Belfast and Dublin

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

 View the photo album of Belfast and Dublin here.

Me in front of where Titanic was built

My latest adventure has taken me across the Irish Sea to two cities in two countries on the island of Ireland: Belfast, Northern Ireland and Dublin, Ireland.  For a little background information, Northern Ireland is part of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" (commonly known as the United Kingdom), and Ireland is officially known as the Republic of Ireland.

Belfast Big Fish

My Australian friend, Yoni, came with me on the trip, which started with our flight from Manchester to Belfast.  The view from the airplane of Northern Ireland was beautiful, only to be marred by a giant IKEA store by the airport.  Swedish furniture stores aside, Belfast was very nice city, even if it does not garner as much attention as Dublin.  Belfast is derived from the Irish "Béal Feirsde" which translates to "mouth of the sandbar".

H&W Crane

One of Belfast's popular tourist images is the Big Fish, which is a ten-metre ceramic fish.  Very close to the Big Fish is Belfast's oldest building, McHugh's Bar dating back to 1711.  Since Belfast is a seaport, a major part of Belfast's history and industry is it's shipbuilding industry, which played a major part in the Industrial Revolution.  Iconic city landmarks include two giant gantry cranes, named Samson and Goliath.  These are yellow, with a black "H&W" on them for the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff, who happen to be the makers of many famous ships, including the Titanic.  While they also have made many other famous ships such as the Brittanic and the Olympic, none are as recognizable as the Titanic.  Speaking of the Titanic, we were able to see the Titanic Dock and Pump House, which is where the Titanic was built and released into the harbour.  Although it is not the biggest ship by today's standards, back in 1911 when it was built, this ship was massive.  It is still big for today, but I cannot imagine what the other ships of its time would compare to side by side.

Kitchen Bar Paddy Pizza

Another cool place we stumbled upon in Belfast was St. George's Market, Northern Ireland's largest indoor market filled with food stands and other small crafts and clothing.  For dinner, we ate at one of the most historic bars in Belfast, the Kitchen Bar.  The Kitchen Bar is known for its Famous Kitchen Bar Paddy Pizza, which is chicken served on homemade soda bread with onion, tomato, peppers & cheddar cheese.  Of course we had to try it, and it was surprisingly delicious!  We also stopped at the Crown Bar, which was listed on a Yahoo! featured story as one of the top 10 bars in the UK.

Wall of some of the Political Murals

Perhaps one of the things that Belfast is most famous for (or infamous for that matter) are the Belfast Political Murals.  Northern Ireland is divided by many groups; Republican and Loyalist, Catholic and Protestant, Nationalist and Unionist.  These murals are painted on brick walls, and even on the sides of houses.  They used to be very political, but recently they have changed into showing pride and culture of their own views instead of hate and discrimination towards the other groups.

After Belfast, we continued our adventure to Dublin via train.  We started things off with a three-hour tour (how long? a three-hour tour) around Dublin, and we had a great tour guide named Peter, who didn't have quite as thick of an Irish accent as I would have expected.  The tour gave us a great overview of the city, and during the tour we saw many landmarks such as the Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, 'The Famine' (a memorial to the all of the people who died in the famine a while back) and many other important buildings that I have forgotten the names of.  We also went to a popular area called Temple Bar, known for its many pubs.  We stopped at one of the restaurants in Temple Bar after the tour and tried some proper Irish Beef and Guinness stew.  It wasn't as great as it sounds and it wasn't as bad as it sounds at the same time, if that makes sense.  We also decided to make a quick stop at the Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub.

Before I came to Ireland, I did some research and found that supposedly Shamrock Shakes at McDonald's are sold year-round.  I am not sure if that is true or not, but they had them in the beginning of April when we went, and I took full advantage of the opportunity.  I drank not one, but TWO Shamrock Shakes because they do not have them in the UK and I did not want to miss out this year!  Another difference between the UK and Ireland: in the UK, the post boxes (or mail boxes for you Yankees) to drop mail into are painted red, while in Dublin, they are painted green.

Liffey River and O'Connell Bridge

The Liffey River divides Dublin between North and South, and while there are many bridges to get from one side to the other, the most interesting one is the O'Connell Bridge, which is wider than it is long.  On the North side of Dublin on the same road as the O'Connell Bridge stands a very tall, cone-shaped stainless steel structure called the Spire of Dublin.  The tour guide told us it was also called the Millennium Spire, but ironically it wasn't finished until 2003. One of the coolest places in Dublin was Trinity College (founded in 1592) because the buildings were very historic and beautiful.

Jameson Irish Whiskey Taste Test:
Left: Johnnie Walker's Scotch Whiskey
Center: Jameson Irish Whiskey
Right: Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey

Finally, my two favorite parts of Dublin.  I'll start in the order that we went to them, and first is the Old Jameson Distillery.  While they do not currently make Jameson Irish Whiskey at that distillery anymore, we were able to learn how Irish whiskey is made.  In the beginning of the tour, they asked for volunteers, and I am very glad I did even though at the time I did not know what it was for.  At the end of the tour, everyone got a small glass of Jameson Irish Whiskey to drink and taste.  The volunteers got that, as well as a chance to taste test Jameson Irish Whiskey against other kinds.  Normally you would think they would give you samples of a cheap or bad tasting brand; however I was lucky enough to be able to taste test Johnnie Walker's Black Label Scottish Whiskey, Jack Daniel's American (Tennessee) Whiskey, and of course, Jameson Irish Whiskey.  With a little encouragement from the distillery tour guide, I chose the Jameson as my favorite, but not before a little fake-out "Sco...Jameson!"  I enjoyed all three!  The Johnnie Walker's was smokey, the Jack Daniel's was sweet, and the Jameson was very smooth, and I wouldn't say no to any of them.  After the taste-testing session, I was given a certificate that proves I am a Certified Irish Whiskey Taste Tester.

Me pouring a Perfect Pint of Guinness

Me at Guinness Brewery in Dublin

Saving the best for last was the Guinness Storehouse at St. James Gate in Dublin.  The place was gigantic, and it was a self-guided tour that took us a few hours.  We were able to learn how Guinness was made, and they had some really cool displays.  About half-way through, they gave us a half-pint of Guinness along with the ways to appreciate it, such as smell, taste, sound (oddly enough, there was a cool hissing noise when you put your ear in the glass), and more.  A bit further along I was able to pour my own pint of Guinness.  There was a station called "Pour the Perfect Pint of Guinness", where they taught us the proper way to fill a pint glass with Guinness.  First you tilt the glass at a 45-degree angle, putting the nozzle of the draught on the harp.  Then you fill up to the word Guinness on the pint glass by pulling the draught lever towards you, and set it down for it to settle.  When you are pouring the Guinness it is mixed with Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide, and that is what is moving throughout the glass if you have ever seen Guinness poured from a draught.  Finally you fill the rest up with pure Guinness by pushing the draught lever forward until your glass is full.  If you have done it right, it should take 119.5 seconds to fill up a pint of Guinness.  I also received a certificate declaring that I poured a perfect pint of Guinness, and it was by far the best one I have ever tasted.  At the top of the Guinness storehouse was the Gravity Bar, in which you can redeem the stub at the end of your ticket for a pint of Guinness.  You could either use this stub at the Pour the Perfect Pint or the Gravity Bar.  When I printed the receipt for the ticket in the lobby, the machine gave me an extra stub, so I was able to enjoy the pleasures of both (must be the Luck of the Irish!).  The Gravity Bar was really cool, as you could see Dublin 360-degrees around you.  The bartender even put a Shamrock in the head of my Guinness, a skill done by moving the glass around at the very end of filling the glass up.  One more fun fact: the harp was an unofficial symbol of Ireland, and when Guinness was getting started they began using the harp to signify that it was made in Ireland.  Guinness officially adopted the harp as its logo, and the Republic of Ireland had to flip their harp logo around in order not to interfere with violating Guinness' copyrights.  In other words, even though the harp was the symbol of Ireland, Guinness had legal rights over the logo first, thereby causing Ireland to flip the harp the other way.

Cheers!