Welcome to…

Apparently it is owned by a property developer, which isn’t that surprising.

I have spent the day wandering the city centre; from 11am on an organised ‘free’ walking tour with a couple from Hamburg, Germany although she was originally from Belfast. They were good company, as was John, the guide. The remainder of the day was spent trying to retrace the route of the tour (in order to linger a bit more than John allowed) but failing miserably. I got lost repeatedly. Which is no bad thing. It’s a great way to discover a place.

Everything kicked off at City Hall…

…where we spent a few moments reflecting on the Titanic:

Mrs Hamburg (sorry, I forgot her name but it began with E and, as with most people from the east of the Irish Sea, I wouldn’t have been able to spell it properly anyway) commented that she found it ironic that when she had afternoon tea at Titanic Belfast a couple of years ago (I’m booked in for tomorrow morning by the way), the string quartet that were playing in the café stopped abruptly and cleared off. This prompted John to quip that Belfast folk say that “there was nothing wrong with her when she left Belfast”. I asked Mrs H. if they sold gin and tonic but held back on the ice. “Too soon...” John scolded me. I won’t mention the T word again but I did find this amusing:

It must be a hard sell for the marketing team.

John focussed upon other things, and there was plenty to focus upon. The pubs…

…the Europa Hotel, the most bombed in the world…

…George Best…

…the murals…

…and all the rest:

There were even a few bicycles along the way:

And we ended at this rather fabulous fish:

As with many British cities, Belfast can be a brutal, ugly place, but it has more than its fair share of interesting stories to tell, especially if you raise your eyes above the level of the gaudy signs.

So tomorrow it’s back to the cycling, heading north following my visit to…

…(I promised not to mention it again). I have managed to book a campsite for Sunday night but Saturday night remains a little uncertain to say the least. Somewhere half-way between Belfast and Ballycastle would be perfect but it is proving elusive to pin it down. COVID-19 has meant some sites are not accepting tents. But, as they don’t say in these parts, mañana…