On top of the troubling history of Belfast and Northern Ireland, there are also really interesting things to see both in and out of the city. Grace, Max, Maddie and I explored some of those that we saw in videos prior to the trip giving us an even more in depth look at Belfast as a whole.
We all noted that Belfast’s city center definitely felt different than Dublin’s. Even as we grabbed dinner after the initial day trip, walking around late had a different vibe than it did at our home base.
Titanic Museum and Colin Glen
Since we knew we wouldn’t have the time to explore the Titanic Museum during our previous day trip, we bought early riser tickets beforehand so we would be in there first thing that next morning. The museum started with a lot of information on the construction of the Titanic. The materials were so particular and panels were huge. A tiny detail I found interesting was that smoking was banned in the shipyard.
I think the most unexpected portion of the museum, however, was the ride inside the building. Yes you read that correctly. It may not have been a rollercoaster, but it was kind of like an E.T. kind of ride where it took you through different visual parts of the process of putting together the Titanic.
Beyond that point there was more about the actual sinking and those that were lost. It was quite beautiful and sad seeing all of the specific stories of those who lost their lives. Rather odd to then come out into the gift shop after that.
In true U.K. fashion, we stopped by a Gregg’s for lunch where I had yummy food and a cloudy lemonade (don’t get excited; apparently a cloudy lemonade is just regular lemonade).
Later that day we had reservations at Colin Glen, the local park, for an alpine coaster and zip lining. I had never gone zip lining, so I was psyched.
After a thrillifying Uber ride, we made it to the park and prepared for our activities. The alpine coaster was a nice short ride where I went top speed over hills I probably shouldn’t have.
As for the zip lining, the most memorable part was during the line beforehand where a girl behind us said in the truest Derry accent “Mammy this better be worth it.” I’ve been quoting her since.
Giant’s Causeway Tour
Our second day is where we went on a nice day tour along the eastern coast toward Giant’s Causeway. Something I learned while on the tour bus was that Scotland is only 13 miles from Northern Ireland’s coast. I was actually able to see it!! That was so crazy to me. As an American, I feel like it’s hard to visualize how close all of Europe is to each other.
Some of our stops were Carrickfergus, Dunluce Castle and the Dark Hedges. Giant’s Causeway was BEAUTIFUL but definitely a hike since we took the upper path. Going to places such as that, however, reminds me that it’s not the worst that I didn’t make it to the Cliffs of Moher on this trip. The volcanic rocks themselves were just so interesting and very picturesque!
After our tour we made our way back to Dublin much richer knowledge-wise, quite a bit poorer financial-wise. I will not miss the Belfast prices!
