Blimey Ol' Belfast

What better way to spend a last weekend in Europe than with my good friend Danielle in a fun city of Northern Ireland? We decided about a month ago that we wanted to go away when we found a seat sale on Ryanair to get a return flight for £35 each! Unfortunately to get that price we had to catch a flight from the east side of the city (Stansted) at 8 in the morning, so it meant getting up a 5 am to catch a 1 hr bus to the airport. Ah, what we do for budget flights! Thankfully the bus journey was easy and flight left on time and so we were on our way!

We chose a great weekend to go. The weather was sunny and brisk, the Christmas markets were abundant, and the city was full of Christmas revelers. We were also staying at a hotel right near the bus station so no expensive commute after a £1.50 bus airport transfer (sweet). Danielle and I epitomized the entire weekend as 'fortunate timing'. The timing of everything we did was 'just right', from the timing of buses, perfect timing to get exit row seaon thets plane where there were no assigned seats, early check in at the hotel (at no charge), to getting a special on mincemeat (mince) pies at the castle, good weather all weekend (including avoidance of rain during the time we were in the castle) and leaving the pub at just the right time on Saturday night to meet some fun locals who showed us the 'real' Belfast nightlife.

Our first order of business (as it was only 10 am) was to find a place that would make us a good ol' Ulster fry up (aka Irish fried breakfast). After passing many closed pubs and Belfast's answer to the London Eye (the Befast Wheel), we found a pub called Oscars Champagne Cafe where we both had bowls of cappucino (yes, bowls - no handles!) and a cooked breakfast. The brekkie consisted of deep fried soda bread, potatoe pancakes, sausage, bacon and eggs - no beans in Irish breakfast - that's an English thing. When we met locals later they totally made fun of me when I said I missed my baked beans in the morning - they didn't doubt I was from London from then on!
After filling our bellies we checked out the christmas market next to the city hall and then grabbed a bus (and a hike) to Belfast Castle. It really wasn't much inside as its basically just a wedding venue with beautiful gardens and a great view of the city, so didn't make my top 10 castle list. It was still well worth the hike to sit in the cavern tavern in the cellar of the castle and have our first pint of guinness, 2 mince pies for £1 and get in the Christmas spirit with Christmas tunes and a fire place with stockings hung.
By the time we got back into the centre of town we were quite knackered from a short sleep the night before, we ended up grabbing a snack at the marketand heading back to the hotel for a nap so we could be energised to head out on the town and check out local historical pubs on our own pub walk! Our pub walk started at the Crown Liquour Saloon, which is supposedly the oldest and best known pub in Belfast, and also the most bombed. It is covered in Mosaics and there is a crown on the tiled entrance to the pub. Inside it is very ornately designed from the gilded lion architecture to the serpentine scale-like columns, almost to a tacky nature. The interesting thing we noted about the pub is the signs everywhere saying that football garments are banned and people wearing them will be kicked out. This goes back to the 'troubles' when supporting different teams (the Celts vs the Rangers) would result in serious violence. So most pubs have banned any football on the telly to contribute to the peace efforts over the last decade.

Following that bar we went out for a quick bite and then hit another 'classic' pub called the Kitchen Bar. It was a popular night for Christmas parties and we felt like we were crashing one at this pub. It didn't really feel like our scene so we hastily finished our pint and as we exited the bar a couple local blokes (age 40+) asked us how we liked it. We said that we didn't so much and were going to try and find somewhere more authentic. They said they were heading to one such place that they always go to called Kellys Cellars and so we tagged along. We didnt' in the least feel threatened by these guys as they were married and just looking to show some Canadian ladies how the real Belfast should be remembered. Built in 1720 it is actually Belfast's oldest pub and it really did feel like we stepped back in time. The first room had dingy white walls with the words Caed Mile Failte (meaning 'A Thousand Million Welcomes') across the archway, and a ceiling that was a fishing net with buoys tangled in it.
The second room was another dingy room with white walls and celtic sayings, with a bar and some booths, but its ceiling had a conglomerate of knick knacks like kettles, and pots & pans, fire puffers, and irons. It was so neat, and everyone was super friendly. Then, to top it off, in a corner booth there was a pick up band of people just playing irish instruments - a hand drum with a brush, a little guitar, a banjo and other percussion like hand instruments. It was soooo neat!

We hung out that chatting with the blokes (Jon, Connor and Tony) and their lady and man friends about Irish, English and Canadian life. They all later invited us out to an after bar called 'BX' or Belfast Exposed...which was essentially a photo gallery by day, and closed up with steel garage doors by night, unless you had the right knock, then the doors would open! It felt very underground-scene like, but once we got in, it was just like an artsy-fartsy lounge, and they served free chili (to get past insurance problems with the cops of serving alcohol after hours they need to serve food), which was actually quite tasty. We didn't stay at that bar long before heading back to the hotel nearby but we appreciated our first 'after hours' experience! ;o)

We had an educational experience with the Titanic and 'the Troubles' the next day, but that's another story....