Belfast Revisited. Wednesday 3rd June 2009.

Rob left the house early so I woke Lilly to say goodbye before JR, AJ and I caught the 11C into the city to catch the 10.30am Belfast City Open Top Bus Tour. You know the drill, hop on hop off and see all the things a city has to offer. Alex kept saying how much he loved Belfast which was nice. The tour passed the sights of the Albert Clock, the H&W cranes (Sampson and Golliath), the dry dock where the Titanic was built, Stormont, St. George Marketplace, the Merchant Hotel which sells the most expensive cocktail in the world at 750 pounds a pop, the old courthouse with the scales of justice missing from the rooftop statue, and of course the Shankill and The Falls – the Prodestant and Catholic heartlands.

Soon after the tour, JR headed off to do the Titanic Tour, he said it was great. It didn’t interest AJ and I so we visited The Olde Tyme Sweetie Shop which Alan had told me about, The Grand Opera House, The Europa Hotel (the most bombed hotel in Europe) and the famous Crown Bar. We had a drink in The Crown Bar and were lucky to be given a ‘snug’ which is a private drinking booth where you ring a bell for service. The windows of booth F were etched with pretty pictures and on either side of the door lions were carved into the dark wood. Everything about the Crown Bar oozed with history and we wondered what characters had drunk endless pints of Guinness inside our booth as we sat on the shiny black leather banquet seats surrounding the wooden table. When we rang the bell, a little pendulum swang underneath the letter F on the wall at the bar, a simple system from long ago telling the waitress we required service.

I took AJ to see a movie, ‘Angels and Demons’ which we both loved, it was nice to hang out together just the two of us. JR met us as the movie finished. Again the observation deck at Victoria Square was closed, even though it was cool enough to need a jacket – crazy but true.

We returned to No. 27 Talbot St. for dinner. Our motto is if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and since we had such a wonderful meal there the day before, we couldn’t wait to go back. Adrian, the owner, surprised us with a wine to enjoy with dinner, a nice touch I thought. Dinner was lovely but alas, we just could not fit in dessert. JR ended up ordering a sacher torte for us all to share, its surface was like a dark chocolate mirror.

Before heading out this morning I had asked Lilly if Rob had called Brian, Dad’s old friend, as he had mentioned he would get him over while we were in Belfast. He hadn’t mentioned it to her so it was such a surprise to return home at about 10.30 and see Brian and Geraldine at the kitchen table, Sarah and John were there too. Everyone was smiling and laughing, they were having a ball and it was great to see. We all retired to the lounge with a cuppa and chatted late into the night. I called Dad on Skype so he and Brian could have a face to face chat. The four oldies huddled around the laptop and the craic flowed as free as the Lagan.

Belfast City. Tuesday 2nd June 2009.

We left the folk of Glencairn in peace and we three caught the 11C bus into Belfast city. We hit the tourist office and left with a wad of info. We were close by the city hall and ventured over to the green domed beauty. Alex said it reminded him of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, quite right he was too. The Belfast Wheel spun slowly around allowing tourists a view of the city and beyond. Alex and I lay on the cool, green grass; I wished I could have stayed there forever without a care in the world.

Gail had told me not to miss the new Victoria Square precinct. Wow, it is quite futuristic... except the engineering. The top of the glass dome is an observation deck but it seems it closes when the weather is warm. Never mind, we will come back again tomorrow. It’s nice to see some new and exciting development in Belfast and Victoria Square certainly propels Belfast into the modern age.


Old Belfast has little cobbled alleyways to explore like Donnegall St. Place, Exchange Place and Commercial Court. St. Anne’s Cathedral is fronted with a pair of beautiful iron doors that are easy to miss when they are lying open welcoming visitors. Inside the rows of timber chairs all have a hook on the back and on it is hung a hand embroidered cushion for members of the congregation to kneel on while preying. These have no doubt been made by members of the church and are a nice personal touch making St. Anne’s friendly and personable.

On the hunt for lunch, JR was intent on just having a Panini. Whenever he says that, we seem to stumble across a little gem of a place to eat. Today was no exception. We found No. 27 Talbot Street quite by accident and had the most wonderful meal since we had left France, with the exception of Lilly's Ulster Fry of course. AJ even commented that he didn’t realise how much he had missed great restaurant food, bless his little foodie heart. I had risotto of peas, courgette and asparagus, the greens still had a delectable crunch to them and the top was scattered with the twang of good parmesan. The pork belly was golden and crisp, just the way I like it, served with a cider redcuction and truffled pomme puree, OMG, every bit of it was gold star worthy. My dessert of vanilla panna cotta was set just enough to hold its form without buckling under the weight of the plump blackberry that sat atop it. If many of the restaurant experiences in both the north and south of Ireland had taken me to hell, No. 27 Talbot St. had redeemed them all in an instant.

We had to be home for 3pm as Sandra was collecting us for a night out at Belfast Castle. Peter and AJ decided they would rather hang together so hang together they did. Alan, as usual, was the perfect tour guide, telling us interesting facts about the things we were seeing. The gardens of the castle were cat themed. Cats were cut into hedges, were inlayed into the paving, immortalised in stone and incorporated into the ironwork seats. The garden was alive with colour. My favourites were the poppies as they bobbed about showing their dark throats surrounded by their happy colours of reds and orange. A garden bed bloomed with irises, one of Mum’s favourites; they make me think of her. We had a great dinner and really enjoyed the company of Alan and Sandra, they are great craic that’s for sure.

After dinner our tour is not over and Alan drives to Carrickfergus Castle where we wander along the sea wall chatting. The sun bade the day farewell after turning the whisps of cloud above us a soft pink.

We sat up with Lilly in the cosy Glencairn lounge room until the wee small hours sharing tales of the day and making the most of our time together as the time was fast approaching when we would leave Belfast behind.

Bye bye Ritz hello Belfast. Friday 8th May 2009.

Breakfast was superb. The restaurant was draped lavishly, the table was set with precision, the food cooked to perfection, the service impecable and 'Yes mam, you can have Vergemite, of course'. AJ and I people watched, trying to match the diners with the cars we thought they would drive and the jobs they would have. One young man in his late teens arrived buttoned down, hair slicked down without a ripple to be seen. We felt at any moment he would blow, tip the table up and yell, 'No Mummy and Daddy, I shant'. We laughed at our surroundings and the interesting creatures we were beginning our day with as I am sure they laughed at us. After this moment out paths would never cross again I am sure.

AJ and I went out into the London streets and indulged in some more people watching, it is becoming our favourite sport, and with so many participants! We headed to the Bourough Markets which were wonderful, a melting pot of cultures and characters and so much great food to be had. We ate hand made pasta with tomato and pesto sauce for lunch, hmmm.

We colected our baggage and the head porter picked up his phone. "A car will be here shortly to take you to the train station." Before long a silver BMW whisked us away and we left the lap of luxury behind us. What a wonderful experience.

AJ and I dodged the additional Easy jet baggage charges by filling our hand luggage to capacity, boy was it great to arrive in Northern Ireland and get that bag off my shoulder. Rob was there to greet us, the craic began on sight.

We arrived at Glencairn where Lilly was waiting. It had been six years since I had last sat around their table and this was a first for Alex. How special to have Alex in Belfast to learn about my heritage and to see where Grandma and Papa come from.
Alex went to bed and Lilly, Rob and I sat up until near 4am. It’s great to be back.