I went to Belfast last Friday for 1 night. I flew with Danielle on Friday morning at 7am from Liverpool.
It was such a strange flight as it's so short. We took off, they asked if anyone wanted any drink or food - didn't even bother with the trolley and then it was time to land. We landed at 7:33am and it was still dark. It was also strange how we didn't get ID'd. They just scanned our boarding passes and didn't check our name against anything. We had our passports but didn't even need them.
Getting out the airport was like walking out of Liverpool airport - it looks very similar. We got the 300a bus to the city centre - Grand Central Station. We got the 1 month return for £13.50 as it was cheaper than getting 2 singles (£9 each). It took 40 minutes. We walked to the hotel which was less than a 10 minute walk from the station. Our room wasn't ready yet so left out bags and went to a coffee shop while we waited for Kelly as she was flying on her own from Manchester and wasn't landing till 10:30am.
We went to Nine Squared which was round the corner from the hotel. I got a Matcha Latte with coconut milk. Danielle got a Chai Latte and a pastry - custard, hazelnut, jam and cinnamon. It was nice but a bit dry.
It was a nice cafe and we stayed there for a few hours until Kelly arrived. Once Kelly was walking to the hotel from the bus station we walked back to the hotel.
Our room we had booked wasn't ready yet but another room that was the same was ready so we took that one. The original room we had booked was in the loft.
Danielle had yer own bunk - she's always wanted a bunk bed so was made up.
It was a nice room and spacious.
After putting our bags down we walked to get some lunch.
We went to this ramen place - Ragin' Ramen.
Danielle got the Christmas special
Turkey Tantanmen - Sage tare roast turkey mince, maple miso charred sprouts, spring onion, cranberry chilli oil, 5 spice stuffing crumb, Tonkotsu broth - £16
Me and Kelly got the same
Raijin - Char-siu chashu flamed pork belly, pork bone Tonkotsu broth, house tare, spring onion, daikon, half Aijitama egg, nori - £16
I got mine with udon noodles and Kelly got rice noodles
It was nice but I was really hungry and this was not filling. I inhaled it.
I got the 2 courses for - £23 as I seen Matcha Tiramisu
It was Not a tiramisu... It was basically just a Victoria sponge cake with a load of matcha sprinkled on top. There was that much dry matcha powder that I was choking on it. It was like doing the cinnamon challenge! Was very disappointed.
After lunch we walked to City Hall as there was a free walking tour at 2:30pm. We didn't see anyone so went to the tourist info and they said look out for someone with a yellow umbrella but we couldn't see any. We didn't book on so guess they weren't running it so we ended up going on the hop on hop off double decker bus.
There was men promoting the buses and he could see we were googling online to see how much it was on there if it was cheaper and he let us on as students so paid £18 which lasts for 24 hrs which meant we could use it the next day when we go to the Titanic museum.
There was like 6 other people on the bus with us and they chose to sit right at the front where they were was shelter. We were the only ones to sit in the exposed but which wasn't the best idea as it was windy and got cold. We should have went downstairs and kept warm when we were stuck in traffic (I'm not sick with a cold and cough writing this post!)
Kelly and Danielle got a mulled wine for before we started the ride.
Belfast's answer to the Leaning Tower of Pisa - the leaning clock tower.
Titanic museum
Queen's University
Europa Hotel - the most bombed hotel in the world - 28x also where Bill and Hilary Clinton stayed
We ended up on the bus for an hour and 45 minutes as we were stuck in rush hour traffic for ages. We were just stuck at this junction for about 30 minutes. It was really interesting on the bus as it took is down to where the troubles were with the wall is with the divide and learnt quite a bit that I had no idea about.
After the tour we went to a pub.
We went to the Duke of York pub. It was super busy and we couldn't find anywhere to sit so had to stand.
We went to another pub after but it was just a standard dark pub. Can't remember what it was called and no nice photos of it to show!
After we went for dinner. Kelly booked Nova an Italian restaurant which we had booked for 7:30pm.
I got
Ravioli Carbonara - Guanciale, black pepper, egg yolk, gran padano - £17.50
It was good portion size for ravioli as you usually get hardly any but it was very al dente and the panchetta was very salty.
Danielle got
Prawn Tagliolini - Portavogie prawn, bisque, confit tomatoes, chilli oil, chilli flakes, chives - £19.50
This was spicy as it has a lot of chilli in it.
Kelly got
Conchiglie - Vodka sauce, 'ndjuja, stracciatelle, chilli oil, chives - £16.50
This was even spicer. Kelly struggled to eat it it was that spicy!
Kelly and Danielle got to share
Hot Honey Bread - Nduja butter, toasted chilli flakes, cheese, hot honey - £7
As my food was really salty I was craving an ice cream and got a mischief McFlurry. One of the Christmas special ones. Comes with strawberry sauce, smarties and was meant to have sugar Christmas trees but didn't - £2.69
We went to the Christmas markets and Danielle got churros just with sugar - £6 for 6.
After we went to a pub not far from the hotel for 1 drink then headed back to the hotel. It had been a long day.
We didn't get up till 9:30am the next morning. We had Harlem Cafe booked for 11am which was by the hotel. It was super busy and there was was a massive queue even though we had a table booked. We didn't get seated till 11:15am.
Kelly and Danielle both got
Harlem's All Day Irish Breakfast - Smoked bacon, butcher sausage, free range fried egg, black pudding, potato bread, soda bread, mushrooms and baked beans - £15.50
I got
Toasted sourdough with smoked salmon and poached eggs - £12.95
It was nice. Danielle said she likes it deconstructed but think I prefer it already done for me. So the salmon and egg on the break already.
After breakfast we jumped on the hop on hop off bus to the Titanic Museum. We were booked for 1:20pm and were there before 1pm but couldn't let us in early as they're in slots.
The dark tiles are the countries and the white line shows the route the titanic took from Belfast > Southampton > then on the way to New York.
The grass patches showing the amount of casualties. The furthest 3rd class, then 2nd class, then 1st class and the closest the crew. All the stuff outside the building, the actual building the completion and open all have a reason. The building is on the shipyard where the ship was built, it's the same height as the ship. The museum was opened on 31/03/2012 which marked the anniversary of the ships maiden voyage.
It was really interesting and learnt a lot. Considering everything I knew about the ship was from the film which wasn't even based on real people wasn't the best source I had. Feel like I need to watch the the film again as I watched it when I was a kid but just don't have 3 hours of my life to spare!
We were in the museum for over 2 hours. There's a lot to see in there. Your ticket also lets you into SS Normadic. It is the last remaining ship of the White Star Line which built the Titanic. Inside has been done up though and is nothing like what it would have been like. Guess it would have been hard to maintain it.
After we walked back into the centre. Tried to go to a pub but they were all full and busy.
We went to the Christmas markets and that was mad busy. Ended up going back to the hotel. Kelly and Danielle got a drink there and I went to Orto and got a pizza before the flight home.
£16
Pizza was nice - was the cranberry sauce could have been spread out better rather than just put on randomly. I ate it all myself and was very full after.
We walked to the bus station and got the 6:30pm bus to the airport. It took ages and we didn't get to the airport till 7:24pm. Luckily the airport was dead and we went straight through security. Kelly and Danielle managed to get a sandwich. Went to the toilet then me and Danielle we were boarding at 7:55pm. Our flight was at 8:30pm and it took off at 8:23pm and landed back in Liverpool at 8:58pm. We spent more time on the bus than we did at the airport. We also landed before Kelly's flight even took off. Her flight was at 9:05pm.
It was a nice and short sweet trip to Belfast. You could definitely do it in a day. 7am flight there and the 8:30pm flight back - would be tiring but doable. It was mad not needing your passport, just spending the same money and not needed any travel adaptors!
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