Dublin & Belfast | Travel
I am nothing if not a person fond of traditions and as such I will now commence to talk about our family summer holiday destination of 2019, which was Dublin, Ireland and Belfast, Northern Ireland. I wasn't particularly focused on filming or photographing this holiday since I decided to give myself a break to just float through life and experience it calmly for the ten days I was abroad.
I visited Ireland with my mother and father when I was just a little girl, before I even had a little brother. It's on the journey to Dublin back in 1998 that I was allowed to pick out a plushie husky that was quickly named Milalik and turned into one of my most beloved teddies. Ironically, I forgot to pack him for this trip but I suppose that must mean that I don't need him as much as a clutch as I've done in the past. It's probably a good thing, even if I did feel a little sad once I realised that I'd left him behind. The flight went pretty smoothly, with a layover in Olso, before we arrived in Dublin airport and caught a cap to our hotel. The moment we walked in, we passed a Henry the Hoover on the hallway and I was instantly thrown back to my Bath studying days where we could rent that adorable vacuum in the office. I have a terrible soft spot of the UK, even if I'm anxious about their future post Brexit, and Ireland shares a lot of similarities, even if I was about to properly learn about the troubled past between the two nations in depth.
We arrived at our hotel Monday afternoon and decided to start of the holiday with a little exploring of the city centre and thankfully, our hotel The North Star had a great location and we could pretty much walk to anything that we wanted to see, since we were without car for the first part of the holiday. Ireland was sporting pleasant weather on the day we arrived but it would prove somewhat gloom and rainy part of the time to, constantly swinging back and forth.
It didn't take long to find a Boots and a Lush. Those two shops are pretty much stables wherever we jump over to visit the British Isles. Since none of us have actual bathtubs at home, a Lush bath bomb has become a bit of a tradition and this year was no exception. I picked out a new one called Moon Spell which was very nice and in a later shop I picked up the classic Butterball, which is a classic that both my brother and father picked up as well. It was quite the feat for my Dad since he usually stalks up and down the street outside whenever we enter a Lush, complaining about the strong scents.
Another love from the British Isles are definitely Costa. I became somewhat of a frequent customer while I lived in England and I still have a very soft spot for their hot chocolate, especially since our coffee chain back home cannot hold a candle to it. It was also in a Costa that we managed to leave behind over £100 worth of No. 7 products while we walked down the street to shop for an oilskin jacket for Mum. Thankfully, the staff had put it aside and we managed to discover it missing and return to find it safe and sound. Not without a little scare though. We had dinner at the first of many pubs and pub food was just as delicious as always and throughout the holiday I think I had some type of potatoes with almost every dinner.
The first full day, which was a Tuesday, was mostly influenced by our first walking tour. It was a general tour of Dublin, lead by John who was a graduate of Trinity College and one of the only "northerners" in employed at that company, which he explained was those born on the north side of the river Liffey and seen as the poor or "bad" side. We walked around and learned about Dublin's history, most noticeably how the Irish were late for their own Independence ceremony by a whole 7 minutes and some British representative was not very pleased with them. We also stopped by the spot where the black lake (which gave Dublin its name). It was characteristically black since the river picked up dark soil which ended up falling to the bottom of a whirlpool where Liffey met another river. We were also taught a wee bit of Gaelic and as a language nerd I particularly enjoyed that part. They have some wonderful idioms that our local guide shared with us. I won't attempt to repeat them, since my spelling would be atrocious but they included such gems as telling someone to go to the devil's house when wanting them to fuck off or wishing the mouth band of death on someone instead of telling them to shut up.
Dublin is an interesting city and it felt somewhat familiar to walk around in, despite never having been there before. The buildings and the style is very remnant of the UK, even if they have stuff that's so bloody Irish. The pubs were littered all across the city and you pretty much couldn't turn a corner in the city centre without running into one. We walked around the Temple Bar area quite a lot, which ironically didn't get it's name because of the many bars in the area but rather it was from the old word Barr which meant a river bank and the area was owned by a couple named Temple. We also walked past the birthplace of Irish coffee which Mum later got to test out.
With all the pubs we frequented, it was no surprise that there was beer involved. Mum and Dad picked up red ale most of the time, while A leaned towards the pale ale. They all looked very satisfied most of the time and I could enjoy their reactions rather than being forced to drink a beer myself. I don't know if I'll ever learn to drink it but even if I don't like the taste, I can still appreciate the craftsman ship and the curtains that a good beer can draw, just like I can appreciate a cute image in a coffee cup despite not liking coffee.
On the third day, Wednesday, we would discover what would become our local breakfast place while in Dublin. Esquire Coffee was just a short walk down the road and we quickly became daily frequenters. I always got both a couple of sausage rolls and a little pot of the most delicious grapes that I've ever eaten. I didn't take a photo of either but trust me, both were excellent. This day were were embarking on our second walking tour, and this time we were going to get the deeds on Trinity College which is the most prestigious university in Ireland and it was quite an impressive campus that we'd already walked past. Before the tour started, we nipped into the souvenir shop and I picked up one of my tourist T-shirts, keeping the tradition well alive.
Maybe it's because I'm a university student myself, at least for another few months, but there's something fascinating about these old education institutions, especially when they are this old and has so much history. It was a little jarring to learn that Catholics had been banned from attending for many years, which was really the first of many things we learned about the tension between Protestants and Catholics. Trinity College had a rather famous library, one that was even digitally copied and used in one of the Star Wars movies, and it did not disappoint. The marking system was elegant and books lined the walls on either side as you walked down. All quite old and leather-bound and there was something almost majestic about walking down the space, even if it was absolutely brimming with tourists. We also saw the Book of Kells but that one I was less fussed about to be honest.
We decided to stop at Costa for lunch and I had my first of many hot chocolates as well as a rainbow raspberry cupcake. It was only rainbow in it's casing but it was still quite delicious. I was feeling pretty beat and worn down at this point, so as we made our way back to the hotel for an afternoon rest, I decided to opt out of the musical pub crawl. Based on the stories I heard as the family returned home, it had been quite the journey and I was a little bummed that I had missed out upon hearing how much fun they had. At the same time, my legs had absolutely been killing me most of the day and I instead had a hot bath with my bath bomb and recharged. It did wonders for my legs but unfortunately, it did also start a bit of an unfortunate tradition of me opting out of dinner for the following two days.
The following day, Thursday, we had breakfast at our new local watering hole before jumping into a taxi and hitching a ride to the Guinness Storehouse. It was the only destination in the city that we couldn't easily walk to but it was definitely worth the trouble. Despite not liking beer, it was quite fascinating to learn about the process of making it and seeing how the technique really hadn't changed that much through the ages. The exhibition was informative and interesting, even if my nostrils did get attacked when entering the roasting room.
Towards the end, we were taught how to properly drink Guiness and enjoy the flavour. I decided to try it but nope, I still didn't like or appreciate it. I did, however, like that we were allowed to pour our own Guinness afterwards because pouring beer is just fun. I got the technique down pretty easily and the bartender actually complimented my beer and how the foam was just poking out of the top of the glass. I was more impressed that the foam stayed in the glass, even as I trotted up three flight of stairs to reach the gravity bar. Mum and I didn't drink our beers, A merely sipped his and I think Dad only finished about half. None of us are big Guinness fans in the family. But we did learn the following day that the Guinness factory was quite famous for being good employment and that they had rejected the idea of not letting their workers unionise, which is definitely something we are big fans of in the family.
After visiting the Guinness Storehouse, we ventured around a little walk of the St. Stephen's Green. I don't know what it is about quite big pieces of green park near the heart of city centres but they always feel oddly refreshing. Big cities can get so packed, concrete wherever you look and then yet a lot of them will have little strips of nature, still shaped by people but also somewhat preserved. After the stroll, we headed down a high street that reminded both A and myself of Strøget back home. We caught lunch at a Marks & Spencers rooftop café, where we encountered some very nosy seagulls that forced us to retreat inside. Once we made it back home to the hotel to rest for the afternoon, I once again opted out of doing for dinner.
On the Friday, our last full day in Dublin, we of course headed for breakfast at our local Esquire Coffee before walking back to the area near Trinity College to catch a walking tour about the 1916 rising. I will blankly admit that I didn't exactly know what it was but because of this I left the tour extremely informed. We got a newbie guide and it was the very first time she was doing this tour and I felt a surge of pity at her clear nerves but I think she managed well, even if she was clearly fumbling at some parts. We learned about how the freedom fighters took the General Post Office, including accidentally taking a solider hostage and keeping him locked in a phone box while the riot went on. Evidently, he'd afterward said that he was treated like a gentleman, by gentlemen. We heard about the horrors and the massacre in the streets as the two sides fought each other. We were told how culture played a part, both the arts, sports and language in terms of people influencing the general public opinion. We were told how the long and drawn out execution of the leaders of the rising turned to sway the waters and how it is seen as the first vital step in getting Ireland independence.
This is the only day from which I do not have a photo to share. The only photos I really took was all three of my family members struggling to stay under one umbrella in the rain and failing to opening a second. It's hilarious but I don't think anyone would appreciate me sharing that one. We had lunch at Costa after the walking tour and I got myself another hot chocolate but like the two night's previously, I decided not to join the family for dinner, despite it being our last night in Dublin.
The final morning in Dublin, Saturday, started with (you probably guessed it) breakfast at Esquire Coffee. A and I went back to fetch the suitcases while Mum and Dad collected the car from a nearby parking lot, where Dad had driven it after a late airport pick up the day before. My brother and I ended up waiting for the better part of half and hour outside of the hotel, which did not sit well with him but I remember feeling oddly calm in that moment with the pleasant sun shining down and farming up my skin while my brother paced back and forth.
Once in the car, we drove just outside of Dublin to see Howth, which had been mentioned on our first walking tour. It was a quaint little area, the water was quite pretty as was the small houses but we didn't linger too long. One of the most memorable things though was that I got a huge Nutella and marshmallow crepe that ended up being a pain in the butt to eat and I couldn't even finish it but honestly, it was so delicious and I'm half ready to potion that local Danish crepe stands add marshmallow as a topping. The rest of the family were a little more sensible and went for soft ice but I didn't regret my choice one bit.
I knocked out on some of the drive from Howth to Belfast and woke only when we arrived at Malone Lodge & Hotel. We walked in to find a lot of people in fancy dress lingering around in the reception area and it turned out that it was a wedding and the bride and groom would soon arrive. Our actual place, a legitimate flat, was just down the road and around the corner, but we had to wait for the key a handful of minutes so we dragged the suitcases that we'd mistakenly taken out back to the car before we watched as the bride and groom arrived in a fancy sports car. It was clear that many of the groomsmen and the groom himself were very taken with the vehicle.
We found the flat in Malone Mews and I was a little baffled at the size. It had two separate bedrooms, one with a double and one with two singles, a bathroom, a sizeable living room and kitchenette. It felt oddly good to finally be able to separate a bit from my fellow family members if I needed and just having the option, already made my social battery feel more stable. We chilled for a couple of hours before driving to a shopping centre in Victoria Square were we'd end up visiting quite a lot. We found a pub nearby, some a little too hangry due to the lack of proper lunch, and Mum and I marvelled at the very cutie size of the ginger ale I was served while the other enjoyed their half pints. We finished the food, drove back to the flat where A stumbled across The Martian on television. He'd seen it already and Mum always goes early to bed, so those two bowed out but I ended up watching to to completion with Dad, even as we took every commercial break to curse out the ads.
Our first full day in Belfast, Sunday, we decided to eat breakfast at the local café around the corner called The Mad Hatter, most of us enamoured by the name. We jumped into the car and drove to West Belfast to hit our first and only walking tour in Belfast. But what a tour that was. Three hours in total, lead by two different men with two very different perspectives. The first hour and a half we were taken around by Jack, a political activist who had been part of IRA and who came Catholic family. He described the oppression of the Catholics and how they were not allowed to do so many things. It was a bit surreal to hear such a different perspective of the IRA than what had always been broadcast by the media and the vague but terrifying legacy that they had left behind. However, he was not excusing the innocent civilians casualties when the military part of the IRA decided to throw bombs into crowds or start shooting into them. He was very adamant that this was about so much more than religion, rather it being about the republicans (who wants Northern Ireland to be reunited with Ireland) and the unionists (those who wants Northern Ireland to remain part of Great Britain).
Once Jack's time was up, he walked us along the big and scary fence that runs over 3 miles right through West Belfast, separating the Protestants and the Catholics on side. We walked through a pretty heavy gate to get to the other side where we were handed over to our second guide, Mark who was a local preacher. He took a very different approach than Jack, instead talking about the very deep wounds left in the community, talking about the losses and the people who had gotten limbs blown off thanks to IRA attacks. He also explained that the gate promptly closes at 7 PM, ringing out a loud alarm before doing so, and it doesn't open until 7 AM. The two communities are effectively separated all the time though. They are almost perfect replicas of each other in the sense that they have everything they need on each of their own sides. Two of everything. Of course, the Protestant side is absolutely plastered with Union Jack flags while the Catholics sport the Irish flag, though not to same extend.
Both sides have murals on the sides of their buildings, showing their struggle but some of them are almost glorifying the violence. It is still very clear that both sides still have a whole lot healing to do. Their school are also still separated, meaning essentially a child can end up not encountering the "other side" until they are 17 and graduate secondary school. Some of the last attacks of The Troubles happened after I was born. There are still people living who lost people in the attacks on both sides and people who are living disabled because of them. At times I felt almost like intruding walking around and looking at the streets that had been marked by a terror war. It felt very close to home, both in geography and time. Usually, stuff like this feels like it either happens very far away or it happened a very long time ago. This was either and the wall of the deaths, so almost brutally displayed on a memorial made me feel a little sick to my stomach. Mark kept repeating that they have so much healing to do but they all do want a better and brighter future for their children, so they don't have to experience what their parents did or do what they had to do. It became a tit for tat war and a lot of attacks were probably about getting even or revenge.
We were almost appropriately accompanied by drizzles of rain throughout our three hour tour. Dad had just his umbrella a couple of days before and refused to replace it so of course he'd end up getting sick. We drove back to Victoria's Square, caught an early dinner since it was Sunday and everything was closing early. We did manage to pick up a deck of playing cards and ten die. And so we settled into a cozy night of playing games, most noticeable Meyer, Nul and our classic game of Hjerterfri. It felt oddly nice. It's not something we do often but I don't know, I'm just a sucker for family bonding that can be chill and casual and something were we can actually talk to each other. I got my ass kicked in almost all of the games but hey, that's part of it too.
The following day, Monday, we found what would be our new local breakfast place for the remainder of our stay. The Melrose Café was also just around the corner from our flat and they had the most glorious waffles with Nutella and syrup. I ended up ordering it two out of the three days we visited. The one time I went for a vegetarian breakfast platter, I instead switched out the lemon green tea for a chocolate milkshake. The waffles managed to defeat me both times but they were still wonderful with an added placed banana.
Dad was feeling ill, sneezing all over the place, so after breakfast he was sent back to the flat while Mum decided to take over the car to drive us to visit Titanic Belfast. This was when I first took the role as co-pilot and we by accident figured out that it was quite easy to link up my phone's GPS to the car. Dad had been struggling a bit when Mum had to hold the phone and stuff and really, I felt a little silly that I hadn't considered that linking up would probably work. We navigated down to the old Harland & Wolff shipyard and parked under the impressive looking museum. Now, I've heard about Titanic before, visited museums about it and looked up stuff myself but this was almost a whole other perspective.
The first I have to note is the impressive building. You could see that so much care had gone into designing it and anything from the material used, to the placement of stuff had a deeper meaning. It was cool. We picked up our audio guides on the ground floor and started exploring. As one might expect, this museum's perspective on Titantic was not really about the tragedy but rather how she came to be. We learned a whole lot about Belfast and its industry in the early 20th century, about how ship building, linen production, tobacco and other industries dominated.
We saw the place where both Titainic and her two sister ships, Olympic and Britanic, had been located as they were first begun to be put together. We saw replicas of the dry dock and the gigantic scaffolding they built around the ships to be able to work on the massive cruise liners. We learned about the riveting technique and how it was done in teams of five people and the insane number of rivets holding together the ship's hull. It was a massive piece of work and so many people were proud when she finally sailed of. Little did anyone know that she would only reach the tender age of 5 days and become the most famous sunken ship. It was one of those more modern museums that I find myself easily absorbed in if the topic interests me, and in total we ended up spending over four hours making it through all that Titanic Belfast had to offer.
Towards the end, we saw images from her final resting place and read about the passengers that had been lost. 15 Danes had been on board and two women survived the shipwreck. It's almost haunting images to see her wrecked body deep down in the water when you've read how carefully she's been crafted and created. We also heard about how she had been equipped with actually more life boats than necessary for the legal requirement but obviously, it still wasn't enough. Once we finished up in the museum, we had a quick rest in the cafeteria and visited the souvenir shop and I picked out a T shirt to represent Belfast. That same T shirt I then proceeded to leave behind as we walked over to come aboard RSM Normandic.
This ship was tiny compared to Titanic but it was used at one of her pick up points for the infamous maiden voyage where the dock was too shallow for the huge cruiser. It was the last stop before she made to cross the Atlantic Ocean but some of Titanic's passengers had been aboard the ship. It was made into a museum now, and it even had a couple of games and puzzles aboard that really brought out the child in everyone of us.
As we walked back to get the car and drive to Victoria Square to chill out for the afternoon, we passed a cute little bench and I couldn't resist snapping a shot after Mum pointed it out. It just made me crack a smile, so I thought I'd include it.
At Victoria Square, we obviously visited Costa and I got myself another hot chocolate but surprisingly we also found our way back to a Topshop. We'd shopped in one in Dublin as well, but I had not really been actively looking until I remembered I wanted to replace the old black Jamie jeans that I had worn to shreds. I was lucky to find another pair as well as a cute T-shirt and Mum found another pair of jeans as well. We did a little more shopping and walking around the area before calling Dad to figure out if we should come back and pick him up for dinner but he declined and instead the three of us found a little pub, which served food that turned out to be quite spicy but I made it through my Nachos while I had to pass on the cauliflower wings. Once we came back to the flat, we had another couple of rounds of cards before retiring to our respective beds.
On our final full day, Tuesday, we had plans for a road trip. First we'd hit Londonderry, or Derry if you prefer, and then visit Giant's Causeway on the way back. Dad took the wheel to Londonderry despite still being quite ill and snotty but we made it in once piece. Mum, A and myself are all quite fond of the series Derry Girls, which is set in Derry in 1990 under The Troubles. Actually, we learned from a local woman in a bookshop that two of the Derry girls are actually from Derry (the ones that play Erin and Michelle) while another is from Dublin and one from Galway, while the English boy in the girl's crew is from England.
Londonderry was a sweet little town and it was almost hard to imagine what it had been through. Until you turned another corner and saw a mural of a fourteen year old girl, or walked down to the Free Derry corner. Obviously we did the most touristy thing and took a photo in front of the wall, but seeing as there is an ad on the opposite side, it probably wasn't that bad.
Londonderry is famous for being an example of a walled city. We both walked through a couple of the gates and on top of it, where you had quite a nice view of the city. We walked around for a bit before settling down a Granny Annie's for some lunch. It was quite an odd pub but I found the vibe extremely nice and they had some very cool decor.
Once we were ready to leave, we jumped back in the car, this time with Mum at the wheel and headed for Giant's Causeway. It was another good hour drive or so but it seemed relatively chilled out and surprisingly I found that I quite enjoyed the role as the co-pilot for this. Now, Giant's Causeway is one of those natural monuments that I've heard mentioned but to be frank, I didn't really know much about it before we started talking about it in the car on the way there. I was still not sure what to expect, so my low expectations might have had a part in my reaction but let me still tell you that the place is beautiful.
We got really lucky with the weather, which was sunny and pleasantly warm with the light breeze from the sea. And something about the collection of climbable rocks just instantly brought out my inner child. I don't know what it is about climbing but I swear it's something primal in me. I was wearing my chunky sandals but they are quite sturdy, even if I did at one point get yelled at for climbing an area that was too steep. I was just too lost in the feeling. I also did have one set of headphones in, lowly playing BTS songs to ground myself a little in the mass of people. I'd pulled on the headphones as a security clutch while we were in the crammed bus to the rocks and now I just kept them on because there's nothing like beautiful scenery and music you enjoy in your ears.
The rocks almost didn't seem real. They looked almost man-made with their hard edges, nearly perfect but not quite for a lot of them. It was only A and myself that were up for climbing all the way out to the water but I was happy to have my brother at my side in that moment where our parents stayed behind on safer ground. He climbed happily and we just chatted back and forth. It seemed almost serene, even if the little bugger convinced me to climb over the area with lots of loose rocks rather than making our way around it. Granted, I didn't require much convincing. It was also without a doubt the location where I took the most photos. It took my breath away a little and I did make sure to plop down at a quite edge and just stare out over the water and feel the sun on my face while listening to Pied Piper. I know that I felt completely calm in that moment, just entirely in the moment with my mind not needing to speed off in a thousand different directions.
After I managed to tear myself away from the views, we got the bus back to the parking lot and drove ten kilometres back to stop in the nearby town of Bushmills. We'd passed it on the way to Giant's Causeway and been quite amazed at the sheer collection of Union Jacks wherever we looked. Some part of Northern Ireland are extremely patriotic and in such a small and quite old school village, it really showed. They still had an actual post office and it looked like not much had changed for the past few decades. We joked that they could easily film one of the English crime shows up here, yet another murder in a quaint little town kind of thing.
However, a small town also meant that a lot of stuff was closed even if it was just around dinner time. We managed to find the local Bushmills In where we could get some food. It was fancy as heck, which usually isn't our style but I will say that it was also utterly delicious. I got a vegan dish that I was a little sceptical about before it arrived but I quickly changed my mind. We drove back to the apartment complex, arriving a little exhausted and just relaxed for a couple of hours before we all knocked out after quite an eventful day with a lot of different experiences.
And so we reached the final day, Wednesday, which was our travel day home. I always feel a little ambivalent when you reach your travel day at the end of a holiday. On one hand, it means that you'll soon have to say goodbye to your holiday destination but at the same time it means that you'll soon be home again. We had a very calm and chill final day, being allowed to stay in the flat until noon before we walked down to Merose Café to get the final round of breakfast and I made it through most of the waffles again. I also did something quite uncharacteristic of me, which was leave my old pair of Converse behind since I had bought some new one (with rainbows!) while in Derry. They turned out to actually be about half a size smaller than I usually wear them, which I can feel now that I've had them on all day but I'm still hopeful that they'll loosen and adapt a little more to my foot as I continue to wear them.
We also decided to swing by Victoria Square again for a couple of hours before driving back to Dublin and catching our flight. Dad was placed in Costa to rest a bit while Mum, A and myself went out on the hunt for a new touristy T-shirt to replace the one I lost. It took a bit of walking but we found a shop in the end and I got to buy a very nice T-shirt, which made me feel a little better about having lost the other one. I also couldn't resist snapping a photo of some Irish sayings that were displayed in the shop.
I was a little worried about going on this holiday with a bit of a spaced-out mindset but I'm so glad I got to go. It was good to spend time with my family, even if I did need to retreat and have alone time occasionally as well. I learned so much about Ireland that I had never known before and I have such a better grasp on the history of the Troubles, as terrible as they were it is always a good idea to know your history. Those who don't are bound to repeat it after all.
This might very well be the last international holiday all four of us ever go on, for a multitude of reasons including the fact that our dogs can't really be looked after by Grandma anymore and that I don't really know how my future looks. There is also the fact that I'm 24 and A is nearly 20, so we are well on our way to being adults and at that age a lot of children don't really travel with their parents like they did when they were younger. I don't really care about that reasoning though. Who is to decide when you're too old or too young for something? No one but yourself, in my humble opinion. Both my brother and I have been so privileged to be taken along to so many incredible destinations and even if this one might have marked the end of an era, I only look back at it with fondness.
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