May 30, 2024

Belfast

Wednesday May 29th we explored the City. Above is City Hall where we joined in with a free walking tour of downtown. The rain sprinkled off and on , but does provide dramatic clouds in photos and reasons to stop for a tea break or shop, which we did! Our hotel Ibis Belfast Centre was in a great location for walking all about. 

We had a yummy dinner at The Latern - Cod baked in fabulous sauce w sweet potatoes for me and Edel had beef roast, so tender! We split a sour apple tart for dessert.

THE CROWN PUB was first pointed out on our walking tour, and it was so interesting we went back for drinks after Dinner.

The owners are a mixed religion couple - the husband is Catholic and wife Protestant, and she adores everything about the royals. They compromised on the name the crown, but in smallest letters in Marquee outside and image of crown has to be walked on upon entry to the pub. The finishes inside and out are very detailed and unique. There are snugs lining the opposite side of the bar from 1880 built by Italian craftsmen working in the shipyards and on churches around Belfast they were designed to allow ladies and high society to have a drink without being overlooked.

By Patricia Patrick January 20, 2026
I write this post with a heavy heart, tragedy has struck our happy Community. One of our much loved, founding residents had a heart attack and sadly didn't recover, as we sailed to Moorea.
By Patricia Patrick January 19, 2026
I threw together an impromptu Bachelorette party for Angie tonight! Angie and Gian are getting married for a third time in Hawaii next week.They will be alone this time and it turns out she never had a Shower or Bachelorette to celebrate her first 2 marriages on the Ship, last May! Our girl deserved a fun night to celebrate her! So we took over a section the outdoor seating at Les 3 Brassuers, and their great band had us all up dancing! It's amazing what you can do with a bunch of WhatsApp messages to fellow ladies, some tulle, sparkles and always handy flower lei's ! One of the ladies even went and bought her some lingerie! I love our supportive community!
By Patricia Patrick January 19, 2026
I got to go Sailing Again! We were supposed to head to the COOK ISLANDS after the lovely Rangiroa and the Tuamotu Archipelago, but due to stormy weather there, with all unprotected tender ports, they made the decision to head us southwest, back to the protected port in Papeeta (Tahiti). We got lucky and Holly ( pictured below) found us a sailboat available for charter.