Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK): June 6 to June 8

Giant's Causeway

Belfast vibes

View from hostel room

Botanic gardens

GC

GC w/ Jack

Boojum aka Chipotle dupe 4 din

Runkerry Beach

Belfast was different from Dublin and Galway. To start, there weren’t swarms of tourists to weave through while walking down the street. It was a normal city where I was a normal person surrounded by normal people living their life. This change of pace encouraged me to do less and appreciate the simplicity of existing.

My hostel experience this time around was 10/10. Upon arriving I met Phil the receptionist who I chatted with for a solid ten minutes about the history of Belfast. I was unaware of the turmoil during The Troubles (if you don’t know about it, there were bombings and other acts of violence between Protestants in favor of staying part of the UK and Roman Catholics who wanted to become part of the republic of Ireland, only ending recently in the late 90s). I was shocked to learn how segregated the city still is. After Phil gave me the Belfast rundown, I wandered around the botanic gardens and scoped out the city.

When I returned to my hostel room, I met one of my three roommates. From Australia, he just finished up a homestay working on a sheep farm in Scotland. After Belfast he was heading to Dublin and then Morocco. I told him I was planning on taking a day trip to Giant’s Causeway the next day, and asked if he wanted to join. And that he did!

I have to admit, I went that whole next day we were together not knowing his name. I forgot what he said during our introductions the previous evening and felt weird asking again as we began having the type of conversations you should only have with people you can name. Apart from not knowing what to call him, we got to know each other very well after being buddies for 9 hours straight.

We hiked all around Giant’s Causeway, and then roamed along Runkerry Beach where we saw dolphins crest above the water. We chatted about every possible thing two strangers can delve into: favorite animals, his girlfriend, cultural differences, and future plans, etc. From the beach we followed the railroad into Bushmills where we got ice cream and waited for our return bus. After we got back to the hostel room, I swiftly peaked at his backpack tag to discover his name is Jack. To be fair, I have reason to believe he didn’t remember my name either. We parted ways the next morning without exchanging any contact info, and I made my way to the airport where I sat for five hours in true dad fashion to ensure nothing could possibly go wrong for my first flight within the UK.

Belfast Activities

• Giant’s Causeway

• Runkerry Beach

• Village of Bushmill

• Belfast Botanic Gardens

• General walking around

• Became friends with Jack

• First solo international flight to next location in the UK

P.S. This post has been difficult to publish because the WiFi has been super spotty!