Belfast baby!

7-4 t/m 15-4

On Friday the fam was leaving for their holiday to Galway. They left around 1 and I had the whole house to myself! It was so weird haha. I took this time to work a going-away-present for them. In the evening I made dinner at the house, watched some Little Big Lies and made sure I had all my stuff for Belfast. I tried to go to bed early, but it was around 11.30PM.

It was an early rise! I got up at 5.20 to get ready for the awesome trip to Belfast!! I went with Patrice, Laurel, Barbara and Hannah. It was still dark when Patrice and I left for Mallow station at 6.15. We had the train at 7 to Dublin Heuston. Five seconds into the trainride, I spill my coffee. I took the awesome unicorn thermos that Katie gave me. I didn’t realize the coffee comes out halfway and not from the top. 1/5 went down my shirt and I only brought 3, so that was G-R-eat. Other than that, the time went by pretty fast! We had some good chats, since we were all sitting together ! At Heuston we took the tram to Connolly, which was about 5 minutes. At Connolly we had some time, so we had some sandwiches. The train to Belfast was PACKED! Since Paul who was supposed to sit next to Laurel was a no-sho, Barbara was able to sit there. We arrived at Belfast Central around 13.30. We had to get to Botanic Station, which was one station before Belfast Central. The train didn’t stop there, for whatever reason, but we were able to get another one to that station for free! We checked into our hostels first (Hannah was in a different one). The guy was very weird with checking in. We were with 4 people, but we all booked separate. The guys was saying that we should have said that we were a group and that it was sneaky for some reason? WTF?! First of all.. the website said that you need to tell the hostel if you’re 6 people OR OVER. We were not. And if he wanted all of us to give a deposit, we all would have given a deposit. He was so weird. I think halfway into the conversation he realized he was being a dick and was more like ‘its fine’. After that I needed a coffee haha, so we went to Starbucks. After my caffeine fix we went to M&S, to the exchange window they have, to change our Euros into Pounds. There was a quick stop at Penny’s (I put my bag onto my sunglasses and they broke..) and we went to Nando’s for dinner. Chicken thieves eh Patrice :D!!!! We went back to the hostel after and the first day was already over!

On Sunday we booked a Paddywagon tour to the Giant’s Causeway. We left Belfast around 10. We drove along the Causeway Coast. You could see the views of Rathlin Island and on a clear day the Scottish coast (which is about 13 miles away). The first stop were the Dark Hedges, the most popular natural phenomena in Northern Ireland. I know them from Game of Thrones as King’s Road, but apparently they were planted in the 18th century by the Stuart family to impress their guests upon arrival to their house. It was cool! There were a lot of people though, so getting that perfect picture was hard! We had about 15 min there. One thing was so funny: we were walking back to the bus and a Paddywagon bus came by. Barbara and Patrice were so convinced for a minute that it was ours that they were freaking out. It was so funny! Luckily it wasn’t haha and ours was just at the top.
The next stop was the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, near Ballintoy. You had to pay to cross the bridge, but it was only £6. There was a moment that I thought maybe I shouldn’t go. With a tour you’re always on a time schedule and it says in the folder that it’s a 1km walk to the bridge on an uneven path. I’m glad I did go though and I had help from Hannah on the hard parts  So thanks for that again Hannah! I thought the bridge was used in GoT as well, but according to our tour guide it wasn’t. It was a cool experience though going across. It was a lot windier than I thought it would have been. We took some cool pictures and made our way back. We all went across, even Barbara who is afraid of heights!!
The Giant’s Causeway was next on the tour! The story goes that it was built by the Irish giant Fionn and his Scottish rival Angus. It was nice to see, but I thought the other two sights were more impressive. We had a lot of time there as well and it started raining as soon as we took our pictures. So we walked around the visitor center a bit before heading back to the bus.
Before heading back to Belfast, we took a quick stop at Dunluce Castle. When I say quick, I mean quick. It was raining so it was basically a 2 minute stop. Also the castle was on a cliff, so it really was only a photo opp. We got back to Belfast around 5. We went to dinner at this Nepali restaurant, Kathmandu. It was sooooo good! Laurel and I split a bottle of wine, which was so nice! I had tikka masala and was introduced to nan (which is my new favorite bread). We had a lovely evening! We even got free carrot cake. It was a guy’s birthday and his son was sharing the cake. Initially when he came over we said no, but the mom came over again and asked us to take it. Okay then! And it was gooooood! To top it off, we got free champagne from the restaurant!! A good night!

Monday we went down to this café called Town Sq, down the street from our hostel, for breakfast. I had eggs benedict and they were good! Never had them before. After a lovely breakfast we made our way to the train station. We were going to the Titanic Experience. It took us about 10 minutes with the train and a 15 min walk. It was a cool museum! It was a little pricy (£14,50 and that was concession), but I think in the end it’s worth it. I ended up getting the picture they made in the beginning as well. It’s a nice souvenir from there. And it helps that it’s a good picture! I think we spend about 2 hours inside. There was a lot of variation in the way they presented the information. They had boards, interactive screens, voice recordings, movies, etc. After the Titanic experience we went to this little café for lunch. I had a jummy burger with sweet potato fries!! We visited the university of Belfast, Queen’s university. We even had our own guide, Barbara! The information she gave was complete bullshit, but she presented it with grace and confidence. So we had some good laughs haha! We also visited the botanic gardens. There was little hiccup there. The greenhouse closed right before our eyes. The guy inside switched the sign from open to closed as soon as we walked up. Such a biatch! So we weren’t able to see that, but it was still nice walking around. We went back to the café we were for lunch to get these HUGE milkshakes! Hannah and I split an Oreo one, which was sooooo good! For dinner we went cheap, so McDonalds it was! We made a reservation for a booth in the Crown Liquor Saloon for 8.30. We went in on Sunday, but it was full. It looked so much like the Garrison from Peaky Blinders! So after McDonalds we went there. It was so cool! We ordered some drinks, I split the wine again with Laurel (yeah I’m turning into a wine drinker!!) and we just sat there, chatted and played some card games. I really enjoyed it! We went to the hostel around 11. The pub closed then.

Tuesday started with some breakfast at the hostel, which is always toast or cereal. After that we went to the visitors center in the city center for some information on the Belfast Castle. The next stop was Commercial Court. Due to my awesome guiding skills (and crappy app) we went down the wrong street first. I remember thinking ‘this is not what the internet said’. We walked down the wrong one. The actual one was pretty haha! We went to Patisserie Valeria for a lovely pastry and some coffee after! We walked around for a bit, going into some shops. Laurel was taking the train at 1.30 back, because she had to work on Wednesday. After trying carefully to time everything, she ended up having to run for the train! She did make it though! We (Patrice, Barbara, Hannah and I) went to the Crumlin Road Gaol after. Walking to the jail seemed like a good idea. It took us about an hour. We took the bus back (which took about 10 min). The jail was cool though! They didn’t just show the cells, but also the solitary room, the room where they performed the executions (which was hanging at that time) and the graves of the men still buried there. After the jail we made a pit stop at Starbucks, where I got my mug :D jeij! We went to this new restaurant for dinner. It was only open for 2 weeks (we learned that when we wanted to make a reservation, but they didn’t do that). It was called Brooklyn Sq and it had burgers, pizza, pasta, etc. The food was good! The bad thing was that we had to wait 45 minutes for it. It seemed like the kitchen wasn’t prepared for the amount of people. Luckily we weren’t in a hurry. We went back to the hostel after, which was around 8.30PM.

Wednesday we had breakfast at the hostel this morning and after we went to Belfast Castle. We took the bus there and the bus driver was nice enough to tell us when to get off. At least.. that’s what he said. Instead.. he forgot and we saw all the stops. Finally we got to the right one and made our way to the castle. The initial view wasn’t that good, to say the least. BUT! The gardens made up for it! There was a ‘wee’ wedding going on, so we weren’t able to see inside. After the photo shoot we went back to the city centre. We grabbed a quick bite and went to Victoria Square shopping centre!!! I was very excited to go. They had some gooooood shops! I didn’t buy a lot. Just a sweater! But we spend the whole afternoon there! After all that shopping we went to Kathmandu one last time for dinner! I had the Kathmandu chilli chicken this time and it was mwah. The tikka masala was a lot better! After dinner we went back to the hostel and pre-packed haha. Another good day!

Last day of the trip already. We were taking the train back to Belfast Central around 12, so we had some time in the morning. We packed our bags, checked out and went for breakfast one last time at Town Sq. This time I went for the pancakes with bacon. They were delicious! Just way too much! A nice surprise was that the train to the station was free, because we had a ticket to Dublin. How? Why? We don’t know.. we didn’t question haha. It was weird and kinda sad leaving Belfast already. I had planned it for a long time (kinda started it with Ayleen) and it was the last BIG trip I was making in Ireland. I had an awesome time though! The train to Connolly was pretty empty in comparison to Saturday. The time went by very fast! When we got to Connolly, we went for a quick donut at Off Beat. It was about a 5 min walk and we had 40 minutes, so we decided that we could make it haha. I got one with sprinkles! JAM! We got to Heuston with 10 minutes to spare, which was enough. But the platform we needed was OF COURSE the one that was the farthest away. We made it with 2 minutes to spare and found our seats. This time the time didn’t go by so fast, so by the time we got to Mallow around 6 I was anxious to get out. After a quick stop at Dunnes, Patrice and I made our way home. The 15 minute walk seemed to last at least 30, the hills were out to get us and the giggles didn’t make it any easier haha. But Patrice, ‘baby made it home’ :D!
The fam wasn’t home yet from their holiday. I made a pizza and watched some shows. I talked to Katie and Kevin for a bit and went up to get a shower.

Friday I had to work. I started at 10 and went for a walk around 11.30. I just had the boys, but no buggy. So Iarlaith had to walk holding my hand. This meant that a little circle took about 30 minutes haha. In the afternoon it was duplo, lego, making jungle gyms, little fights and some tv. Katie took the boys to her mom’s house around 4.30. I had made plans for a movie night with Patrice, so I stayed at home. Patrice and I went to the store around 5.30 and had dinner at the house. We watched Titanic after! Ever since the Titanic Experience I wanted to watch the movie again. It was weird watching it though, knowing that the heart necklace wasn’t real! And of course that Jack Dawson wasn’t actually on the Titanic. Despite that it was cool seeing the movie again! Even more so for Patrice, since she hadn’t seen the full movie. Don’t ask me how :P!

After that one day of working I was off again haha. I slept in a bit and had breakfast with the fam. I went downtown for a bit and had a coffee at Costa. In the afternoon I worked on my blog and in the evening I’ll go for a drink and a movie with Laurel. Table 19 this time!

Thanks again for taking the time to read this haha! And as always, don’t be shy to leave a comment below!

XO