Sunday 21 April 2013

Walking around Belfast


We took the train from Dublin to Belfast and it was a very pleasant journey.



We had a day and a half in Belfast, not long at all. Madisons was one of the first buildings we saw as it was very near our hotel - lovely art nouveau architecture.





We arrived in Belfast late afternoon and decided to walk to the Bonanical Gardens and the Ulster Museum as they were very near the hotel. This is the Union Theological college.





The McClay Library, part of Queens University, was designed by Robinson Patterson Partnership and was opened by Seamus Heaney in 2010.





Eco by Mark Didou outside the library




inside the Botanical Gardens




and the gorgeous Palm House





a masterpiece of Victorian engineering.




Looking at the sky from within.





The Ulster Museum seen through the trees.





A large part of our one full day in Belfast was spent around the Falls Road area, but we did manage to see a bit more of the city. The City Hall





The jewel in the crown, a wonderful Art Deco building, one of the finest Modernist buildings in Ireland. Standing on the corner of Royal Parade and North Street in the centre of the city, it was constructed during 1929 and 1930 to designs by Joseph Vincent Downes.




Built of Portland Limestone, it is five storeys tall, with a shallow ground floor storey beneath a piano nobile (main) first floor. The tower at the top has a square clock and is topped with a copper-clad domed roof.





Another Art Deco building, in desperate need of some love and attention




Saint Anne's Cathedral with its modern spire





Saint Anne's Square





There was a skate boarding event going on and it was impossible to take good photographs of the square





it's a gorgeous place





with wonderful architecture.





A view of the square from the first floor landing of the MAC.






The MAC, Belfast's new arts venue at one end of the square





Walking around the Cathedral Quarter





this, at the end of the street that was featured in the previous photograph





looking closer





a mural in the Cathedral Quarter




detail at the side of a house





Finally, lest we forget that is a city scarred by conflict, we passed this police station on our way back to the hotel





- a fortress.


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