After a reasonable breakfast and a lovely day we headed to Stranraer for an explore of the town. Although it is now the heart of the Loch Ryan oyster industry it shows the scars of its busy past as a major ferry port. We spent a pleasant hour strolling along the harbour area before heading to Cairnryan for the noon ferry
We had a straightforward checkin to the P&O ferry at Cairnryan and an easy 2 hour crossing to Larne ( although Claire may not have liked the motion). Nice boat though. It was glorious weather and we saw dolphins on the crossing.
A 40 minute drive from Larne to our hotel in Belfast centre, but we were a tad shocked at the location as the area seemed a bit run down. I talked to some taxi drivers and they said that the city had been hit hard by COVID and had not yet recovered. We are on the 9th floor of the hotel with a view out over the city, which actually isn’t that pretty!
However we walked to the city hall and enjoyed a different view of the city. There are some beautiful buildings not least of which was City Hall itself. We had a 4pm free tour of the non-public areas which was stunning.
We then strolled around the largely pedestrianised centre, including Writer’s Square and the Catherdral (not so impressive) then a couple of drinks and dinner in White’s Beer Hall. The Guinness was good!
Back to the hotel relatively early for chat, games and the customary complimentary drinks from Ibis. Belfast has surprised and disappointed in equal measure. Some fabulous buildings and a beautiful pedestrianised heart but just on the edge of that and you can see things have a long way to go.
