A rainy day in Belfast, Ireland

Well, all these beautiful port days in a row had to end at some point. Today was the day. The rain did put a damper on our exploration of the city, but we won't complain given all the beautiful days we've already been blessed with.  

We docked in Belfast around 10 a.m. this morning. Belfast is the capital and largest city in Northern Ireland with a population of nearly half a million people. It is home to one of the world's largest dry docks and the Harland and Wolff shipyard, famous for building the Titanic.

We didn't have an excursion booked but had instead planned to go into town and pick up a few things we needed and also let Ronnie get a haircut with the same guy who cut his hair here in 2023.

The ship shuttle (say that really fast 10 times) took us into the city and dropped us off near the City Hall. All Aboard is not until 7:30 p.m. so we felt like we had all the time in the world to do our errands. However, the rain put a damper on things so we were happy to head back to the ship by mid-afternoon.

 

translink metro bus

City Hall

Cleaver Building Northern Ireland

 

After being dropped off, we headed for an indoor mall near the place where Ronnie had his hair cut when we were here before. Unfortunately, it started pouring while we were there so we ended up having Subway sandwiches in the mall and hoping to wait it out. 

 

police carry guns here (can't carry them in Dublin and Cork)

an alternate way to sightsee

When the rain didn't stop, we decided to leave and look for the barbershop which we unfortunately never found. We were beginning to find ourselves in a sketchy area so we decided to abandon our mission. Perhaps we didn't go far enough, or maybe the barber moved his shop or went out of business? 

 

Queen's Arcade

 

uh...NO

lots of pedestrians

lots of colorful wall murals around the downtown streets

 

typical Irish pub

Spirit of Belfast Sculpture in Arthur Square

The Sagart Kitchen & Bar

"Light of the World"

 

Tonight we will have dinner with a couple from Tennessee that we met on the 2023 world cruise. They just boarded the ship in Southampton, so it will be fun catching up with them.