Before Cris had to leave, we visited the Botanical Gardens which was really near our hostel.
 |
| Such pretty colors. Can only imagine how much prettier the park is during proper spring/summer. |
 |
| With Ange in the Palm House of the Botanical Gardens |
 |
| One last pic with Cris before she leaves |
After Cris left, we just chilled in our hostel until about 4pm and then joined the free walking tour hosted by our hostel. We had already seen a lot of the sites, but we heard a few interesting stories, and went to some new places towards the end of the tour.
 |
| The University |
It's a tad bit hard to see, but in the picture below, on top of the building, you can see the Red Hand of Ulster. The story goes that the King of Ulster had two sons - the strong one and the smart one - but he didn't know which of them should be the next king. So he had a contest wherein his two sons had to row from Scotland to Ulster (Northern Ireland), and whoever's hand touched the banks of Ulster first would be the next king. As the two sons were rowing, the stronger one was obviously winning. The smarter one knew that he could never overtake his brother, so he cut off his hand and threw it towards Ulster where it landed, all red and bloody, on the banks, thus securing his spot as the next king.
 |
| The Red Hand of Ulster |
 |
| City Hall |
 |
| Hope Statue |
 |
| A cute street lined with pubs |
Belfast is sometimes called the world's largest open gallery due to all the murals painted around the city.
 |
| Murals |
 |
| Murals |
After our tour we had a quick dinner, then ended the night at the Crown Bar/the Crown Liquor Saloon, Belfast's most famous pub. It had very pretty interiors, complete with booths like in the olden saloons. I was extra excited to visit because Brad Pitt apparently visited the bar too (though we didn't get to find out which booth he sat in...).
 |
| Interior and the booth |
 |
| Having a Guiness! (Joke, I didn't actually drink that. Ha!) |
Comments