And Relax - Day 4

So today has been really relaxed. I was up fairly early, and set off from the hostel around 9.00 to explore, I took a walk round and, as in many cities, decided an open top bus tour was the way to go to see as much of the city as possible in my short stay here.

I was tempted to get off at the HMS Caroline, a refurbished battle ship, or the Titanic experience, but both of these would have taken some time to go through. It was a nice day and I didn't want to spend too much of it indoors!

Parlaiment Building at Stormont

I stayed on the bus and saw the Parliament building at Stormont and we passed a few of the murals Belfast is known for. I got off at St Georges market as recommended by my colleague and manager who is from Belfast, and also by Arnie from the hostel. I spent a good couple of hours here, tons of stalls selling everything from raw fish to original art prints, antique bricabrac type stalls and several jewelry stands. I kept returning to one of these which was selling steampunk type clockwork pieces and bought a timepiece necklace. Looking at it now I realise the time on it isn't right, I will need to work out how to wind it!

Bustling St Georges market

Sent this to my friend Erin

I also had lunch here - never having eaten Irish soda bread I decided now would be the time to try and bought myself a soda fala - basically a breakfast soda bread with egg, sausage, bacon and black pudding. The guy who made these was brilliant to watch - and piled on the bacon. I asked for just one sausage and not too much bacon, I knew I wouldn't be able to manage some of the portions he had been dishing out to others! It was really tasty and I think I am now a soda bread convert. I also balanced this out with a fresh made smoothie and an orange juice, so I had at least a couple of my 5 a day!

I jumped back on the bus and got off a few stops further on which happened to be close to Arnies, I needed to move my things from the room I had been in last night, to a new room for tonight, and I also wanted to get changed into something cooler, and grab my water bottle. Just before the stop the guide had told us about the Game of Thrones tapestry on display in the Ulster museum just up the street, so I popped in there first. If you are a fan of the show and are in Belfast while it is on display I would definitely recommend going to see it. It has been designed by artists and illustrators, who then pass the designs to a weaver to be woven on a jacquard loom. Once the basic design is done further details are then hand embroidered. It follows the TV series rather than the books, and captures all the major plot points from the story, it is incomplete as it will be added to as the next 2 seasons are released. I also took some time to have a look around The Troubles exhibition. I knew Belfast had a violent past, but this really brought home to me how bad things had been during this period.

Back in Arnies I took the opportunity to sit in the sun in the tiny garden for a bit talking to the staff. I hadn't realised, but the staff are mostly there to gain experience in working in a hostel/bnb environment while studying a related subject, this means that they change every few weeks/months depending on how long they stay for. The girls there currently are lovely, and couldn't have been more helpful. I had handed over a pile of laundry that morning, putting £5 n the charity box as payment - at Arnie's the money you pay for many of the extras offered at most hostels all goes to charities.

Heading off again I had a short wait in the sunshine before getting back on the bus. The tour continued around The Falls Road and Shankhill, predominantly nationalist and unionist areas respectively. Here the guide talked much more about the murals and the history of the city cementing what I had learned in the museum earlier. Nowadays the battle is much more about political stance than it is religion, and all about civil negotiations rather than violence. Looking at Belfast now, it is hard to imagine the horrific sectarian motivated acts which took place during that period. The city has certainly changed.

The tour coming to an end I made my way to an internet cafe to get the pictures from the action cam over the last few days so that I can add them to my posts. Successfully got them on my Google drive, but now need to work out how to move them from there to blogger, so you will need to wait a bit longer! It now being 6pm, I went to find some dinner.

I finished off the evening in a pub called 5 Points, which has live music 7 nights a week.  Aware of the early start and day of cycling ahead I was restrained in my alcohol intake drinking just a pint of cider over a couple of hours while enjoying the music. It was here I got chatting to Lana from Salt Lake City, Utah, a researcher who was in Belfast for work on a collaborative project in eye diseases particularly for diabetics, and Mateus a business man from Germany, who had been on a language course in Dublin with his work and took the opportunity for a weekend break to Belfast. The 3 of us spent a pleasant couple of hours chatting, about ourselves, the various tours we had done.

I learned that Lana could palpitate a mouse to make it pee in a test tube - no small skill among scientists! As well as play piano, and make pottery - definitely a multi talented lady!

Mateus had spent the day on a tour to the giants causeway - a natural rock formation off the coast to the north of Belfast a sight I must visit some time....another thing to add to my list! It sounded like a great tour.

Having an early bus to catch he left a bit before us, Lana and I were heading in the same direction and both having to be up early we left shortly after, keeping each other company on the walk back towards our respective accommodations.

Unfortunately my phone battery had died earlier in the evening so I don't have any pictures to share from the evening.