LANIGAN'S TRAVELS

June...........  

Belfast, Ireland  - Day 3 in Ireland

We debated whether to go North or West.  We decided on North.

Off to Belfast!  It was about a 2 hour drive.  Almost all highway and uneventful.  I must be getting used to driving (actually, being a passenger) in Ireland.

Titanic Museum -
representing the ship breaking through the iceberg

We arrived in Belfast and within 15 minutes we found the Titanic museum.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  Would it be boring?  We bought the tickets and began the tour. We heard the history on short videos then took a ride through an area that had the sounds of what it really sounded like while the Titanic was being built.  Exactly what you would expect a shipyard to sound like.  Very loud with lots of banging. It was similar to riding a very slow coaster ride through a tunnel.

After the tour, we walked to the actual pump house and dock area where the Titanic was actually built.

Jim standing in the slip where the Titanic parked

VERY interesting!  We stood in the dock that housed the actual Titanic.  I felt very small.

After the museum it was off to find a hotel. This should have been easy but no so much.  The first B&B was located in a residential area.  The street was so small our car barely fit.  We kept driving.

We ended up in a Holiday Inn in the City Center.  Nice hotel.  We had to park about 3 blocks away but it wasn't too bad.

We had been told we needed to visit the Crown Saloon.  We just had to figure out how to get there.  We had no in-and-out privileges for the car, we did not have the correct type of currency and it was too late at night for a bank.  Amazing that the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland would use different currency.  We knew this but I guess it really didn't sink in.  Most of the taxis did not take credit cards so Jim decided we should see how far it was from the hotel and make a decision on whether we could walk.
TWO BLOCKS!  Yippee!  We took off on foot for Crown Saloon.

Heather, Matt, Ruthie, Jim

Crown Saloon is an absolutely wonderful place. We met so many delightful people, both tourists and locals.

- Matt and Heather:  started talking with them and Jim asked them to join us in our booth. They are from Waterloo, Canada and we had a great time with them

- Jim and his wife that live in Belfast and had just opened a B&B.  Taught me the term "True Person".

- Another couple from Canada that were
motorcycle riders (Harleys).  Very friendly.

It was just a fabulous evening.  After Matt and Heather left we invited another couple to join us that could not find a place to sit.  They ended up speaking very little English and had a large group with them so we ended up leaving to see what else we could find.  On the walk home we were still just a bit hungry so we stopped at a restaurant/bar just across the street from our hotel.  The Bridge House.  We had a couple appetizers, a couple drinks and watched most of a motorcycle race.

Earlier in the day, Jim had called The Black Taxi company.  They give tours of the murals in the previous "Troubled" areas.   Both Catholic and Protestant areas.  We were told we should make sure our driver was allowed to go to both areas.  The one Jim had called was able to go to both areas.  When the driver called Jim back he said he had an availability at 9:00 am the following morning. Perfect.

Now, time for sleep.