Belfast, Northern Ireland, November 2012

Work brought me to Ireland once again so this time we headed north, to Belfast.  I have to admit I knew little to nothing about Belfast or the history of Northern Ireland.  Embarrassingly, I didn't even realize it was part of the UK.  Friday night we spent walking through downtown.  We had dinner and then a drink at the historic Crown Liquor Saloon.  The front entrance has tilework of the crown as you enter (so Catholics take the side entrance).  Beautiful inside, dark wood, private little cubby areas for the tables, great selection of beers...

Saturday we drove up to the Giant's Causeway, outside the town of Bushmill's (famous for...).  Skip the visitor's center and just park and walk up the coast!  The scenery is beatiful walking along the cliffs.  We were so lucky - it was a crisp but clear day.  We came down the cliffs and walked along the shore, over to where the causeway was.  I didn't know what to expect but it was actually really cool.  Hard to explain except that they are these hexagonal rock formations cropping up, stretching into the water.  It was pretty impressive standing there on the causeway, watching these huge waves breaking right in front of us. We had a meal and a beer in Bushmill's before heading back to Belfast.

We had seen an advertisement for a Ladyboys of Bangkok show happening that week in Belfast.  We had the hotel check on getting tickets for us when we returned but unfortunately it was complete sold out.  Apparently it's a really popular show!  We decided to try our luck and showed up an hour beforehand and got on the waiting list.  We came back just as the show was getting started and they got us in!  The show was in a big top tent.  It was quite a variety - some older ladyboys, some gorgeous  younger ones and some plain old gay boys.  The atmosphere inside was energetic, to say the least!  There were many bachelorette parties and groups of women.  There were also some very enthusiastic gay men in the audience.  It was a good time for sure!

Sunday we took a black cab tour of Belfast.  Like I said, I knew nothing of the history of Northern Ireland except some vague recollections of the IRA in the news a while back.  We went up Shankill Road and over to Falls Road.  There is a huge wall going through Belfast - I had no idea it existed!  Having just been in Berlin the weekend before, it was striking to see a wall still in existence, in the UK of all places!  Our tour guide was excellent and told us all about the history of the place and the "Troubles".  I will definitely need to do some reading up on it (or watch In the Name of the Father or Hunger).

Before we left Belfast, we went to St. George's market.  It's an indoor market full of craft stalls and a variety of food offerings as well.  We loved browsing through the place, getting some fresh coffee and having lunch while listening to some local music.

belfast city hall

writing on the wall

giant's causeway