Northern Ireland - Pt 1

We flew from Rhodes to Belfast via London, arriving on Stephen's 30th birthday. We took him and one of his housemates out to dinner to celebrate. Stephen rents a room in a townhouse 15min walk out of town. The streets in the area have many townhouses which have chimneys topped with rows of distinctive chimneypots. The pics below show Stephen's house and street.

Politically inspired wall murals indicate an area's allegiances are among the most startling sights in Belfast City. Stephen lives in a Loyalist (Protestant) area of Belfast. Loyalist murals usually use imagery symbolic of power, eg clenched scarlet fist known as the Red hand of Ulster, or flags or shields.

We stayed in a great B and B called Tara Lodge (number 1 on tripadvisor.com), near Queens University. The lovely old university building, built in 1849 in Tudor Gothic style, is one of the most recognisable symbols of the city of Belfast and of Northern Ireland.

Near the university are the Botanic Gardens.

The Crown Bar, established in 1849, is the oldest pub in Belfast and is owned by the National Trust. The decor is very ornate, Victorian era. We ate lunch in a 'snug', which is the local name for a booth. In the pics Gail is in the snug and Don is at the bar.

Belfast City Hall is a beautiful Renaissance style building which has recently been refurbished. There are several monuments outside City Hall, including a Titanic memorial.

When we arrived in Belfast we rented a car. One day we drove into the country with Stephen to Armagh to visit the mother of one of his housemates. She told us a lot about life during the Troubles and showed us around the town and area. St Patrick based himself in Armagh and both Catholics and Protestants have a cathedral dedicated to him. The Catholic cathedral stands high on a hill and dominates the surrounding countryside. The pics show the exterior and interior of the Catholic cathedral and the great view over the town from there.

 The magnificent sandstone building of Belfast castle overlooks the city from Cave Hill and has gardens with cat statues and mosiacs to do with a tradition of a resident castle cat.

More on Northern Ireland in next update.