From the Republic to the Kingdom: Belfast

  Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Saturday, December 27, 2008

December 27
Right when Dublin seems to be awakening... we take a coach to Northern Ireland's capital: Belfast. The trip just takes two hours and a half (costs 15€ one way) but that means moving to another country and changing currency, 'cause Northern Ireland uses pounds, not euros. The hostel is located in a small, gloomy street, quite far from the city center, but it was the cheapest place in the city and, after all, we'll just stay here for two nights.

We start vising belfast walking along North Street and Castle Street, till we arrive at the main artery of the city: Donnegal St., which ends at the beautiful City Hall, surrounded by a magnificent square. Right next to the City Hall is located the Belfast Eye (just like the London Eye, the big wheel from where you can see the whole city).

Belfast city Hall and the wheel

At night we go to the coolest part of the city (imho): The Entries. Those are a few alleys between High St. and Mary St. full of pubs and small shops, but especially PUBS! It's nice to go into the alleys, entering a pub after another. Our first night here we enter to McCrakens, a delicious pub, very comfortable and with live music. The prices are "reasonable" and the atmosphere is nice.
Late night we leave the pub and by chance we encounter Prince Albert Tower, very similar to London's Big Ben but more charming, because this tower is slightly tilted.


December 28
After breakfast we go to Donnegal Street and enter stores and shopping malls (sales are here!). Next to the city Hall we take a bus to Belfast Castle,

Belfast Castle

which is located on the suburbs, crowning the top of Cave Hill. The place is fantastic and the castle is the cutest thing I've seen in Belfast. It looks like an enchanted castle, and the best thing is that is surrounded by a gorgeus garden called "The Cat Gardens". Obviously its name comes from the large quantity of cats that you can find while you're walking through the garden. And I don't mean real cats, but stone cats, cat-shaped hedges, steel cats... It's funny to walk through a garden like this!

Cat Garden - Belfast Castle

Then we enter into the castle, but it currently works as a restaurant, so it has lost some of its charm.

At 4.00 p.m we go back to the hostel and have lunch. Later we go to the south part of the city. It's a long walk but we don't want to spend our money in public transport and walking is healthy! We visit the University and below we find the Botanical Gardens, enormous and really interesting.
After that we go back where we had come back to visit famous Shankill Road, well known for its murals. I guess everyone knows the confrontations between catholic and protestant in North Ireland, but now is totally safe to walk through both parts of the city (at least I had no problem).

Shankill Road mural

At night we arrive at the hostel and we feel very tired but we have a quick bite to eat and then we go back to The Entries to have a drink. We spend the night at Whites, the oldest pub in Belfast and a place I really recommend: it's small but it has enough tables, it's all made of wood and the lighting is nice and intimate. There's live music every night and you can find people of all ages there.

My friend at Whites Tavern

We have a couple of pints and go back to the hostel. Tomorrow we'll have to wake up early to travel across the island to Cork!