Belfast, Ireland

(Excerpt from Ship's Librarian, Mr. Delbango)
(image from Google images)
We pulled into Belfast harbor on Wednesday about 22:00. Darkness actually fell while most of us were still awake for the first time in weeks. We anchored in the harbor and really appreciated the dark because it allowed us to view the City lit up in all its glory. There had been a magnificent sunset over Belfast, and then it just started to glow in the clear night.
We thought we were going to dock about 2:00, but didn't actually dock until about 8:00. We finally got off the ship by 11:15 raring to go.
Once again, because of the distance from the docks to the city center, the College arranged busses for us. They run once an hour to the town and back. This is a real convenience because it is about 3 miles from the Ship to the downtown through a large industrial dock area.
The bus leaves us in a very busy district with plenty to do. There is some great shopping in small stores and two really nice malls re-engineered from old Victorian buildings. There are plenty of places to eat and drink. There is even a huge Ferris wheel right next to the City Hall! Thursday's weather was fantastic, sunny and warm. It was a great day to enjoy a great city.
I am are going on two of the scheduled tours over the next few days. Friday I'm taking an all day tour of the Giant's Causeway and the northcoast and Saturday a 3 hour bus tour of Belfast. Saturday is also the Carnival in town. All in all, it's going to be a busy port.