July 28, 2012
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(written on 12 March 2013)
I was so happy last night when I could walk back from City Hall to my hotel without feeling the slightest pain in my back... so you can imagine my dismay when this morning getting out of bed could have been turned into an Olympic discipline. Once again it was so difficult to even reach the breakfast room, let alone to make my way out of the hotel and to the nearest Starbucks where I could give my back some rest again. But OK, I made it, and like yesterday things seemed to be getting easier as the day progressed.
In the morning I went to the large St George's indoor market near Central Station, which was a beautiful and busy place where you could purchase all kinds or stuff. From home made jams and textiles, to soaps and spirits - it was all there in a wonderful old market hall. It had been recommended to me by someone that I have known for many years now from his and my blogs, from Facebook, and from two visits that he made to Amsterdam some years ago, namely "Birmingham Bear", aka Colin (not Andy's Colin though.) I think he may have been a bit cross with me for visiting the city where he now lives (he moved here from Birmingham but kept his pseudonym) without letting him now or me having the desire to meet up, but in all honesty, I really need to be here in Belfast all by myself. I need some alone time, after some very hectic months in Amsterdam, and also after some very nice but also very social days with Arno in Blackpool and with Andy and Colin in Glasgow, I have to be on my own again for a while. It's funny how that works with me - but it's also very important to me.
In the early afternoon I wobbled over to the new Titanic Museum (picture above - and yes, it is a photograph and not a drawing) to see the exhibition. "Sold Out" is what the sign said at the entrance but when I asked the guy at the till (probably the biggest homosexual in Nothern Ireland) he still had some tickets left so I was welcome one hour later for my time slot (coffee in the meantime of course!) It must be said that the building looks spectacular from the outside, and even the spaces inside are just beautiful... but the exhibition itself was maybe not my cup of tea. It was very busy which made it quite difficult to see or experience all that was shown and even though some of the things shown were very interesting (the IMAX show which let you see what the inside of the ship looked like)... well, maybe I wasn't in the right mood for it all. I would still recommend it, especially if you have kids with you, but I would have designed the museum slightly different - and I would have enforced that "Sold Out" sign a bit stricter probably.
The evening? Very simple and very quiet. I was completely not in the mood for bars, even though there are actually some nice bars and even gay bars in the trendy Botanic area of Belfast, so after a nice meal in a fairly old-fashioned restaurant in the city centre, I went back to my hotel - satisfied but tired - and just read and relaxed. My last full day of this holiday had been very nice indeed, despite the back trouble that had come back this morning.
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