Days 23 and 24 - Belfast, Ireland
Graeme had a restless night with his arm injury disturbing his sleep. We left our apartment at 8:50, crossed the road and caught the #19 public double decker bus to the airport for 2.60 euro each. It offered a scenic drive through some of the suburbs of Dublin.
Arrived at the airport at 9:50 and first priority was to get a coffee :-). We asked directions for both a coffee shop and the car rental office and quickly ascertained we could do both on the way to our appointed rental car collection at 10:30. The coffee was nice and we arrived at the car rental counter bang on 10:30, only to be told to go out of the terminal and catch the shuttle bus to their other car rental counter. We did this, arriving to join the end of a fairly long line but efficiency prevailed and we had signed up and got the keys to our car by 11:11. The gentleman who served was extremely friendly and helpful, he 'upgraded' us to a Nissan QASHQAI, in place of the Nissan Juke we had originally ordered. Tania did a few laps first around the car rental car park to get the feel of the car, and once she worked out the technique for the reverse gear we were good to go. Never would we touch a manual rental in either Europe or the US but not the case today.
We started up a conversation with 2 young American guys whilst waiting for the shuttle and found out this was going to be the first time driving outside the US for both of them. Remembering our previous times driving on the other side of the road, our advise to them was to remember to always give way to the right knowing that old habits may kick back in at times.
We set off northwards and stopped in at Drogheda, a small coastal village. Found a car park easily and the walk through the main street revealed a quaint little town and was quite a pleasant surprise. A few pastries for lunch, back in the car and set the GPS for Belfast.
Mostly highway driving on the M1 got us to our apartment for the next 2 nights within 2 hours, arriving around 15:00. Easy parking in the street behind our apartment, self check in and the roof top apartment, the penthouse, is at the top of the second flight of stairs. Now that we have the car, we don't need to take our suitcases in and out of our accommodation. With only the bare necessities, this let Tania off the hook of carrying both cases up two flights of stairs! After settling in, we of course set off to discover Belfast.
Being Saturday afternoon, not everything was open but in keeping with Irish tradition lots of pubs and bars were open. About 3 hours were spent walking into the city, looking around and back again. Our accommodation is just over 2 kilometres out of the city centre making it easy to access.
Our apartment is fully self contained with cooking facilities, so tonight we enjoyed hot and spicy chicken and Ben's Mexican rice!
Sunday 7th September 2025
An early morning as Sunday is Tania's calcium tablet day where she has to remain upright, no food for half an hour after taking the tablet and can't eat dairy for 2 hours. She set the alarm for 6:30 but Graeme was already awake as his CPAP battery had died during the night. Breakfast finished by 8:30 and we left for the city by 9:00.
Today we had 2 walking tours booked, the first from 10:00 - 13:00 Best of Belfast Walking Tour and from 13:00 - 16:00 Belfast: Political Conflict Tour.
Forecast for today is rain, so we donned our Goretex jackets and waterproof pants. It was raining as we left and continued off and on for the whole day. We got to City Hall on time to begin our first tour which we found really informative and included a lot of history of Belfast and the industries it was built on, ship building, linen, rope making and tobacco. Our guide was passionate about the history and covered all conflicts and revolutions over time in Belfast.
Unfortunately we had to leave this tour 15 mins early, to get to the start of our next tour. We jumped in a taxi to take us 2 kilometres to Divis Tower the site of the first shootings of "The Troubles" in 1969.
Republic side of the wall:
This was the commencing point of our 3 hour Belfast: Political Conflict Tour with the first part of the tour being taken by Paul who had spent 14 years in goal during the conflict and was a Catholic. There was a hand over at the 'Peace Wall' for the second part of the tour which was taken by Eamon, a British nationalist, who had spent 2 years also in goal during the conflict. This particular tour company supports former political prisoners, providing opportunities for them to support the reconstruction of their communities. It also helps individuals to rebuild their lives while fostering peace and reconciliation.
Both guides gave compelling stories as to which side was to blame, but we were not able to make a determination one way or the other -both sides were sad tales of meaningless loss of life, including innocent victims of all ages.
It was a long day, six straight hours of walking tours, and we were glad to find a seat to rest for while, it happened to be in a coffee shop.
A final look at the biggest chandelier in a classy hotel and then back to our apartment for some more hot and spicy chicken and peri peri rice - YUM.
Love your coverage of Ireland, and it sounds like you had some great guides.
Sorry to hear about your shoulder Graeme, hopefully it will settle quickly.