‘You know you’re staying just off the murder mile folks?’ Well talk about first impressions. This was the friendly welcome our taxi driver cheerfully informed us as we sped through the streets of Belfast. He then went on, in A LOT of gory detail, who had been killed, where and why. He is of course referring to the Troubles that plagued this city. It may not have been the most sympathetic welcome but living through that time how could you forget?
This was my first time in Northern Ireland, we were here to celebrate my dad’s birthday and trace his Irish roots. In other words drinking a lot of Guinness, exploring this diverse city and tracking down long lost family members.
We were staying in an Airbnb house, that could have featured in an interior design magazine it was so swanky (I wrote a recent post on the ups and downs of Airbnb here if you are looking for an alternative to hotels or hostels during your next trip!). Once we landed our first job was to head to the local supermarket and stock up with essentials, ie. Wine, beer and the ingredients needed to make an Irish breakfast. It may sound a bit weird but I love going food shopping when in a different place, the accents of the shoppers, unusual items you don’t get back home and chance to try local specialities is more fun than it seems! So into our full trolley went soda bread, potato cakes, Cookstown sausages and white pudding. Yummy yummy in my tummy.
You know when you’re in a new place, especially when you are celebrating a big birthday, and get a bit giddy with excitement? I call these #firstdayfails as you do so much and usually drink too much therefore the second day you are exhausted and hungover? Yep. We had a #firstdayfail.
But dancing with my dad in his hometown to bald headed enthusiastic Irish band, jigging around the tiny dancefloor down the road from the Europa hotel, my sides hurt from laughing so much is not what I would call a fail. However, I was paying for my carefree fun the next day. Until, my brother and his fiancé whipped up an enormous Irish breakfast immediately curing our sore heads. What is this sorcery?
The next (tender)day was spent at the Titanic museum in the dockyards where, yep you’ve guessed it, they built the famous ocean liner. Although what a rip off! I hadn’t researched prices before we all rocked up so was shocked at how expensive it was to go in and have a look around. We instead opted for a much needed caffeine fix in the café, although that wasn’t so cheap either. It was a real shame as the building was spectacular.
That evening we got our glad rags on and went for dinner in Villa Italia. From the fantastic reviews I knew it was going to be popular, especially on a Saturday night, however I didn’t expect people to be queuing out the door! Definitely book ahead as every table was taken in this restaurant. Thankfully the food lived up to the hype, we tried nearly everything on the menu, washed down with some cracking red wine. Chosen after some blindfolded wine testing, I am happy to report that my wine connoisseur French man knew his stuff. Phew.
I have never met so many chatty funny taxi drivers as I did in Belfast. Everyone had a story. We drove past run down pubs with grills outside, leftover from the Troubles, huge wall murals marking territories of different areas and heard many tales of this bloody conflict from my dad’s relatives. This city is so rich in history and I’d have loved to have stayed longer, although I doubt my liver could have coped. So much for being half Irish, I need to get more practice in!
Have you ever been to Belfast?
