Holiday in Ireland – Day 6

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So, here we are on our final full-day here. The weather forecast is excellent (again), and so we’re going to drive up to Belfast and explore the city.

9.30am: As usual, there’s nothing on the roads, so it was a straightforward journey to Belfast. We parked in Castle Court car-park and that gave us direct access to the shops. We had a quick look round – it all looked very posh and there were plenty of people shopping.

12.00 midday: A short pit-stop in Starbuck’s to see if I can use their free Wi-Fi. I should have read the small-print about what ‘free’ actually means – bah!!!

12.10pm: After coffee, we had  a final walk round the shops and then headed for City-Hall. A splendid old building, both inside and out, with Queen Victoria glaring down at the semi naked office dwellers sunbathing in the gardens. Plenty of tattoos and un-ironed flesh on show today…

12.15pm: Then off to find Nick’s Warehouse, a pub/restaurant recommended last night by Ronnie. After a few detours, and eventually stopping to ask for directions, we found it. Not really helped by the fact that  Ann (Mrs Navigator) had the map upside down) It was already very busy, but we were served pretty quickly. Ann chose the salad and I had the fish pie – both were delicious.

1.30pm: We took a slightly different route back to the car and passed Belfast Cathedral – nice!

1.45pm: Back to the car and heading in the general direction of the apartment. On the way back, we decided to head for beyond the back-of-beyond, and visit Reagh Island, half-way between Comber and Killinchy on the A25. The road got narrower and narrower, but it was well worth it. It has a castle ruin there, and as we discovered when we arrived, the ruins of a really, really old Monastery – Nendrum Monastic site dating back to the 10th century. Lovely views over the Strangford Lough and a birds eye look down on the boats and yachts.

4.00pm: Arrived back at the apartment and celebrated the end of the holiday with an ice-cream and a final sit-out on the terrace in the sun before getting packed for tomorrow.

6.25pm: We’re all packed! Time to visit The Cuan for the very last time (for this holiday anyway!). We said our good-byes to Peter – and promised to be back!