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| Where I'm From |
| An Electronic Diary..... |
| Family / Saintfield, Co.Down |
| Belfast, Northern Ireland Home to a third of Northern Ireland's population, home to the largest dry dock in the world that built the Titanic (a museum on the site is long overdue...), and home to the 'Troubles'. Belfast is also 'home' to me - it's where I grew up. Ii've never forgotten my roots and I try to get back as often as I can to see family , friends, and relatives. Northern Ireland, especially Belfast, is developing rapidly. Since I moved in 2001, the town centre is looking in much better shape. With the City Hall still at its core, new hotels have popped up all over the place, the volume of cafe-bars has rocketed, the old gas works site has been revamped, the Laganside area is virtually unrecognisable, and I've lost count of the amount of call-centre blocks near Central Station. Belfast is also famous for its major river - the Lagan (There are of course two rivers in Belfast, answer on a postcard). Until recently, it was not uncommon for shopping trolleys and other large items to clog up its banks. The City Council have done a tremendous job regenerating this area, thanks largely to ESF funding, transforming the river and surrounding buildings from eyesore to asset. The 'Laganside Development' has transformed the river along much of its town centre stretch, with new walkways, a riverboat service, a re-built the Weir, and not least, the Waterfront Hall (right). Other must-see sites.... For shopping, check out the Castle Court Mall (see left) in the city centre, take an open-bus tour of the city, check out the infamous wall 'murals', and grab yourself a well-earned pint in the old Crown Bar (below) on Gt Victoria Street , just so you can say youve been there! It's still pulling in the trade, has been open since the 1880s, and i understand it's now a national trust heritage site. Of course, there's much more to Northern Ireland than just Belftast. one of the great things about Northern Ireland is the small size of the country � its sights are all within a short, scenic drive of each other! To the south east lies some of Ireland�s loveliest landscapes in the Kingdoms of Down, an area recognised worldwide as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty � it combines miles of spectacular coastline with fishing villages, seaside resorts, loughs, forests and the Mountains of Mourne. To the north is the dramatic Antrim coastline with its soaring cliffs, unblemished beaches and the magnificent glacier-carved Glens of Antrim. Among the unusual rock formations glimpsed from the coastal road, none is stranger or more memorable than the famous Giant�s Causeway, the legendary tourist attraction that is fabled to be the highway built bygiant Finn McCool, to bring his lady love to Ulster from an island in the Hebrides. This World Heritage Site is a mass of thousands of basalt columns tightly packed together to form stepping stones leading from the foot of the cliffs into the sea. . |
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