Brit Isles - Belfast, Ireland

 We arrived in Belfast, Ireland next.  Our plan was to take a taxi about 45 mins away to the Gobbins Cliff Walk.  I pre-booked the taxi there and back since it's not close to any large populated areas and our taxi was there waiting when we got off the ship. 

We arrived at Gobbins, went in to start the walk and were very disappointed to learn the walk was closed due to a rockslide the night before. 😥

Here are some pics of what the walk would have been like:

Our taxi had left 10 mins earlier, but I was able to call and have him come back to get us.  We quickly decided not to let this get us too down, and made some fast decisions to have the taxi drop us off at Belfast Castle on the way back.

On the way to the castle, we stopped for about 15 minutes to walk along a small coastal path next to a little town with bright houses.

We also drove by Carrickfergus Castle which was built in 1177.  We should have stopped but we thought Belfast Castle was going to be better.  It wasn't.

Belfast Castle was built in 1867 and offers views of the entire city.  As expected, we had some rain during our day in Belfast, so the views were a little hindered.  In addition, one of the highlights of visiting Belfast Castle is a hike that leads to a large rock outcropping and caves, but due to the rain, we did not do that.  The castle looks impressive, but the public can't go in most of the castle - you are only allowed to go in several rooms on the bottom floor.

A short break in the rain provided for some quick pics

We then went to Belfast city center, where we took a self guided tour of "City Hall" which was impressive.  We found a geo-cache and then walked around the city.

We walked past this fountain and I saw the name of it - Calder Fountain and thought of Corey!!
Francis Anderson Calder was was one of Belfast's most admired and respected citizen in the Victorian era, and was born in 1787 and served in the Napoleonic wars. He worked for the Sunday School Society of Ireland and campaigned for the end of slavery. He loved animals and started the Belfast Society for prevention of cruelty to animals and was recognized by this fountain for the hard work he did to protect all animals

We were disappointed we didn't get to do the cliff walk, but we made the best of our day and still loved being here.