 |
| Flag of Ireland |
Hooray! We are going places! We walked more 103 miles together and caught a ferryboat in Cairnryan Port, arriving in Belfast, Ireland.
Our intention was to head to Iceland but we realized that it would be better if we visited all the important places nearby, while we still have the chance. We are still looking forward to visiting our first non english speaking country, to test our language learning progress. Ireland won't count because most of the population is fluent in English.
Belfast is the capital and second largest city in Northern Ireland, being made a city in 1888 (the same year slavery was abolished in Brazil).The city's population is relatively small, compared to what we have seen, at 333,871 in 2015.
The name Belfast comes form Irish 'Beal Feirste' meaning 'Rivermouth of the sandbanks'.
The area where Belfast is settled has been occupied since the Bronze Age, with ancient constructions and forts as tangible evidence.
As with many costal European cities, Belfast grew substantially during the Industrial Revolution, being a centre for textiles, specialized in Irish linen, also tobacco processing, rope making and shipbuilding, while also having the world's biggest and most productive shipyard in the 20th century. We learned that it was once called Linenopolis, for it's influence with linen goods.
So early In this adventure of ours did we unintentionally discover the city where the Titanic ship was built. As we already saw, Belfast had the biggest shipbuilder in the world, that was Harland and Wolff company, formed in 1861 by Edward James Harland and Gustav Wilhelm Wollf. It was responsible for the construction of the White Star Line ship Titanic in 1911, which we sadly remember didn't carry a good fate.
Today Belfast is one of the most visited cities in the UK, and second in Ireland, after Dublin, having had over 7.1 million tourists in 2007. It was the only UK destination in the Frommer's guidebook Top 12 Destinations to visit in 2009.
On the way here we learned many good and bad things about the city, so we were careful not to attract much attention, because of certain prejudices which may or may not still exist in the city, and updated our visits based on our research. We were actually pretty excited to be here
On the way here we learned many good and bad things about the city, so we were careful not to attract much attention, because of certain prejudices which may or may not still exist in the city, and updated our visits based on our research. We were actually pretty excited to be here
Important Event: The Troubles
Interesting Facts:
- In 2007, Belfast saw house prices grow by 50%, the fastest rate of growth in the UK. In March 2007, the average house in Belfast cost £91,819, with the average in south Belfast being £141,000
- The city's two airports have helped make the city one of the most visited weekend destinations in Europe
- The News Letter newspaper was created in Belfast and is the oldest English-language newspaper in the world still in publication.
- We successfully retraced William Thomson's (Baron Kelvin) steps, first we visited the river which gave him his title in Glasgow and new we arrived in his home town, Belfast.
- The pneumatic tire was invented by John Wood Dunlop in Belfast.
- Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven‘ was first played live in the Ulster Hall.
- Soccer player George Best was born in Belfast
 We arrived in Ireland on the 39th day of the journey, making 131 miles in 4 days.  |
| Each crane has a span of 140 m (459 ft) and can lift up to 840 tons (1600 tons combined) to a height of 70 m/230 ft. |
Upon our arrival in the city of Belfast we couldn't stop noticing two giant cranes on the horizon, giving the city the feeling of a very busy dock (as it previously was). It got our attention and we headed to it first thing - Upon getting closer we read 'H&W' on them.
Right away we noticed that the shipbuilding isn't so strong anymore, it seems that the company is more focused in offshore building and wind power and renewable energy. As they told us, the market for renewable energy is growing very rapidly in the recent years, with high demands for Wind turbines both on land an offshore, where they specialize. Though, shipbuilding is not completely stopped, the last ship they've built was a cruiser for the national defense in 2003. In regards to ships, the company is profiting a lot only with repairs, including offshore repairs, as with petrol stations.
We then headed to a public park called Botanic Gardens, to update our standards a little and bring it home.
We visited Botanic Gardens to update our park standards a little.
Botanic Gardens has an area of 28 acres(110.000m²), housing many species of flowers and trees, which are both kept in glasshouses and outdoors.
The park also holds concerts and music festivals, and has received names as popular as: U2, Franz Ferdinand, The White Stripes and Snow patrol, to name a few.
It would be just perfect if The Flower Kings played here! Oh, what would we do to see that happen!...
Belfast has over 40 public parks, due to national preservation plans, so we'll stop the park visits in Belfast here.
We heard that Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park, with 130 acres/0.52 km² would be a perfect place for a hike; It surely would, and most of us don't have such large parks to explore back home, but unfortunately we are not here to run today. It is already difficult to get enough calories just for walking.
- When we stopped to meditate on the road to Whitby, 3 weeks ago, a guild member stealthily left the circle and went walking on his on, eventually getting lost and creating an adventure of his own. We thought we would never meet again, but by a mage's miracle we ended up crossing paths once more. Here he was, as we walked by we recognized his figure, now meditating alone next to a flower field, we respected his meditation and surprised him with our presence. Later he told us all of his adventures and rejoined the party.
- When we stopped to meditate on the road to Whitby, 3 weeks ago, a guild member stealthily left the circle and went walking on his on, eventually getting lost and creating an adventure of his own. We thought we would never meet again, but by a mage's miracle we ended up crossing paths once more. Here he was, as we walked by we recognized his figure, now meditating alone next to a flower field, we respected his meditation and surprised him with our presence. Later he told us all of his adventures and rejoined the party.
We couldn't wait any longer and went to one of the most exciting stops for us in Belfast, The Paint Hall (Titanic Studios), formerly a facility for painting ships and now one of Europe's largest film studios, some even say it is the largest.
The paint Hall is Game of Throne's main production hub, it was here where the production for the HBO TV Series Game Of Thrones started.
The building is consisted of 6 weather controlled filming stages and many separate production units.
"- Let's see if they allows us inside, maybe we even discover something about the next season!"
We won't talk about what happened inside. No, we don't have any leaks.
After being kick leaving The Paint Hall, we were very excited to visit the Titanic visitor attraction, right next to it in Queens Rd, as near as the second right down the road.
 |
| It may not seem like it, but the building stands on the shipyard where the Titanic was built in 1911, near River Lagan. |
The museum, which is meant to educate about Belfast's heritage, is located on the former site of H&W shipyard where the Titanic ship was built. It was opened in 2012 to mark the centenary of Titanic's maiden voyage.
The area around it is called Titanic Quarter, there are plenty of other buildings referencing this part of the city's history, as it is part of a national program with this intention.
Titanic can be taken as an interactive tour, or a ride through Belfast's history and in depth depiction of the Titanic ship, including a 360° tour through Titanic. The tour is divided in galleries. The building also includes education, community and restaurant facilities.
Until now we haven't had any communication problems, it seems that English has long dominated the Irish/Gaelic languages. Only 38% of the population are classified as Irish speakers and only 10% use Irish regularly, outside the education system.
 |
| Obel Tower from the Titanic Quarter |
We had a glimpse of Belfast`s tallest building, Obel Tower, from the Titanic Museum. It has 85 m/279 feet and was finished in 2011.
We are now heading to the first aircraft producer in the world.
The first aircraft producer in the world was Short Brothers plc in Belfast, bought by Bombardiers in 1989.
This isn't a visitor attraction, though we had access inside and talked to Bombardiers representatives about it`s history and what they are doing now.
We leaned that this facility is the Bombardier Headquarters, base for administration, engineering, fuselage and wing production. Though the company has several other facilities for Customer Services, maintenance, repair and overhaul, along with other composites production sites in different locations.
After buying Short Brothers in 1989, Bombardiers invested over 2.5 bi in train and plane making, becoming the leading manufacturer for both, so we were told.
More recently, the company has been cutting over 1000 jobs as part of a redundancy programme to reduce it`s work force, more we could not know.
Sadly it seems there is not much left of Short Brothers, so we left for our last stop in the city, Victoria Square, also very close, next to Obel Tower.
Our next stop will be a shopping mall, in hopes to see the marketing and shopping scene of the city.
Just by walking back and forth in the center we got a good idea of it's development; it is compared to the big towns in England.
Here in Victoria Shopping Mall, in Victoria Square, we can have a birds eye view of the city looking through it's glass dome, as well as explore over 98 stores in more than 800,000 ft² (75,000m²) of retail over four floors. -While walking through the shopping, we were stopped by a guy asking us how much a PS4 costs, because we look like the type of person who knows this kind of things, and we ended up telling them about VR and PS4 Pro, about how much it costed at launch compared to what it costs now, how it's really worth it to get a PC for VR, etc..
The shopping center, along with the square, is the most expensive property development in Northern Ireland, both being built over six years, opening in 2008.
Just by walking back and forth in the center we got a good idea of it's development; it is compared to the big towns in England.
Here in Victoria Shopping Mall, in Victoria Square, we can have a birds eye view of the city looking through it's glass dome, as well as explore over 98 stores in more than 800,000 ft² (75,000m²) of retail over four floors. -While walking through the shopping, we were stopped by a guy asking us how much a PS4 costs, because we look like the type of person who knows this kind of things, and we ended up telling them about VR and PS4 Pro, about how much it costed at launch compared to what it costs now, how it's really worth it to get a PC for VR, etc..
The shopping center, along with the square, is the most expensive property development in Northern Ireland, both being built over six years, opening in 2008.
We'll be touring South Ireland for this week, it will be the perfect opportunity to see if the problems of The Troubles remain, what would be very sad if it turns out true.
No comments:
Post a Comment