Belfast

It is 2 am and I head to the airport in Muscat. Everywhere says arrive three hours before your flight but I arrive 2.5 hours before my flight and I feel like I am waiting around forever, especially trying to stay awake the early hours of the morning. My first flight is a short 1.5 hours to Doha and then around 7.5 hours to Dublin.

Immigration at Dublin isn’t too bad. The line could be shorter but it also isn’t the longest I’ve waited in. I actually got a stamp in my passport. It’s a nice memory that seems to be slowly going away in some countries.

I am heading straight to Belfast. I don’t stop at the Atm this time because I brought British pounds from home from a previous trip (that I find out are obsolete when I try to use them). I also converted the excess Omani money to euros (I got confused with conversion rates/cost of traveling and took out way too much money in Oman). Northern Ireland is still technically part of the UK so they use British pounds as their currency. Basically in Belfast it is pounds and when I am back in Dublin I will use Euros.

I bought my bus ticket to Belfast in advance but not knowing how long it would take for immigration or flight delays my bus is not scheduled for many hours. There is a bus coming soon, it is cold, raining and I am not yet prepared for it the weather so I ask to board an earlier bus. It is a space available situation after the correct ticket holders are seated first. Luckily there are a few seats available so I get an earlier start to Belfast. It is a two hour ride. I can’t see anything because rain and aisle seat so I do some reading. My hotel is a seven minute walk from the bus stop. I brave the cold (again I have not really taken my winter clothes out yet) and walk to my hotel. I can see snow covered hills in the distance. I love the cold so I don’t want to complain about the weather. I am staying at a Hilton property so I am happy to have a comfortable consistent hotel experience for a change.

I change and head out to do laundry because I am very close to having zero clean undergarments. On the way I am getting wet because I decide to wear my winter coat instead of my rain jacket. I go buy an umbrella because I figure it is a good investment here since it never seems to stop raining. This is when I find my British pounds are old. I try to use them to pay for my umbrella. I guess they really are souvenirs now. I can convert them at a bank but it is the weekend so I’ll probably just end up keeping them.

While doing laundry I look for places to eat dinner while I watch group after group on the pub crawler pedal parties blasting their loud music down the street every 5 minutes. It is Saturday night so probably a big party night. When I do try to eat after laundry is done every pub I want to eat at is already full, including a few restaurants I try. I finally find a restaurant with tables available across from my hotel but that gets very busy as I eat. It is a nice comfort food dish for the cold rainy weather. I also try to have a cocktail or two. I have to get in practice for upcoming St Patricks day. I haven’t really been drinking alcohol for a couple weeks due to illness and conservative alcohol policies. I am really out of practice.

I keep seeing adorable bearded Irish men everywhere I go. They are all so nice and kind. I could get used to this.

I go back to my room originally planning to do trip research and other things but I struggle to stay awake. I give up and sleep. Of course I wake up at 2 am because I fall asleep too early plus jet lag. I am not getting back to sleep so I guess I play catch up now.

I head out early in the morning to sightsee. I have a mid-day titanic reservation but since I’m up early it is good time to start a self paced walking tour. It is still raining on and off so I make good use of my umbrella, it just doesn’t seem to be a good match for the wind though.

I stop at the chain Tim Horton for a coffee and a doughnut. I know its a Canadian chain but it is my first time trying it. It seems like a fancier Dunkin Doughnuts.