Day 13 - Ulster Museum And Best Chippy In Northern Island

The plan for today was to get up and start out at the Ulster Museum.  We were able to be there for opening time (10:00) but still managed a nice easy morning, the same as the previous two.  We crossed the bridge into downtown and then caught a city bus down to the Queen’s University Belfast stop, where we walked a few more blocks to the museum, which is on the grounds of the botanical gardens we visited the other day.

RETRACTION - I slandered Irish bus drivers in some previous posts, and I would now like to retract those statements.  We have been very fortunate since that time with friendly and helpful drivers who had more than enough patience to deal with us North American tourists! 😊

Ulster Museum has many sections including: fine and applied arts, archaeology, zoology, botany, and geology.  All of these elements are tied together by the history of Ireland and Northern Ireland, from as far back as the dinosaurs, through pre-historic times, Viking and Norman invasions, partitioning of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the troubles, and finally into present-day issues.  We really enjoyed it as it was interesting from both points of view - the artifacts, treasures, and art, as well as the entire history of the two countries.  And it was free!!!

In Front Of Ulster Museum Waiting For The Doors To Open

Cool Dragons Made By Expert Irish Basket Weaver

After going through the five floors of the museum we finished up about two hours later.  Next we were headed to catch a train to Carrickfergus to have lunch at Northern Ireland’s best chippy!!  We walked to the train station from the museum and lucked out on timing - there was a train leaving in five minutes.  We continue to be amazed at the low cost and convenience of the transit systems over here.  Our ~40-km round trip to Carrickfergus and back to Lanyon Place Station only cost us £12.20 total! 😳. This seems more than reasonable to us, and there seemed to be a train leaving every thirty minutes.  Wow!!

A 30-minute train, and short bus-ride later we arrived at The Friary.  I read about this place in an online article I found when searching up chippies.  It made the top 50 list of UK takeaways, and was the only one on the list in Northern Ireland.  We therefore concluded that it had to be the best chippy in Northern Ireland!!🤷.  The staff inside were very friendly, and seemed happy we stopped in.  We both went with battered haddock and chips, with a can of Coke Zero, and we were most definitely not disappointed!  The fish was fresh, the batter was crispy, the chips were delicious!!  Our only complaint, and it is not really a complaint, is that we could have shared one order and still been full.  In the end we ate as much as we could, and brought the second half home for dinner tonight. 🤣

Jojo Was Not Disappointed!! 😁

We walked back to the train station getting there about two minutes before the next train arrived, and enjoyed the scenery on our 30-minute ride back into Belfast.  We headed back to the apartment for a rest and to digest lunch for a couple of hours.😂

After our rest we headed back across the bridge one last time to try and get some salad for dinner.  The salad part was easy, the salad dressing was a little trickier.  Eventually we found “Salad Cream”, and decided to bring it home and give it a try.  It had a tangy, creamy mustard taste to it, and we enjoyed it.  It was nice to stay home for dinner tonight, and nice to have as many vegetables as we wanted.  I played some Irish pub tunes on my phone for a little ambiance as we ate.🤣

Zingy Salad Cream 🤣

We are headed to the airport for 8:30 tomorrow morning, catching a flight to Edinburgh for the last leg of the trip.  It’s hard to believe we only have a few days left, and at the same time part of us is probably starting to look forward to getting home and getting back to normal. We are excited for Edinburgh nevertheless, with some really fun activities planned.  Tomorrow we will arrive around 11:00, head to our apartment to drop off the bags, and then make our way back to Edinburgh Castle to tour around for the afternoon.  It will be nice for me to be back in Scotland where I’ve had so many good memories.  I am especially excited to see Joyce and Allan, and hopefully Anne too, my dear friends who Amanda and I met on previous trips.  We are planning to meet on Friday for lunch and a quick lawn bowl if we are lucky, and the weather cooperates. 🤞

We’re off to get packed and hit the hay.  That’s it for today.  Thanks again for reading the posts.  We hope you are enjoying them as much as we are!!