The city is modern and clean with the traditional botanical gardens, museums and university. The botanical gardens include the domed glass Palm House built in 1849 is unique in having a cold wing and a hot wing where the dome is located. You never know who you are going to run into - a statue of Lord Kelvin is also on the grounds.
The Ulster Museum was renovated in 2009 combining multiple collections of biological, geological anthropological as well as historical artifacts located at various levels with a central atrium looking down into the entry level. It has modernistic sculptures but most interesting at the time of the visit, a display of Viking Deadly Dragons that attracted children as if they were ice cream. The last image is that of the Belfast University where all the stories of dragons, witches and leprechauns are delegated to myths. The museum layout is different but worth visiting.
Walking downtown one encounters the grotesque as well as the unusual. Imagine running into Medicare here…nostalgia of home. A giant quilt covering the facade of a sewing schools and multitude of pubs. Surprisingly traffic is heavy and the streets are busy. Belfast seems to be undergoing an economic rebirth.
Belfast economic power originated with the linen trade and at one time produced most of the linen and the maritime ropes used by the shipping industry worldwide. Shipbuilding was a major industry at the beginning of the XX Century, and when the Titanic was launched in 1912, it had the largest shipyard in the world. There was also airplane manufacturing that contributed to the war effort during the WWII. The Titanic Museum (below) has a very modernistic building that seems to follow the lines of the famous ship. I hesitantly went into the museum and was pleasantly surprised. It mostly deals with the construction of the ship with lots of trivia; for example, 3 million fasteners of 6 different types in fastening the hull steel plates. There is a suspended ride that takes you through the different stages of construction of the ship - all well done.
Recent history of the city deal with the “Troubles”, the result of the divisions in Northern Ireland between religious groups that has been quiet recently. But tension can still be seen in the graffiti in some sectors of the city. Below is a partial photograph of the “Peace Walls”. Suggest you refer to the history of the “Troubles” on the internet. The last photo is that of the Northern Ireland Parliament at Stormont.
I will continue this blog covering my travels along the
coastal roads on the island moving counter clockwise.