Northern Ireland > Arrival in Belfast

Shortly after noon, EasyJet flight EZY6772 takes off from Schiphol Airport. Today’s destination is Belfast. Together with Rita and René, I am traveling to the capital of Northern Ireland. On the plane, I realize that I actually know very little about Northern Ireland. Of course, I recognize the images of the provocative Orange marches and the violent riots that followed. I know U2’s song lyrics about “Bloody Sunday,” but I couldn’t describe a single building in Belfast. In the travel guide, I read that Northern Ireland has roughly 1.9 million inhabitants and an area about one-third the size of the Netherlands. I also read that in the early 20th century, the famous Titanic was built at a shipyard in Belfast. This has now become one of the city’s main tourist attractions. Less than an hour and a half later, the plane begins its landing toward Belfast. In the arrivals hall, there is a long line for customs. Slowly, the four counters move closer.

Northern Ireland - On the way to Belfast

I am allowed into Northern Ireland without any problems. The international airport is about twenty kilometers from Belfast. An express bus shuttle runs to the city every twenty minutes. At an information kiosk, we buy tickets. Outside the airport, the bus is already waiting—a real double-decker. We are the only passengers upstairs. From our front seats, we watch the Irish landscape pass by. Sometimes a raindrop splashes on the windshield, sometimes the sun shines. The weekend weather forecast is typically Irish, with rain predicted every day. In the center of Belfast, the weather is dry. We try to figure out where to get off the bus. We don’t have much choice—the bus goes straight to the bus station. Whether there were stops along the way is unclear. Perhaps we were supposed to press a button. Fortunately, the bus station is not far from our hotel. We are too early for check-in, so we walk into the city center. It looks lively, with wide pedestrian shopping streets. Many shops focus on coffee and lunch; they do not serve alcohol. A little further down the street, chairs are set outside—surely they serve beer here. Inside, it turns out to be a kind of delicatessen supermarket. The owner points out the beer in the display.

Northern Ireland - The first beer in the city

It’s not Irish beer, but we make do. The hotel is housed in an old historic building. For most of the year, students live here. During the summer months, tourists can stay. The rooms look neat, but the bed is narrow. It’s a small double pushed against the wall—not ideal for two brothers, especially if one has to get up to go to the toilet at night. There were few affordable hotel rooms in Belfast this weekend, so we accept the bed as it is. Thanks to the hotel’s ideal location, we can easily walk back into the city center. We wander through the streets. Pink double-decker public buses pass by with commuters. Near City Hall, a temporary golf course has been set up in the park. This is due to the 148th Golf Open tournament in Northern Ireland, which happens this weekend in Portrush, north of Belfast. Perhaps this explains why so few hotel rooms were available. We decide to eat at a cozy corner restaurant. We arrive just in time—behind us, a line quickly forms with a wait of over half an hour for a table. At the end of the evening, we walk into the western district behind our hotel. Here lie the working-class neighborhoods that were the stage for the religious conflict in the late 20th century. In Sandy Row, a Protestant working-class area, a large mural commemorates William III of Orange-Nassau and the Battle of the Boyne. On July 11, 1690, William of Orange drove King James II of England out. To this day, this victory is annually commemorated by Protestant extremists with an Orange march. The march also provocatively passes through Catholic areas, often resulting in serious unrest.