Our second stop on the Belfast motorcoach tour was at Belfast Castle.
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| Belfast Castle (1867-1870, attributed to Charles Lanyon and/or his son John Lanyon and William H Lynn, in Victorian Scots Baronial style as a country house) |
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| Belfast Castle's Cat Garden, where apparently there has always been a resident cat as tradition dictates that if so, good fortune will come to those who visit, and/or, the castle will never fall |
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| There are nine cat references in the garden; this is a topiary (KSS) |
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| There is a pair of well-worn cat mosaics |
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| A cat statue and a cat etching |
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| Cat statue at the fountain (KSS) |
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| Tamiko & Kent selfie at Belfast Castle |
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| Winding staircase at the castle; our tour guide was married here and had a lovely group photo taken on the staircase |
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| Another cat sculpture |
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| And another cat sculpture; we apparently missed one of the cat references! |
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| Tesco is the United Kingdom's largest supermarket chain |
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| St Patrick's Catholic Church (1877, by Timothy Hevey, in Gothic Revival style) |
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| St Anne's Cathedral (1899-1904, by Sir Thomas Drew, additions by William H Lynn, 1927 façade by Sir Charles A Nicholson) of the Church of Ireland |
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| Belfast city is full of little passageways |
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| Albert Memorial Clock (1865-1869, by William J Barre) leans four-feet off perpendicular as a result of being built on reclaimed marsh land, thus is said to "have the time and the inclination" (KSS) |
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| Customs House (1854-1857, by Charles Lanyon in High Italian Renaissance/Palazzo style) |
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| Iconic landmarks in Belfast are Samson and Goliath, two massive shipbuilding gantry cranes (1969, and 1974 by Krupp) belonging to Harland & Wolff, the builders of the RMS Titanic |
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| View of the driver's cab on the crane (KSS) |
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| Gates to Stormont/Parliament Buildings that were built on the Stormont Estate outside of the city of Belfast |
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| An allée of Tilia sp/Lime or Linden trees are on both sides of Prince of Wales Avenue |
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| Statue (1933, by Leonard Stanford Merrifield) of Lord Edward Carson, considered the founder of Northern Ireland (KSS) |
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| Parliament Building (1928-1932, by Sir Arnold Thornely in Greek classical style) is topped by a statue (1921) of Britannia (hmm, this IS a unionist building!) |
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| The Stormont street lights, which have small moose heads under the lamp, are a gift from the Canadiaan government |
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| Back to board the Viking Venus, we see the lifeboats/tenders are back in place |
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| The shuttle dropped us off at City Hall (1898-1906, by Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas, in Baroque Revival style) |
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| Another gift from Canada? Tim Horton's |
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| Hybrid articulated bus of the Glider bus rapid transit system (2014-2018) in Belfast with two routes, and plans for extensions and two additional routes |
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| An Irish harp |
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| Grand Opera House (1895, by Frank Matcham, in a sort of an East Oriental style) |
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| Europa Hotel (1971, by Sydney Kaye, Eric Firkin & Partners) is known as the most bombed hotel in Europe (36 bomb attacks during The Troubles), yet President Bill Clinton and Hillary stayed there in 1995 |
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| Our destination was the Crown Liquor Saloon or The Crown Bar |
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| Inside the Crown Bar are ten booths, called snugs |
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| Another peek in a snug, showing its door |
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| Kent waited in the crowd at the bar to order his drink |
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| Mission accomplished: Kent with a draft of Guinness stout beer, which is said not to travel well, but it made it from Dublin to Belfast |
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| Some of the draft beers available at the Crown Bar, although it seemed everyone was drinking Guinness (KSS) |
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| Belfast Party Bike allows you to drink as you all help to pedal the contraption aound the city for a tour |
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| Ulster Hall (1859-1862, by William J Barre) is a concert hall |
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| A place for Philly Cheesesteaks in Belfast! |
Next: Ullapool, Scotland.
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