Left Glasgow via train, then took a bus to a boat and a boat across the water to Belfast. Things had been a little bit more tense in Belfast recently, especially with the Orange parade a few weeks earlier, where the Protestants celebrate a 400 something year old victory over the Catholics, getting everyone in kind of a sensitive mood. Not tense enough to avoid, and once I got there, not tense at all, especially not according to all the people I met who were set on convincing everyone Belfast was a lovely and safe place to visit.

They convinced me. I had a lovely time in Belfast. The Ulster Museum is fantastic, with a small-but-thorough exhibit on the Troubles and a wide selection of taxidermy and the history of (Northern) Ireland. The city is really pleasant to walk around in, everyone is really nice, plenty of good street signs to enjoy. Did see a Confederate flag in one of the bars, which was disconcerting, but I didn’t spent much time thinking about it, lest my positive feelings for the place get a bit spoiled.

I had some great luck with folks in Belfast. The hostel I stayed at was clean, staffed by super friendly people, and, um, stayed-in by a really friendly group as well. The problem with a nice hostel full of nice people is that it can kinda trick you into spending too much time there, which I definitely did, but a lot of that was the pool table’s fault.

I was a little sleepy on Thursday, so… I went to see Pacific Rim. It was terrible; I don’t know why I was surprised. After the movie, I stopped in a really promising looking bar which served delicious (and pricey!!!) cocktails. I ordered a Manhattan, and they apologized for not having any rye, would bourbon be okay? The mere fact that you asked me that question makes my heart leap with joy! I met up with some super friendly guys there who took me out to a few fun spots. IT was super fun, and it’s always great to get to know a town through the locals, though it made my Friday a little more tired than I’d planned. But great fun. Visit Belast.