I visited Northern Ireland on two occasions; the first was a day trip to Belfast, while the second was a tour of the Northern Ireland countryside. It is very easy to get to Belfast from Dublin, as bus tickets are inexpensive and there is no hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland (though that may change with the discussion of Brexit). Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, so it is a different country from Ireland and works with the British pound sterling rather than the Euro. Therefore, it proved tricky traveling for a day since I was not going to exchange cash for the very little I was going to spend. Nonetheless, the adventures I had in Northern Ireland are some of my favorite from my time in Europe.

BELFAST
​NOVEMBER 3

I was interested in taking a day trip one weekend from Ireland to Belfast for the purpose of going to the Titanic Museum. The museum is built on the location of the Harland & Wolff Shipyard where the Titanic was designed, built and launched into the ocean. The building's design itself is inspired by the Titanic and Olympic, which were built side by side in Belfast. 

The museum itself was outstanding. It chronicled the story of the Titanic from how the development of Belfast as one of the largest growing cities in the British Empire lended itself as the perfect site for the creation of the world's largest ocean liner to the explorations made by James Ballard in 1985 and the conservation efforts made today. The museum took a different take on the story, providing details about Belfast as a city and the working and living conditions of the workers in the H&W Shipyard rather than focusing on relics and remains of the ship. The experience, and the British city of Belfast, was one of my favorite adventures.
Beyond the Titanic Museum, Belfast itself was a very cool city. At the time I went, there was a Formula 1 car event going on around the Town Hall, so all throughout the city you could hear the roaring of engines from Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and other very nice (and expensive) cars. I had visited on November 3rd, but already the city was dressed in Christmas lights and decorations, which made the city festive and cheerful. Just like any European city, remnants of the old city remained, such as the Albert Memorial Clock, which itself is deemed the leaning clocktower of Belfast. Even though I only stayed one day in the city, I felt at home in the bustling city. 

THE COUNTRYSIDE
​DECEMBER 1

Almost a month after visiting Northern Ireland the first time, I decided to take a tour from Dublin that visited various castles and parks in the countryside of Northern Ireland. It was an easy way to see beyond Belfast, and it was such an amazing opportunity to get out into the countryside.

The first stop was Tallymore Forest park, which used to belong to the Hamilton family back in the 16th and 17th centuries. All over the forest were exotic trees and plants brought in by the Hamiltons from their many travels, including follies that they built for their pleasure. The forest was beautiful and almost haunted looking with the old gnarly trees and misty air. I thoroughly enjoyed walking around the trails and woods even though it was heavily raining, though after a month in Ireland I had gotten used to the rain. 
Afterwards, we headed to the Castle Ward estate, which not only housed the new Castle Ward, but the grounds of Old Castle Ward. The Ward family had an unhappy marriage. Bernard Ward thought that building a brand new estate mansion would help his marriage with Ann, but they could not agree on the style nor the decor of the mansion. This resulted in a truly remarkable architectural style, where the house is split down the middle and each side is a completely different design. One side is of Palladian architecture, while the other is Gothic. It makes the estate unique and rather humorous to look at. But the main attraction was the Old Castle Ward estate, as it was a picturesque Medieval style castle with adjoining village buildings. It was very cool to walk the grounds and see the old stables and barn of the castle. Also included on the estate is the old Audley Castle, which is perched on a hill above Strangford Lough. Strangford Lough is the place where St. Patrick was brought over by the vikings from a monastery in Wales into Ireland, where he then spread Christianity across the country. 

Such a trip was truly stepping into history. Seeing the old castles, forests and fields of Northern Ireland was truly a special experience. It is a gorgeous country with many hidden places worth visiting.