First we caught a taxi from the hotel to the Belfast City Airport where we boarded the 10:10am Flybe flight 125, a Dash 8-Q400, for the short trip to Glasgow. We landed at 10:55, collected our bags, and then took them to the Left Luggage shop to be stored while we caught a shuttle bus into the city. Mainly, we were on a shopping mission at the Forever 21 store for Chelsea. Then, we intended to wander around town a bit to fill in the time, as our next flight wa...

Being our last full day before heading off tomorrow, we decided to take it fairly easily today. It had started raining overnight and continued all day so it was a good day to relax. We have been very fortunate with the weather the whole trip.We went out in our parkas and umbrella for a last walk around the city. We headed for the Victoria Square shopping centre which features a large glass dome in the roof for panoramic views of the city. Then it was back to ...

From today, we're on our own again. The rest of the group have all gone to different destinations ... to either of the two Belfast Airports or on the coach to Dublin Airport. This morning, we caught a number 26 Metro Bus out to the Titanic Quarter and ended up spending all day out there.It was great being able to do the Titanic Belfast in our own time. The exhibition covers the development of Belfast Industry especially shipbuilding of course, and follows...

Today we made the short drive into Belfast along the coast, with a brief stop at Carrickfergus Castle on the way. In Belfast, we picked up a local guide Sandra, who boarded the coach and took us on a driving tour around Belfast. After that, it was still to early to check in to the Europa Hotel but we were able to leave our carry-ons at reception and head off for lunch. After lunch, we were met my another guide Judy, who took us on a walking tour of the city wit...

This morning started with a walking tour of Derry / Londonderry led by our local guide Ronan. He took us along the top of the old town wall, down some of the streets and into the Guild Hall which has been beautifully rebuilt since being blown up by the IRA. We then had some time to wander by ourselves and we spent some time in the Bogside area where there have been a lot of fascinating murals painted on the sides of buildings as a reminder of the troubles that ha...