I’ll not be going into great detail about my time in Belfast for a couple of reasons. The first of which has to do with politics. Belfast is a city that has had a rough time of things, and is where my father grew up. I was glad to have the opportunity to see this first hand.
Another reason I’ll not be going into great detail is there wasn’t a lot going on. Mostly, my time in Belfast consisted of going to the pub and visit family. I met Joe, the last of my father’s brothers and sisters (there were 11 altogether) and saw Sean whom I had last seen a couple of years ago, then Eamon, whom I had last seen in 1986. All of these visits were around pints.
I did see some stuff, but nothing really touristy. Dad and I caught the bus from Ballycastle at about 11 in the morning on Monday and got into Belfast about 1 or so. Then a bit of a walk to the taxi, we arrived at Sean’s house about 2. Since he was at work, we went to the local pub to see if Joe was there, and he was. We planned on 1 pint, but that usually never works out that way. Later that afternoon, we collected our things from Sean’s, got another taxi to Joe’s where we were staying, and walked over to the athletic club where Sean works. Naturally, there’s a pub there.
Tuesday as spent wandering around looking at the neighborhood where my father grew up. I heard some stories of people both living and dead, and got a better appreciation for who he is and where he comes from. Then it was off to the club, and on Wednesday morning we were off to Dublin.