Ulster museum | Here Comes The Planet

Another trip on the glider into town!

Looking for somewhere different for breakfast, I’d spotted the cafe at the linenhall library.

Very cute!

I had the granola and yes, those are choc chips. The yogurt had coconut in it, delicious!

The weather was doing its best to match the mood of the day.

Not far from the cafe we found our driver, who was named Danny because every family here names their eldest child Daniel.

As you might guess from this photo and his job, he was quite a character. He took us for a drive around the parts of Belfast related to The Troubles.

If you don’t know what The Troubles are you should google them because I’m not going to try to explain decades of religious and political conflict. Also if you haven’t heard of the problems in Northern Ireland and you’re over 30 you’re an eejit.

We went out in a black cab, which is always nice because they’re so roomy. Some things we drove past, others we got out to have a closer look at.

The company is owned by both Protestants and Catholics and so the talk is supposed to be unbiased, although I think it was pretty clear our driver was from one side. He did emphasise his desire for a continuation of the peace process and was very proud of the tour company for bringing both sides together. The mural below is a celebration of a non sectarian organisation and was sponsored by the cab company.

Below is the longest wall left from The Troubles, and still very much needed. Bits of rubble from week-old brick-throwing was in evidence.

I say black taxi, it was more a periwinkle blue.

On the other side of the fence is a catholic estate, the brick rubble explains the wire fencing over their back yards.

Danny showed us old and new style rubber bullets. They’re huge and they have killed many people, despite being used for safety reasons.

Danny gave us about fifty hour’s homework of documentary and book reading if we wanted to learn more.

Basically we learned a lot of shocking things and were feeling pretty sad and hopeless about it all so what should we do next?

Visit a gaol!

Crumlin Road Gaol is now a tourist attraction but was a pretty dire place to be interred for almost the last 150 years.

We did the walking tour, which meant following the arrows and paying attention to the many, many audio and visual presentations.

The Gaol is across the road from the old courthouse and a tunnel under the road used to join them. It was not the creepiest part of the place.

The creepiest part was the room where they hung people. I didn’t take a photo but it was a very plain room with a noose over a hole in the floor.

One of the more interesting facts was learning the origin of ‘screws’ as a nickname for the guards.

Outside were some tanks, jeeps and a helicopter on display.

The whole experience was quite sobering but it was the last of our historical activities for the day.

After the Gaol we headed to the Ulster Museum but first we needed a fortifying meal.

Pizza!

Orto pizza was a recommendation from Danny and Peter, who hadn’t been but heard it was good. The pepperoni pizza had honey on it, which counterbalanced the saltiness of the pizza very nicely.

We also got our own pizza cutters to slice the pizza. It’s a bit gimmicky but I’m sure lots of people enjoy it. Luke prefers a knife and fork when the pizza base is so thin and the toppings drip or slide when picked up.

The restaurant is directly across the road from the museum. Finally I’d get to see the finished GoT tapestry! It had been completed by an English workshop using Irish linen as the show was being aired. The final tapestry was over 80 metres in length.

We walked in and asked a member of staff where to find the tapestry. He told us it was in storage as HBO had borrowed it.

How annoying. I’ll have to wait until next time I guess!

Here’s a little picture I stole off the internet to give you a bit of an idea of the style.

We had as bit of a wander through the museum but we were both tired and decided to head back to the house.

We spent the evening declining food (too much pizza) and watching Drag Race, which was bright and shiny enough to distract us from what we’d learned during the day.

Thanks, Ru Paul!

Belfast is certainly a different city to the place I visited in 2003. Admittedly the amazing weather and longer time I’ve had to see it have played apart, but it can’t be denied that there is a much more cosmopolitan vibe to the place now.

On our last day of driving around we kept things low key and stuck to Belfast, seeing Danny’s new house and a few tourist attractions, starting with a ‘Melbourne breakfast’. Obviously it was avocado with fancy bits on sourdough but also a smidge of vegemite too. Very nice!

Ulster Museum was on my to-do list after I’d seen it online and it was a great place to get a feel for Northern Ireland’s history, from prehistoric times to the current day.

They used to have dragons!

On the very top floor of the museum is a display dedicated to Ireland’s current #1 tourism drawcard – you guessed it – Game of Thrones.

An enormous tapestry (currently 84 metres and growing) tells the story in the style of the Bayeux Tapestry. Having seen all but the most recent season, it was interesting walking along and picking out the plot points.

The signs warning people not to touch the cloth were also in keeping with the theme.

The Museum also has a partially-unwrapped mummy. Danny said it gave him nightmares as a child. I can’t think why.

The Belfast Botanical Gardens are worth a visit if you like that sort of thing, and if you’re there on a cold day I’d definitely recommend a stroll through the heated Ravine building, which contained tropical plants from around the world.

There’s also a Victorian glasshouse with some very interesting specimens.

We took a stroll around the gardens of the big building (um… parliament? Danny, help!) in the very first photo and also drove up to Belfast Castle. It was built in the Scottish Baronial Style in 1862 by the Marquis of Donegal.

A little bit Hogwarts?

It is always nice to see historical buildings being in regular use and this castle is now a function hall and restaurant. The gardens contain sculptures, topiaries and mosaics of cats. We walked around and found a few after having a drink and a sit in the sun.

A post about the sights of Belfast would be incomplete without some photos of the murals that can still be found in various places around the city. Since my knowledge of NI history is far from complete I won’t comment on the political situation except to say that many of the more violent murals we saw years ago have been replaced but there are still a few giant paintings of men in balaclavas with machine guns in hand.

In the city centre there is plenty of (what I think of as) Melbourne-style street art. Beautiful and quirky images that go well with the new bars and restaurants.

The last bar we had a drink in was The Sunflower. Years ago people had been shot in this bar, hence the gate at the door. Now it’s a gay friendly meeting place with ukulele jam nights.