Eight months since our last visit to Belfast to attend and celebrate the wedding of Youngest Son (YS) and his wife, we visited again a couple of weekends ago.  This was a very relaxed trip with few fixed plans, no real schedule other than our flight in and out, and just a desire to catch up properly with the newly wedded couple and to see a bit of Northern Ireland again.  We were helped by terrific, sunny and warm weather and, as usual, great hospitality starting with a barbeque in YS and his wife’s pretty, sunny garden.

On our first full day in Northern Ireland, we took the train to Derry/Londonderry.  The train journey was very comfortable and relaxing with great views of grassy fields and hills.  Then, as we passed Coleraine and Castlerock, we looked out on beautiful beaches and wide inlets before approaching Loch Foyle and the city of Derry.

We traversed the Peace Bridge over the River Foyle.  The bridge was funded by the Northern Ireland Government and the European Union Fund for Peace and Reconciliation.  It is an unusual s-shape with two main supports.  We learnt later that the shape is to indicate that the path to peace is not straight and that the two pillars represent the two sides of any peace agreement and the importance of both to enduring harmony.  Derry has been a fulcrum of conflict for centuries between English and Irish and Protestant and Catholic, but the bridge is a testament to the current atmosphere of relative calm, hope and peace.

We headed into the city and refuelled with coffee at The Hang Ten Brewbar.  There was further, more alcoholic refuelling in the sun at Peadar O’Donnells traditional Irish pub and then we strolled through the city to meet up with a city tour guide. 

He gave a brief account of the early history of Derry including its initial establishment as a monastic community by St Columba in the 6^th century and the much later takeover of the city as part of the colonisation of the area by livery companies based in London – hence the alternative name of Londonderry.  These companies, loyal to the English Crown, build the city walls in 1619.  These have apparently never been breached despite a myriad of sieges and attacks since – hence a third name for the city: ‘The Maiden City’.

The guided tour followed a simple route around the top of the city walls which have a roughly rectangular layout with four original gates in each side.  Between the two thick sides of the wall is a mass of clay that helped to absorb the power of cannon shot.  Atop this is a thoroughfare broad enough to carry large heavy wagons. 

Of course, the walls also provide great views of the surrounding countryside, the river and some of the more significant buildings in the city itself. 

These included the pretty St Augustine’s Church (The Wee Church on the Walls’) and the First Derry Presbyterian Church.  The tour ended in the very centre of Derry from which we could see all four of the original gates and could show our appreciation to the tour guide for a very informative and interesting 90 minutes.

Our evening meal back in Belfast was at the very good Mourne Seafood Bar not far from Belfast City Hall where YS and his now wife were married.  

Throughout our stay, we ate very well.  It is great seeing one’s offspring mastering skills I have never possessed and YS’s control of his new barbeque was excellent.  He is barista trained and has access to good Belfast bakeries so breakfast at home was very good.  But even better were the breakfasts at Cultura (where I had a really exceptional Italian Hash) and Neighbourhood Cafe (where I was greedy and had both the lovely fruity, minty coconut granola followed by the excellent Scrambled Eggs Rayu).  The quality was reminiscent of the great breakfasts we had on our trips to Australia some years ago when YS was based there.

After breakfast at Neighbourhood, Jane went with YS’s wife to her osteopathy studio for a treatment for Jane’s shoulder while YS and I wandered nearby to see The Cathedral Church of St. Anne and some of the local murals.  During the several times we have visited this Cathedral Quarter I had not previously noticed the distinctive cathedral spire which was, this time, shining in the sunlight.  The way the spire protrudes down into the interior of the church was an interesting bit of design.

Another highlight of our trip was an outing to Mount Stewart, a large estate on the edge of the extensive Strangford Lough and now owned by the National Trust. 

We didn’t go in the house this time since the weather invited us to spend our time in the beautiful gardens and wandering around the lake. 

We also ventured into the woods following signs to a red squirrel hide in the hope we might spot one.  In the hide we sat quietly for five minutes peering out of a large and presumably one way window.  Moments after I had I whispered to Jane that this was probably all a bit of a long shot and waste of time, a red squirrel appeared around the side of the hide.  It was a very exciting moment followed by 10 minutes of watching this little, shy creature poking around the feeding boxes and scampering over fallen logs.  Red squirrel numbers have collapsed in the last century due to viruses and competition with larger, invasive grey squirrels, but are now beginning to revive due to conservation efforts such as that we saw.  We felt very lucky to see one.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Belfast and to Derry/Londonderry.  Belfast seems to be thriving despite some political and governmental issues.  It was nice that we had an opportunity to peek at a soon to open restaurant associated with Yotam Ottolenghi.  He is certainly a famous restaurateur and his investment in Northern Ireland must be a good sign for the region.  

It was great too to see how YS and his wife live, why they enjoy Belfast and Northern Ireland so much and how they have made their home there with their rather elegant and increasingly mature dog ‘Reggie’. 

We were glad we could repay their relaxed hospitality with a bit of gardening.  The centre point of our effort was the retrieval of an old zinc water cistern from a local skip and working with YS and wife to fill it, and a few other pots, with herbs.  YS’s new barbeque is now surrounded by these pots and is adjacent to a bit of planting that we all felt very proud of.  It was not only a very enjoyable weekend but a productive one.