It was a rainy day in Belfast. I was walking around by myself in the city looking for something to eat. I had less than an hour left, but I hadn’t eaten since 7:00 that morning so food was obviously my priority.

I looked around at various restaurants displaying their specials as well as their prices in British pounds. I had left my husband and son sleeping soundly back in Dublin that morning to go on my adventure.

I wondered what they were doing now. “Probably eating lunch” I laughed to myself. Then the light bulb went off … “Pounds! Crap! You’re not in Dublin anymore.” I sighed to myself, as I looked in my wallet … full of Euros. Yep, Northern Ireland … the United Kingdom. No one is going to want my Euros. All I could think about that moment was food.

Maybe I should start from the beginning.  I had been toying with the idea of doing a day trip out of Dublin for months. It wasn’t until the night before I decided to go for it. Hubby said he would stay with our son, so I was free to go on my first real solo trip!

Belfast was the perfect choice – it was only 2 hours away (via bus); it was a chance to see an entirely different country; and it was an opportunity to learn more about its history.  The city itself is very divided, and has been over the years. I remember hearing about the violence and unrest in Northern Ireland when I was a child. People mentioned the Troubles, but I didn’t really understand what it all meant back then. I learned about it as I got older, but this trip was an opportunity to fully understand.

A friend of mine recommended Paddywagon Tours. I checked out their website and noticed that they had a Game of Thrones/Titanic Belfast day trip tour. I was sold. I purchased my tour online and got organized for the next day. After waking up and getting ready the next morning, I walked in the rain to my pick-up point in front of “Discover Ireland” on O’Connell Street. The walk was about five minutes away from our hotel, Jury’s Inn – Parnell Street.

I got there right on time as my bus arrived and picked me up at 8:25 a.m. However, we didn’t leave the Paddywagon headquarters until 9:30 a.m. There was some mishap that day and there weren’t enough buses, so we had to wait at the headquarters for an hour until they sorted it out. Not a great start, but I didn’t let that spoil my day.

It was a bit surreal. My spur of the moment solo trip was actually happening. I was going to Belfast.

The Journey

The bus ride to Belfast from Dublin is two hours. I met quite a few cool people on the tour, including a lady from the Philippines who lives in Dublin, as well as a couple from Malaysia who were touring the U.K. with their friends. Despite the rain I was able to enjoy the scenic view of the Irish countryside from the bus.

A Little History for the Ride

During the bus ride, our tour guide gave us an overview of the history of Northern Ireland and the underlying tensions between the Unionists and Nationalists. This included the Ulster Plantation; Ireland’s independence from Britain; the partition of the island into the free state of Ireland (now the Republic of Ireland) and Northern Ireland; the Unionists vs. the Nationalists; and the Troubles. He also discussed why Brexit was a big issue for Northern Ireland.

We arrived in Belfast at around 11:30 a.m. We had the option of taking a Black Cab tour or exploring the city on our own. I opted for the latter. I walked with our tour guide and other tour members towards Belfast City Hall.As we walked past the Europa Hotel our tour guide mentioned that the hotel opened in 1971 and hosted numerous political figures and celebrities over the years. He also shared that the Europa Hotel is known as the most bombed hotel in the world having been bombed over 30 times during the Troubles.

As we walked towards Belfast City Hall, our guide asked if we noticed that some buildings have dark patches. They did. It turned out that during World War II, the city decided to camouflage the Parliament Buildings by covering them with tar, mixed with cow manure. That way, when Germany dropped their bombs during their air raids on Belfast, they weren’t able to see their targets as easily. The mixture however was not very easy to remove, although it clearly worked as the buildings are still standing.

We finally made it to Belfast City Hall, the civic headquarters and a symbol of civil pride of the city. Plans for City Hall began in 1888, when Queen Victoria declared city status for Belfast. The statue right outside the City Hall is of Queen Victoria.

Right across the street from the City Hall is Belfast City Center, a food and shopping district. We had two hours to explore on our own, then we had to meet back at Visit Belfast(across the street) at 2:00 p.m. to continue our tour. We split up and I made my way towards the City Center.

Exploring Belfast City Center

Two hours to explore and grab some lunch on the way. Sounded like a plan. I walked through the city center to get a feel of the place.

There were quite a few high end stores, but I didn’t travel all the way to Belfast to shop. I continued through the city center and made my way towards the Albert Memorial Clock, also known as the “leaning tower of Belfast”.

From there I headed over to the River Lagan by Lagan Lookout.The first thing I saw was the Big Fish … otherwise known as the Salmon of Knowledge.

I spent a lot of time admiring the view at Lagan Lookout. The river Lagan is the main river in Belfast. The river Farset used to be the main river. Now it runs below the city. The name Belfast comes from the Irish term Béal Feirste, which means the mouth of the Farset.

After hanging around Lagan’s Lookout, I started to make my way back towards the City Center. I was hungry by now … which brings me back to where I began. By myself with a bunch of Euros and no British Pounds. I was already in Cafe Metz when I realized this and the waitress confirmed that they absolutely do not accept Euros. I didn’t panic though because I had my Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier credit card (thought I was in a bind didn’t you). My credit card company already knew that I was traveling and there is no foreign transaction fee. I was able to enjoy my prawns and linguine without any worry.

After lunch, I walked back through the City Center and met with the tour guide and the rest of the group outside Visit Belfast. We were then off to the second half of our tour – Titanic Belfast and the Game of Thrones Exhibit.

Titanic Belfast tour

Our next stop was the Titanic Belfast, the world’s largest monument to the RMS Titanic. As you can see, the building of the Titanic Belfast is quite unique, reflecting angles in the shape of the ship’s prows.  The building is 126 feet high, the same height of the Titanic itself.  Ironically enough, the building looks like an iceberg.

Everyone knows the tragic story of the Titanic – the large passenger liner carrying over 2000 people – men, women, and children, that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after hitting an iceberg during its voyage from Southampton to New York. Many of the passengers on the Titanic were emigrants seeking a new life in the United States.

Belfast was the leading port in Northern Ireland by the early 1700s and became one of the shipbuilding capitals of the world during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The Titanic Belfast stands on the very site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard, the shipyard that built the Titanic itself. If you walk through the museum on the first level, right through the door outside towards the dock, you will be standing on the very site where the Titanic was built.The Titanic Belfast provides interactive galleries for a self-guided tour. The tour allows you to experience the entire journey of the RMS Titanic, from its conception, design, construction, and launch … right up to its tragic demise and the aftermath, including the US Senate Inquiry and the world’s response.

One of the most interesting parts of the museum, is learning about some of the ship’s passengers. The Titanic carried numerous emigrants who were looking forward to starting a new life in the “New World.” For instance, Frank J. W. Goldsmith – 3rd Class Passenger, aged 9, was emigrating with his family from Stroud (Kent County) England to Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A., where his father had planned to work as a toolmaker.  Frank and his mother survived. His father did not. Only women and children were allowed on the lifeboats.  The liner also carried some extremely wealthy passengers. Bruce Ismay, the owner of Harland & Wolff, was also a passenger of the Titanic. He survived.

Admission to the Titanic Belfast is included in the Paddywagon tour, but if you’re visiting independently, then it’s £19.00 for adults and £8.50 for children over 5 years old (children under 5 are free). If you are in Belfast and you have the time, the Titanic Belfast is definitely worth the experience.

Game of Thrones Exhibition
I’m a huge Game of Thrones fan, so when I saw that there was a GOT Exhibition in Belfast I was really excited. Paddywagon Tours gives you the option of either the Titanic Belfast or the Game of Thrones Exhibition (to be included in the tour). You also have the option of doing both, but you have to pay a supplemental fee of £17.50 (approx). I opted for both. I mean, when would I ever have this opportunity again?

The Game of Thrones Exhibition is located within walking distance from the Titanic Belfast, so it’s quite easy to do both during your tour. Right outside the Exhibition, if you look closely enough, you will see the set of King’s Landing … that is after Drogon burnt it to the ground.

Upon entry, you have the option of purchasing an audio tour or just doing a self-guided tour. I opted for the latter. You can also take a chroma key photo with Drogon (Danaerys’ main dragon). At the end of the tour, you can take another photo sitting on the Iron Throne. You will be able to view and purchase both photos at the end of the tour for £10.00 each. But before you go crazy, if you continue along pass the photo purchase booth, you will see another Iron Throne right before you exit the exhibition section. You can sit on this Iron Throne and take a photo for free! I learned this the hard way and found out right after I purchased my Iron Throne pic. Oh well.

It took me about 40 minutes to walk through the entire Exhibition, but you can go through it at your own pace. The Exhibition consists of props and costumes from the set, as well as information about Westeros and its Seven Kingdoms, Essos, the characters, and other aspects of the show. My favorite section was the display of the dragon skulls that were kept beneath the Red Keep. Pretty cool huh?

Truth be told, as excited as I was when I signed up for this tour, I was a little underwhelmed when I actually did it. The experience itself wasn’t exactly mind-blowing and I can’t say I learned anything I didn’t know before. I don’t know why (maybe I got a little too excited), but I thought we would be able to walk through parts of the actual sets from the show, like King’s Landing. I was a little disappointed when I realized that wasn’t the case. Nevertheless, the overall experience was cool and I’m glad I had the opportunity to check it out.I definitely recommend doing both the Titanic Belfast and Game of Thrones Exhibition tours. Unless of course you couldn’t care less about Game of Thrones, then you would be fine just choosing the Titanic Belfast option. I wouldn’t recommend doing the Game of Thrones tour alone, it took me 40 minutes and I would have had a lot of time to kill had I not visited Titanic Belfast first. I learned a lot from the Titanic Belfast exhibition and feel I would have missed out had I not seen it. The Game of Thrones exhibition was icing on the cake. The only things I would do differently with my personal tour in Belfast is (1) do the Black Taxi tour and (2) make sure I have a few British pounds.

We regrouped and met up with our tour guide outside the Titanic Belfast, where our bus picked us up. Once everyone was on board, we headed home. We were supposed to stop at the Celtic Cross site on the way back, but didn’t because of the rain. Despite the few setbacks with the bus and the rain, I would use Paddywagon tours again.

Once we returned to Ireland, I started to see signs with traditional Irish writing (also known as Gaelic). You will see/hear this language more in the south. Northern Ireland is a part of the U.K. so the traditional Irish was replaced by English.However, in the south, in addition to speaking English, the Irish have managed to retain their traditional tongue. In fact, Irish is the first official language of the Republic of Ireland. I find this extremely impressive. Our guide taught us a few words: Éire – Ireland; dia dhuit – hello (God be with you); slán – goodbye; sláinte (pronounced slancha) – cheers; fun – craic (pronounced crack, so please do not use this term anywhere else except in the Republic of Ireland).We got back to the Paddywagon headquarters on Grafton Street at around 6:45 p.m. and I made it back to the hotel a little after 7:00 p.m. Just in time for dinner with my hubby and son.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience in Belfast. Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to return one day and explore more of the city.