Gee this seems familiar. Well, actually, not really. This is the first time we’ve sailed into Belfast and the dock is pretty far from the main city, not to mention the Crumlin Gaol, which is our main objective for the day. It is a 45 minute walk just to get to the Lidl where we shopped when we stayed here earlier in the year. The Gaol is 25 minutes further. Yeah. we’re splurging on a taxi!

Surprisingly enough there aren’t that many single trip taxis out on the pier. There are a bunch of taxis selling tours, but we just want to get into the CBD so we can get a cappuccino and then plot our course to the Gaol. It is too early to go directly there. We do manage to grab the only guy out there, who takes us into town, but not without excitement. Right before we get to the Queen’s Bridge, his car starts acting funny. Sputtering, starting, stopping. It’s really disturbing. He coaxes it across and we make it fairly close to City Hall before the thing just conks out. Sounds like bad fuel, and the driver agrees, telling us he just filled it up before getting to the dockyard. Bummer for him! He’s very apologetic for not getting us all the way to City Hall, but it isn’t too far up the street, and we felt worse for him. What a way to start your day!

Skirting the City Hall gardens, we pop into one of the ubiquitous Caffe Nero’s (we’re guessing it is Northern Ireland’s version of Starbucks, only cheaper), grab a table way in the back and enjoy a nice warming cappuccino before braving the chilly weather again. We’ve got time before the Gaol opens, so we, for some reason I can’t quite recall, hit the Tourist Bureau. We end up with a map that we don’t really need, but also information on the bus that runs to and from the docks and also information on a new tour of the upstairs rooms of City Hall. We’ve not done that, only the downstairs public areas and history exhibits. There are tours at 2 and 3pm that we can sign up for, which we figure we will do after we visit the Gaol.

Making our way through the CBD and out past the University of Ulster, it is like we never left. We know exactly where we are, as it is a very easy city to navigate. Of course it was only 5 months ago (to the day actually) that we were here, so it isn’t that odd we remember everything. As with our last visit, we are intrigued with all the street art. The murals are just so great – and they are everywhere. Makes the walk to the Gaol quite interesting since we are keeping our eyes peeled for new and different artwork.

Arriving at the Gaol, the entrance is completely unassuming, and quite attractive with different colored sandstone? Limestone? blocks and the pillars and cornices.

Inside though is a different story. We first walk through the enormous courtyard and then into the Gaol itself where there are wonderful information placards explaining the 150 year history of the last remaining Victorian era prison. Built in 1846, it continued operation until 1996 housing everyone from adults to children. And it is massive. With 4 huge wings and a stand along hospital building, you just can’t imagine being housed in here. Especially back in the early 1800s.

After being processed in a s new prisoner, our visit continues into the holding cells and then down into the Tunnel that leads underneath the street to the old courts building. Very creepy, especially as there is this 3D hologram of “Warder Roberts” who explains how you’ll never get out of here once you are sentenced across the street. Shiver.

Then it is past the flogging rack and into the “Circle,” the big round area that leads to each of the 4 prisoner wings. Here we “meet” the warden, another great hologram that tells us all about the Gaol and its inhabitants. Then it is onto ‘C’ wing with all the cells – where there are more interactive exhibits explaining all sorts of different Gaol life as well as the different offices and cells: The parcel office, a child prisoner’s cell, the doctor’s office, the crank. Oh, that was ominous but also fascinating in that it is how prison officers got the nickname ‘screws’! It is a big drum used as a form of punishment. The handle was connected to cogs which turned paddles through sand or grit. Warders could make the handle even harder to turn by tightening the cogs with a screw – thus their nickname of “screws.”

Learn something new every day! Oh, now it is onto the hangman’s cell – where the noose and scaffolding are hidden behind moving bookcase – which actually moves once you walk into the cell! The prisoner to be executed is escorted into the regular cell, then surprised and overwhelmed by the wall unit moving and doesn’t have time to react before the hood is placed over his head and he is marched to the trap door. Eek.

Inside tour completed, we exit C Wing and circle around the exterior of the building where you can see just how massive the entire complex is. We pass the grave of a robber whose name was carved in the stone in 1924, and then oddly enough, a Wessex helicopter. Placed here to give insight to the conflict in Northern Ireland because these helicopters were “an iconic feature of the skyline in Northern Ireland.” Ok.

Finishing our tour, we detour up the street for a stop at the Spar, then retrace our steps back to the CBD, this time stopping to gaze at the old Crumlin Road Courthouse, now sitting derelict across the street from the Gaol. This is where the underground tunnel led the prisoners to be sentenced. We find out later that it was damaged by fire in 2003 after a developer bought the property for 1 Pound to develop into a tourist attraction and hotel. In 2017 it was sold again, again to be developed into a hotel, but another fire severely damaged the building in 2020. You can see the scorched parts of the facade even from a distance behind the fencing. Pretty wild.

Meandering back into town, we pass St. Patrick’s Church and the Belfast Cathedral with the bizarre Spire of Hope then wander through the maze of streets around the cathedral, near the apartment where we stayed, trying to decide upon a luncheon spot. We end up at the Thirsty Goat – the name just draws you in, doesn’t it? And have a lovely meal of Garlic bread (which was supposed to be mushroom bread but the waitress misunderstood me) and a huge portion of fish and chips.

We thought about going to the Nomadic, the only surviving lifeboat from the Titanic, but they don’t sell separate tickets just for Nomadic. We have to also buy tickets for the Titanic Experience, which are pricey, and we’ve already done that. Abort! Since we’re just a few short blocks away from City Hall, we head there, easily making the 2pm tour with enough time to spare that we can wander through the history exhibit and take more photos of those stunning stained glass windows.

Arriving in the rotunda at the appointed hour, we find a group of about 15 people waiting for the tour, who we join and then join our guide to go upstairs to visit the chambers where the council meets and get some great views around the rotunda. Ed presides over the chamber meeting, before we finish up in the huge ballroom with the Belfast Coat of Arms on the carpet. Very nice. And different. Oh, and free!

Our next plan was to go to Victoria Square for the glass dome (the visitors center lady told us we had to see it), but decided to ditch it and just catch the bus back to the ship. It’s cold (high 40’s) and we’re ready for some continuous warmth at this point in time! That bus was super easy and fast. And cheap! Only 2.10 pounds each. Had we known…we’d have taken the bus this morning. Oh well, live and learn.

Back aboard we head to the buffet for coffee, but I sort of want mocha, so I just mix hot chocolate with the coffee and voila! Mocha. Nice and warm! The rest of the day proceeds as normal. Gym, Dinner with Kadek in Aqua then the Diva singer at 9.

Tomorrow – Dublin redux.