Belfast

Northern Ireland

July 2024

Due to my ancestral lineage, visiting Northern Ireland, has been a goal of mine. I have ties to County Antrim and Down. Belfast resides in both.

I just wanted to know what it would feel like to be there walking the land of my ancestors. Would it feel familiar somehow? Would I feel an otherworldly sense of connection? Would it feel like home? Would I meet a distant relative?

The answer is no. But I feel like I had a quintessential Irish experience. The "luck of the Irish" is a phrase that can be used satirically to describe the misfortune that seems to follow the Irish people.

The morning of my flight to Belfast, I woke up feeling under the weather. My nose would not stop running. The previous day, I had taken a day-tour from Edinburgh, over the border to England, to visit Bamburgh & Alnwick castles. The lady sitting behind me on the tour bus coughed the whole way. I knew I would be in trouble.

Edinburgh Airport was an absolute mess for reasons still unknown. I travelled through here during Fringe last summer and it wasn't even close to this bad. It was so frustrating trying to get through security. There was no order. Just hoards of people creating chaos. I ended up in a position that took the longest. Hundreds of people that showed up after me ended up in front of me.

Luckily, when I arrived at my hotel in Belfast, many hours earlier than check-in time, they had a room ready for me. That was surprising. I just went to bed.

I was scheduled to do an all day organized tour the next day. It was too late to cancel. I lucked out again, when I got an email from the tour company, informing me they needed to reschedule my tour because the tour guide was sick, too. Phew! I never would have made it.

I stayed in bed for the next two days, only venturing out around the corner, to a tiny pharamcy stand at the bus station, to get Kleenex and what little medicine they had. It was miserable. The medicine wasn't making a difference. I brought a Covid test with me, but it was so old, there was not enough liquid solution left to process the test. The cotton swab absorbed it all. 

Turns out that it was Covid. It was my first time. I made it to 2024! I was traveling by myself, in a country I've never been, with the plague. I decided to change hotels so that I could have a room with a window that opened. I made the move on the day the Crowdstrike software update caused a worldwide meltdown, it was the largest IT outage in history.

That made checking out and checking in trickier than usual. The computers couldn't work. Everything was done by hand. They gave me the master key to get in my room, and told me it would be £50 if I lost it or failed to turn it in. Yikes. 

I found a proper sized pharmacy near my new hotel with better meds, that I carried around with me everywhere. Unlike the coughing lady on my tour bus, I wore a mask and brought cough medicine with me.

Despite all of the challenges, I persevered. I still got to do everything that I had planned. In this sense, another quintessential Irish experience -  the Irish people's resilience in the face of difficulty. 

Northern Ireland is well known for its many murals depicting their past and present. I wasn't sure if I was going to go on one of the famous cab tours of the murals. I opted not to. Due to getting sick and wanting to focus on the present. I saw several murals just walking around the city center.

When I started to feel better enough to start exploring, my first stop was to Belfast Castle. I walked inside the front doors and then peeked into an office. I inquired about buying an admission ticket. They said that it was free. Oh! What a concept.

It's not really a place to tour like other castles I've been to. I think it's main function is to be used as a wedding venue. It has a pretty view and grounds but it's just not a place you're going to spend more than like 20 minutes.

From here, I went to the botanic gardens, which are also free. It's a nice place to walk around and get some fresh air. It's 28 acre public park. There were people sunning in the grass. I enjoyed the roses. U2 played here once drawing over 40,000 people!

The botanic gardens are right next to Queen's University, which changes the vibe of the neighborhood to college-like. 

Belfast Castle

Belfast Botanic Gardens

The next day, I went to the Titanic Museum. I was surprised by how busy it was. This is a very popular attraction. You must get tickets in advance. They are timed entry.

It's a massive place, as you can see. It's 8 stories, the same height as the Titanic's hull. There are many gallery's to walk through and there's even a ride. The bottom floor has a few restaurants and a gift shop.

You know how the story ends. It's sad. The wall with the list of names of all the people that died was overwhelming. I was surprised to see someone with my last name, Edward Charles Biggs. He was a fireman and part of the crew. Still trying to figure out if we're at all related. 

Just beyond the Titanic Museum, is Titanic Studios, one of the studios where they filmed Game of Thrones. Speaking of Game of Thrones, the rest of my activities centered around visiting filming sites. These tours would be perfectly enjoyable even if you've never seen an episode of the show. 

My first tour was the Giants Causeway tour with Paddywagon. Stops included the Dark Hedges - which is used as the King's Road in Game of Thrones, Giant's Causeway - a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Dunluce Castle - a medieval ruined castle served as inspiration for the exterior of House Greyjoy.

My second Tour was the Winterfell Trek with Game of Thrones Tours, with an extra from the show for our tour guide.  Stops included Tollymore Forrest, Castle Ward, and Inch Abbey. 

The grand finale, and what really inspired this trip was visiting Game of Thrones Studios! It was worth it!

This won't be my last trip to Northern Ireland. There's still much more I'm looking forward to exploring. I didn't even get to any of the stone circles!