I'm told flying into Belfast City is quite something with the runway being so close to the waterfront. Or something. It was pitch black when my plane was landing so I guess I shall never know.
This trip is in that grey area of abroad, with Northern Ireland being part of the UK (I now have the full set!), but it felt like a proper weekend getaway. With the rather large exception that it wasn't a weekend. It was short and compact. Amazingly it didn't rain. Just as well, given that I'd insisted upon visiting Giant's Causeway. It's N.I's most notable tourist attraction, I couldn't miss it. So we started the day with a solid breakfast before heading cross-country at moderate pace (new drivers aren't allowed to drive at over 45mph. Ever. How stupid) But we made it, handed our parking fees over and strolled down to the Causeway.
My first though was definitely "I love the sea!" It's in my blood. I have to love it. There's just something about the smell of the sea breeze. It's refreshing, tiring, and well... salty. I love it. I think I repeated the aforementioned thought numerous times. It probably got a bit boring for my companion.
My second thought was possibly "Wow. I wanna climb that big pile of rocks!" That was a recurring thought. It was the causeway. There are many, many rocks to be climbing. And while many people may marvel at the unique shape and formation of the causeway, the order of the day for all the but the old lady with a walking stick, seemed to be simply climb to the top of a pile of rocks and pose for a photo. Guess that's the inner child coming out of all of us.
After soaking up the view, climbing our little hearts out and meandering back to the car park on a less that direct route, we headed a little East towards Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge. The views are actually better here than at the causeway. The rope bridge is shorter than I had expected. We crossed over to the little island (if that's what you would call it) where there was a smidgen of commotion going on. There were whispers between visitors "Did you see the proposal?" which all became clear after rounding a corner and hearing a young Australian woman shout excitedly down the phone "Mom, we just got engaged!" Of course there was lots of fussing and photographs. I just wanted to know whether he'd actually proposed on the bridge. You can't deny that it's a picturesque setting for a proposal. Crossing back again was held up by an elderly couple trying to recreate a photo from the 1930's of his dad on the same bridge. Very sweet, but I do think they probably should have mastered using a camera before the attempt.
Our day was rounded off by heading back into Belfast, settling into the hotel. By settling in, I do in fact mean sampling the cocktails in the bar and a 3 course meal in the restaurant. (TIP: try a Kiwi meanie from the Fitzwilliam Hotel bar. It was delicious) Staying in a beautiful hotel certainly makes a difference to staying in a hostel.
The next morning was spent taking advantage of the hotel's amenities and breakfast before check-out. The rest of the day was spent ambling around the city centre. I'll be quite honest, we didn't really take in a didn't any sights. I lie, we walked past a few things - perhaps city hall? It was just a nice, slow amble around town, interrupted by stopping for coffee and a bagel. Belfast is quite small and I'm not actually sure what there is to do there. I saw a giant fish installation by the river and the giant lady with a hoop. To be quite frank and just a little bit un-PC, from the side you cannot tell that it's a hoop and it just looks like she's doing a "Heil, Hitler". It has quite the nice message behind it though. The day was concluded by a long, if early dinner at Made In Belfast, complete with staff meeting on the other side of the room. The pudding was amazing and the décor was delightfully quirky.
That made up all of my little trip and before I knew it I was back at the airport (in the dark again) waiting for my flight home. I'm still thinking about how much I love the sea :)
No comments:
Post a Comment