Tour Diary: Dublin to Belfast

The tour kicked off in Dublin, a town that I’ve visited over many summers, as all my Irish family are still there.

At the Holyhead ferry port I opened my bunk window to rain and high winds, the bus swayed, a sign of things to come. I optimistically had a cooked breakfast on the ferry, which came with a tomato that tasted of fish, how novel. Half an hour later, thanks to storm force 10 conditions, I was bringing it back up again. I’ve never had seasickness before but this was epic, with waves crashing onto the windows, glasses smashing off the bar and people staggering to the toilets it all felt kinda biblical. We saw pretty much nothing of Dublin, with late timings and torrential rain.

Once in Belfast, showered and washed, I headed into town to have beautiful example of the Ulster Fry at Metz, which erased any memory of the god-awful fish-flavoured breakfast I had on the Stena ferry over. Belfast is a lovely city that has a beautifully dour appearance, with gothic, religious buildings inspire awe and fear. Last time I was in Belfast -years ago visiting a friend at Queens- the bit of the stay I loved the most was the visit up to Cave Hill, an amazing, horseshoe shaped-mound that hugs the city. Without a whole day to go up and wonder, I settled for second best, a trip up to the Dome shopping centre where you can see the whole of Belfast for free. Total winner.

The journey back to the UK was happily event-free, but I did spend the whole of the time waiting for the worst. Oh and taking selfies too. My ferry tips? Go to sleep, don’t eat the food and take some extra strong mints. Next up, Leeds and Glasgow…