A Belle in Belfast

I had a great weekend in Belfast with my flat mates seeing all the amazing sites. I'll take you through our trip day by day.

Thursday: My alarm didn't go off, so I was a little late getting around. Luckily, I had packed the night before and was ready to go by 7:15. We spent three hours on trains, one to Dublin and then two from Dublin to Belfast. Once we arrived, we found our driver for our black taxi tour already waiting for us.  First, he took us to the famous political murals. Every mural had to do with a time during "The Troubles" of Ireland, whether it was a person who was murdered, or the event of children finding gold while playing in the dirt. The most famous one is of the gunman, whose message is that he's always watching and protecting those around and his rifle always follows you (like the eyes of The Mona Lisa).

The kids finding gold and a murder victim

It really follows you

Dedicated to the Battle of Ulster

My favorite mural

Next, he took us to the Peaceline, a wall meant to separate the protestants and catholics. I didn't realize how much religion still effected Belfast. Many people had signed the wall, though not all wrote kind things. Our driver kindly gave us a marker so we could add our own bits to the wall.

Together, we can

We continued down the road to more murals on the street. They were all about pieces of history, and were very well done. 

History is ours, and history is made by the people

"In my country we go to prison first and then become president"
Nelson Mandela. Friend of Ireland

So many murals

Our driver dropped us off at our hostel, we checked in, and then went for a much needed lunch. Afterwards, we decided to roam around the town. We stumbled upon Queen's University, and then it's beautiful botanical gardens and park. There were tons of kids and families just walking and enjoying the nice day, so we grabbed an ice cream and joined them.

Such an awesome place

So detailed 

Nothing better than ice cream and friends

We didn't have much to do, considering it was so late, so we decided to treat ourselves to a movie since we don't have a theater in Maynooth. So, we rested for a bit in the hostel and got ourselves situated, but didn't want to be the people who just lazed around. So, to kill time before our movie, we went and browsed in a few of the shops down the shopping strip. We went and checked out the capital building before, and we were able to see it lit up with black lights by the time we left. It was so ornate, we were bummed we couldn't go in.

There was a bar that many kids back in Maynooth had raved about that I wanted to visit, so we went there to finish up our last hour of waiting. It was called Filthy McNasty's and it was the coolest stinking bar that I will ever see in my life. Inside was really dark, so I couldn't get pictures, but there was a small little indoor bar with weird bean bag like chairs and a chair that looked like a hand. Then there was a giant door that was painted to look like big gates to a garden. We went through them and walked out in to this room with another open bar, cool lights, gazebos, and when I looked up, no ceiling. There was a portion that did have a ceiling, and there was a fireplace that was lit, so we sat there since it was a bit chilly. The place played only covers of famous songs and it was so much fun. I hope I can go back someday.

The outdoor bar

The view from my seat by the fireplace

We went and saw Selma, which made me cry with it's powerful sound effects. I'd definitely recommend the film. Then we were straight to bed for an early morning.

Friday: We had booked a Paddywagon Tour that was going to take us to major famous places in Belfast. After a nice breakfast, we boarded our bus and headed to The Dark Hedges. The place has been made famous by the show Game of Thrones (as have most of the places in Belfast, since the show is filmed all around the city). It was an incredibly cool road, and if there were less people, I could have made really really cool photographs.

Can't wait to edit these

Coolest path ever

After some time for pictures, we boarded the bus and headed to Carrick-a-Rede. It started to rain once we got there, but we still made the trek to the famous rope bridge. It was really beautiful scenery, and the bridge was pretty secure. However, on my way back across it these French guys thought it'd be hilarious to shake and jump to make me scream. Yeah, they were so cool.

Down to the bridge 

We made it across! 

The seagulls were everywhere 

The water was so blue

Long way down

Then, we traveled ten minutes to Giant's Causeway. It was incredible. The legend is that a giant wove a bridge together with rocks to get to Scotland to fight another giant. When he found out how big the other giant was, he ran away. Then the giant from Scotland came to fight him, but ended up running away and destroying the bridge, except for what's left now. It really looks like woven rocks though! It really started to downpour, but that didn't stop me from playing on the rocks and taking pictures. (I didn't fall, you guys. Not even once. It was my lucky day)

Playing on the rocks

Model status

It wouldn't stop raining

Giants were here 

Check out that weave

On the way home we stopped to take a few pictures of a castle that was now in ruins. They apparently filmed Game of Thrones there as well, but I just thought it was cool.

Just look at those colors. Pure Ireland

Once we were back in the city, we headed to The Crown, another famous bar that was just across the street from our bus stop. It was beautiful inside, and I couldn't get many pictures, but I suggest you google it because I want you to fully understand how overwhelming it was to be there. We had dinner, and then we were pooped.

Luckily, I got a picture of it before we left

Inside

Saturday: We woke up early to check out of our hostel, and spent some time wandering the streets of Belfast again. We found Saint Patrick's church, which was very beautiful. We saw Saint Anne's Cathedral, but couldn't go in because they were having a memorial service. 

Outside St. Patrick's

Inside Saint Patrick's

The side of Saint Anne's 

The front of Saint Anne's

I always love to wander streets because you can discover the most amazing things (during the day of course). Walking around, we found some of the most incredible street art I've ever seen. A lot of it was 3D, like statues or wood coming at you out of the wall. I wish we had more of this in Kalamazoo.

It reads: Every turn of the wheel is a revolution

The coolest little street

I don't remember what it all said, sorry

Can you tell it's coming off the wall?

The windows were 3D

Can you find Liam Neeson?

After our big find, we headed to the Titanic Museum. On our way we passed Victoria's square with her famous clock and the famous fish with pictures of history in each tile.

Victoria's Square

The fish

The museum was cooler than I thought it would be. It was really cool to learn about the making of the ship, and what the workers went through. There was even a ride that took you through workers building the ship, where you could feel the heat of their iron and the pounding of their hammers while they told their stories. 

"It's like Disney World, but more depressing!"

For lunch we came across one of the oldest bars in Belfast, McHugh's. We ate and watched the Irish vs. Scotland rugby game, before hopping on the train home.

Sunday: Today, I just caught up on all the work I should've been doing instead of being in Belfast. I have two papers due tomorrow, and one on Wednesday. It'll be a rough week, but that will just make going to London this weekend even more exciting! I hope everyone is doing well, I miss everyone more than they know. Until tomorrow!