend before my birthday, giving us all a long weekend, so I took advantage and we booked tickets to Belfast.  Not a classic 50th birthday venue but I have always been curious and also there is a big Titanic Museum there which I thought would be good for Tom.

We couldn't get across on Friday night as the last flight left before we could get there with Tom being at school.  Instead we drove to Liverpool airport, via Miller and Carter where we spent our Christmas voucher from Simon & Clare ready for the flight first thing in the morning.  The hotel was in walking distance of the hotel and had plenty of parking - so it all worked out.

As I said, our flight was first thing in the morning - 7am to be precise, so just as well our hotel was in walking distance.  Liverpool airport is lovely in that it is very small, meaning you get through it very quickly.  Also 7am is pretty early so it was pretty much empty.  We breezed through (although forgot about the whole liquid thing and had to buy a plastic bag and dig out everything as we were going hand luggage only!)

The flight to Belfast was comically short.  We were welcomed on board and then welcomed to Belfast within 20 minutes - it was literally an 'up' and 'down' flight, taking only 30 minutes.  We flew to George Best Airport which was right in the centre of Belfast, and even smaller than Liverpool meaning we were at our hotel (Hilton) before 8.30am!  Wowzers!  Luckily the receptionist found us a room that was available so we were able to check in right away.  We went to our room and had a little snooze.  It was a fab room - in the corner of the hotel with double aspect view of the river and docks.  The shower in the bathroom was amazing and we also discovered that we had free access to the Executive Lounge which mean free food and drink through the day which was great.

Once we had had a snooze we walked across to St George's Market which was just behind the hotel for breakfast - the place is famous for its food at the weekend.  We had a good look around the stalls and all plumped for the Belfast Bap Co which was making huge breakfast rolls.  Tom had the extra big one: lots of bacon, 2 sausages, 2 hash browns, 2 fried eggs and a piece of black pudding!  Matt and I went for the smaller version - no hash browns, 1 egg and no black pudding - Matt went for a potato scone and I went for soda bread.  The potato scone was amazing - I would have happily just ate that.  As you can see from the photos they were all huge.  None of us finished them!

After a good look around the market we looked at the weather forecast, it was looking like rain so we decided to head over to the transport museum to avoid the rain.  This was a train ride away so that made the boys happy.  We got to the museum, it was massive - way way bigger than we were expecting, so we ended up spending pretty much the whole day there.  The place was empty as well - but with it being the Coronation, I'm guessing plenty of people were at home watching it all.  

The museum was good in that there was plenty to clamber around on and it covered all aspects of transport from bikes to planes and everything in-between.  They even had a tractor on which you could fly around the fields of Northern Ireland and a to scale solar system in the grounds (all planets were tiny pea shaped except the sun).

. We were all happy and impressed.  In fact the only thing that stopped us doing anymore was aching feet!  We certainly didn't need any more food!

We took our weary feet back to the train station and to our hotel where we all had showers (most amazing showers) and rested for a while.  

We then headed out to explore the city a bit.  We walked the streets, taking in the sunshine - the rain didn't really come after all that, walked past the City Hall which was very lovely with flowers, and then headed to the Crown Pub, which is actually a National Trust property for a drink.  

It was heaving, with good reason, the building was amazing - wooden panels, stained glass and lots of snuggly cubicles.  We didn't think we would be lucky enough to get a seat, so Matt elbowed his way to the bar whilst Tom and I stood leaning on wooden panels.  Luckily enough a door opened and a party left their cubicle and invited us in.  Yay.  What good fortune.  As we had got ourselves a cubicle, we decided to have tea there.  Matt had Irish Stew which was really good.  Tom Macaroni Cheese and I had mussels.  All very good and the portions small which was we needed and wanted so we came away very happy.

The next day we had booked tickets to go to the Titanic Museum. it was another lovely sunny day so we walked over to it.  It was a very pleasant walk alongside The Lagan river, so much history has taken place alongside these banks.  It has been gentrified with cafes, residential areas, university etc.  At the end of it we came across the Titanic Museum which you certainly can't miss,  created in the shape of an iceberg it certainly is very striking.

The museum was fantastic - best museum I've been to outside of Japan.  It starts with the birth of Belfast, its various industries: docks, linen, social history etc etc which I always find very interesting.  They had done this thing of mixing old photos with footage of actors walking around them which made everything a little more real and less 'black and white'. 

Just as were beginning to get tired, we took a lift up to the top of the H&W crane and found ourselves in a queue for a ride.  Great - meant we could rest our feet, the ride took us around the docks so we could see boats being made and the techniques they used.

Next up was an explanation of the making of Titanic from initial drawings to its launch (unfortunately there was no footage of it being launched which I find amazing - there certainly was a crowd there).  The next part of the museum was dedicated to the interior of the Titanic, what all the different cabins would have looked like and the beginnings of stories of the passengers on board.  Luckily one passenger who had a camera and took lots of photos of the interiors etc got on board at Southampton, went across to France and then onto Ireland.  He was supposed to get off in Ireland, but a passenger offered to pay his passage across to New York.  He wired his employer to ask permission and was told 'GET OFF THAT BOAT'.  It is only due to him that there are a good amount of photos of life on board.  Most photos in the museum were of the Titanic's sister ship as I'm guessing they thought they had ages to take some decent photos! 

The rest of the museum was dedicated to the sinking of the ship.  There was a domino effect of all the mistakes made:

+ No binoculars in the crows nest

+ Stubborn captain

+ Nearest boat to it had no-one manning the radio

+ Icebergs floating further south than realised

+ Boat going too fast

+ Not enough lifeboats

+ No evacuation plan

+ Water went over the bulkheads which were supposed to be water tight

 

At the end of the museum there was a huge wall with everyone's name on it and a line - above the line you survived, below it you died.  It had a huge impact.  They had a model of the Titanic spinning around and video on the walls depicting the story from beginning to end.  It is hard to explain, but it was very moving and extremely well done.  Definitely one to visit, I would happily go again.

 

After that we headed back to the hotel and had a much needed lie-down before heading into town for a drink and tea.

 

On Monday we decided to have some fun so walked up to where there was a crazy golf.  We passed quite a few murals and plaques dedicated to people who died in the troubles.  I think we may have skirted around an area where quite a lot of activity took place.  We kept our heads down, our mouths shut and walked quickly!

 

The crazy golf was ok.  It was very well themed, lots of atmosphere, waterfalls, rivers, palm trees etc, but the actual golf was a bit boring - we really don't do crazy golf very well in this country!  We went to really good ones in France and the US in the 1990s and still nothing in this country is even close to them.  We had fun regardless, headed back into the city via a train to avoid the slightly dodgy looking streets and had lunch in a tourist restaurant, Granny Annies which looked good from the outside.  However, as is true with most tourist restaurants the food was ok and the drinks a complete rip off - over £5 for a diet coke - which is a shame as it was the last thing we did.  

 

I really liked Belfast.  It is a small city and welcoming.  Still lots of signs of the troubles - with a heavily fortified Magistrates Court right in the centre of the city and lots of security everywhere.  For example there was a footbridge from the station to our hotel which was useful, but it was only open on the Saturday.  We asked why it was closed on Sunday / Monday - because the security guard watching it has Sunday and Bank Holidays off.  It's something we don't think of in England.  Quite a few of the pubs didn't seem to let under 18s in, so we didn't get to go in some other iconic ones.   I certainly felt more foreign here than I do in Wales or Scotland.  

I would happily return and would happily go back to the Titanic Museum again.  It was a lovely weekend.