Belfast, Co. Antrim (2019-09-25 to 2019-09-27)

We have now been in Belfast for three days, and I have only now found time to put pen to paper (figuratively speaking).

Our accommodation is on a fairly quiet street, but we are only a few hundred feet from a bus stop, for a direct bus into town, and a bit further away from a large Tesco grocery store.  We have every thing that we need, and can make our own meals, for the first time in three weeks.

On Wednesday morning we took the bus into town, and got off at Donegall Square.  This is where City Hall is located and the tourist information office.  Right where we got off the bus was a Tim Horton’s Cafe....we almost thought that we were back in Canada.

Tim Hortons

After picking up a few brochures, and Marlene buying some funky socks, we wandered the streets, looking at shops, and getting our bearings, before eating our sandwiches sitting on a bench in a busy pedestrian mall.

In the afternoon, after 50 years of researching family history, I did something that I have never done before....I paid for a consultation with a local expert.  My appointment was at 1 pm at the Ulster Historical Foundation, and to my surprise, my “expert” was the organization’s research director, Dr. William Roulston.  Our time together was certainly worthwhile, with William providing me with some additional sources to investigate, beyond what I had already planned, and even a couple of new data points in the lives of my Belfast ancestors. There is nothing like local knowledge!

Later in the afternoon we wandered into the Titanic Quarter, a docklands area which has been repurposed as a tourist destination, with a lot of focus on the ship Titanic, which was built here in Belfast.  I guess that it brings in the tourists, but why be so proud of a ship that sank on its maiden voyage :-). The building which houses the Titanic Visitor Experience is designed to look like the hull of several ships, and the white colour is intended to look like ice (see photo below).  Also in the photo below is the Harland and Wolff crane “Samson” which along with its counterpart “Goliath”, dominate the Belfast skyline, and are used in shipbuilding.

Titanic Center and Samson

Looking back across the River Lagan towards the city, you can see the contrast of the old and new buildings.

The Old And The New

I spent Thursday and Friday at the Public Record Office Of Northern Ireland (PRONI), doing what I like best....researching family history.  I pored over (of perhaps pawed over) many old records, some dating back to the mid1700s, and came away with a ton of new information, and a few corrections to information that I already had.  It makes the visit to Belfast worthwhile.

Jim at PRONI

While I was at PRONI, Marlene visited the Titanic Centre and also did a historical walking tour of the city.  On the tour she learned about the Albert Memorial clock, which has been discovered to be leaning to one side.  So the locals say that now they have both the time and the inclination.

Albert Memorial

But now it is the weekend, PRONI is closed, and Marlene is getting antsy, so I guess some walking is on the agenda....perhaps walking around a few cemeteries.