Winter Field Trips: Belfast

A week ago I took myself off to Belfast for the day, intending to recapture some of the super-awake feeling I remember having in Dublin and London when I traipsed around those cities as a student, discovering Victorian and Georgian architecture, art museums, gothic cathedrals, pubs, and the smell of Indian food wafting down the narrow sidewalks. The weather wasn't very cooperative: it was fiercely windy with spitting rain, making the journey between my stops less about discovery and more about wondering whether my umbrella would survive the day or would join the dozens of broken ones that I see here in hedges, stuffed into garbage bins, and just dropped on the sidewalk. But I did find that Belfast offers much of what attracted me to London 20 years ago: a walkable historic center, vibrant culture, good public transport, architectural gems, and quiet places within the bustling city to catch your breath. Belfast has the added bonus of residents who seem glad to see you; smiling, helpful service people who welcome your business; and affordable (compared to London) prices for tours, food, drinks, and accommodation.

The whole family went into Belfast the next day, Saturday, for our tour of the Harland and Wolff shipyard where the Titanic was built. This was a fascinating tour, even if it was in a post-industrial wasteland that is just now on the cusp of re-development into a thriving commercial/residential/industrial mixed-use quarter. The best part was standing in the cathedral like room in the company office building where the drafting tables used to be, where the designers and their underlings drew up the Titanic's plans. When this space is renovated, as it will be eventually, it will be a magnificent space. Not too far away you can stand where the Titanic sat before it was launched into Belfast Lough. I don't usually go in for guided bus tours but they are helpfully educational and this one was amusing and insightful as well, with a guide who had done a lot of original research to prepare for it. Afterwards we found a cozy coffeeshop right in Donegall Square and warmed up with a hot chocolate. Clement's puts them in a bowl - deliciously generous enough for the 3 of us to share.

More will be added to this entry over the course of this week on the following highlights of our Belfast visits:

St. George's Market

St. George's Market takes place every Friday and Saturday all year round in a purpose-built Victorian market hall, not too far from Belfast Central station and just a few blocks from the city center. Originally it was a butter and egg market. Now, on Fridays it's more of a general merchandise market and on Saturday it's given over entirely to food, with sampling opportunities galore. Local organic produce, eggs, poultry, jams, honey, and meat are available, along with local yogurt, Irish cheeses, fresh Irish seafood, imported cheeses and olives, fresh breads, and lots of choices for breakfast and lunch: sweet or savory crepes, sausages, scones and croissants, paella, kebabs, hamburgers, pasta, and curries. One of Reed's favorite samples is the dried seaweed, which is crunchy and salty and delicious, not to mention healthy.

Linen Hall Library

Birthplace of the Titanic/shipyard tour

This is the Drawing Office in the Harland and Wolff old office block, where the plans for the Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic were drawn out on paper and then on linen. Thomas Andrews spent a lot of time in this room, as he was one of the company's managing directors and one of the men responsible for the design of the ships. He died when the Titanic sank. In 1912, 15,000 people worked in the Harland and Wolff shipyard. The Titanic was launched into the River Lagan at the western end of Belfast Lough on 31st May, 1911. While what happened to the Titanic was a tragedy, the ship itself was a marvel of technology, and in the 21st century, Belfast intends to make science and technology the center of its redeveloped Titanic Quarter.

Grand Opera House

Donegall Square and City Hall

Belfast Welcome Center

Crown Liquor Saloon
This gaslit Victorian gin palace was apparently finished on the inside by Italian workmen who had nothing else to do for some reason - and the results are fantastic: intricately carved woodwork, tiled floors, colorful stained glass windows, and interestingly enough, enclosed private wooden booths with high walls called snugs, which a person or group can reserve for lunch. When I showed up - blown in by the wind I should say - without a reservation right at noon on a winter Friday, I was still able to get my own little snug in the corner. I drank a half pint of dry cider and ordered the steak and Guinness pie and did my best to get it all down and the mash potatoes and vegetables too, it was so delicious. But alas, even my prodigious powers of eating failed in this case - it was just too much food.

Saturday in Belfast

Thursday, December 6, 2007
Bangor

Walt and Reed took themselves out of the house last Friday so I could have most of the day at home with peace and quiet. Utter bliss, I admit. They went to the transport museum again in Cultra, this time to see the boats. When they got home they stayed for just a couple minutes before heading out again to catch the train downtown for a swim at the leisure center. I’ve had plenty of alone time while on my shopping walks, but to be at home alone is a rare pleasure no matter where I am in the world. It definitely helped restore my shaky equilibrium – knocked off balance by too much family togetherness I guess. I know that is not a problem that most families have lately, but on our year away it is indeed a hazard. Fortunately we’re not in The Shining…we’re not trapped in some remote snowbound haunted mansion, slowly losing our grip.

Quite the opposite really: today as I was walking I realized I’ve got a dawning sense of contentment, that until it appeared, I didn’t know was missing. Having realized a long held desire certainly helps – after all, I used to spend an inordinate amount of time in my former life dreaming and scheming how to spend a year in Europe, and voila, here I am. Now my concerns run to the more mundane: will I ever own a Smartcar or Mini Cooper of my very own? Will they continue producing episodes of The Hotel Inspector for t.v.? Do I want a regular chocolate orange or a dark minty chocolate orange in my stocking for Christmas? Things like that. Being here now certainly makes living in Europe again in the future completely possible, and that, believe it or not, is a huge load off my mind.

We spent Saturday in Belfast, catching the train at 10 a.m. and getting to St. George’s market around 10:45, just in time to go around sampling all the delicious things for sale. The most unusual was probably smoked dulse, a type of seaweed, and a cracker spread made from sea lettuce. But they were both delicious. We had a crepe filled with ham and cheese as well as a serving of sausage with a curry sauce for lunch, while listening to a band playing American Dixieland and Big Band type music. Walt thought that was unusual until I pointed out how many times we’ve listened to traditional Irish music at the farmer’s market at home. Afterwards we wandered downtown to the City Hall which was jampacked with people enjoying the Christmas market in Donegall Square. We caught a bus to the Queen’s University area where we walked through the winter-subdued Botanic Gardens. My favorite was the old, unrestored Tropical Ravine building, made of brick, rather dark and completely jungle-like with exotic vines and trees, with a goldfish pond below us at the bottom of it, and gothic style wooden windows rotting away from the constant moisture. We were the only ones inside, taking shelter from the brisk breeze, and I simply must visit again to note more details; it would be the perfect setting for a crime scene in a cozy murder mystery. Afterwards we went into the Student Union at Queen’s to have some hot chocolate at Clement’s cafe and admire the fabulous view of the school directly across the street. I believe it was the same Victorian architect that designed Queen’s that also designed the curvilinear glass and steel palm house at the Botanical Gardens, Sir Charles Lanyon. We caught the train home around 3:30 pm and were happily building a fire in the stove at home by dark.