For 5 weeks from the start of June to early July, I spent 3 weeks away from my home, in London, travelling to 3 different cities: Belfast, Gibraltar and New York; spending 1 week in each city. This travelling wasn't done in a 3-week stretch. I did 1 week away, 1 week at home, another week away, a few days back and then the final trip.
To be honest, I didn't plan the order of the trips at all. I didn't even plan all the trips at the same time. It just so happens that British Airways flight sales for these destinations were around the same period. I only did the holidays for 1 week because the flights were on sale.
Anyways, that was such a fun, exciting time. I experienced a lot and have so many stories to tell... hence the resurrection of this blog. After all, that's what this blog was, is and has always been. A place for me to go to whenever I can/want and tell stories I want to tell.
Let's get 1 question out the way first.
How did I manage this while doing a 9-5? As a few of you may know, I have a job (that funds these trips); I wish I had some trust fund taking care of these tours... but oh well, such is the life of an adult.
Back to the question, how do I do it? Well, thanks to work from home, I could work from a different "home" in different cities around the UK for some days and take leave on the other days when I planned to do full-day activities. I did this half and a half. So of 5 weekdays of travel, I work for 2/3 and take leave for the rest days to do full-day sightseeing.
With that being said, let's start with Belfast
Belfast
I booked this flight 9 months before I stepped on the plane because there was a sale, and I knew I would be done with my CFA level 2 exams by the time the flight would come, and it would therefore be the 1st stop on my UK tour.
For those who don't know, since last year, I committed (to myself) to take out time every summer to travel to as many cities as I can in the UK. I did this because I like seeing new places, and it didn't make sense to me to live in a place for so long (I've been in the UK for about 4 years now, expect a blog on the anniversary 😏) and not know any place other than the city you live in.
In my 19 years in Nigeria, I've been to 18 of Nigeria's 36 states (not counting FCT, of course, this isn't an election 😉), which is… whatever (I don't know what it is), but I think it's important to see as much of a country as you can.
In the UK, so far, I've been to Loughborough (where I schooled), Leicester, Nottingham, Northampton, Manchester, Belfast, the Causeways of Northern Ireland, and of course, London (where I've lived for over 2 years now); and last year on my (annual summer) tour, I went to Bath, Cambridge, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Loughborough (again). Put simply, I've been to a few places. I've gone by car, bus, train, plane. I prefer plane cos it's the fastest (obviously), but I genuinely enjoy flying and fun fact, it can sometimes be cheaper to fly to some places in Europe than to go by train/bus.
That was a long 2-paragraph detour, but back to the story...
Belfast was very different from every other UK place I've been. To start with, they seem to be very religious. They had scriptures on their buses (I've never seen this anywhere else, not even in Cambridge, that had catholic churches everywhere you look).
Churches seemed to be the mainstay, at least, in the area I was in.
Their buses are numbered quite differently from how they are in London. They are numbered 1a to probably z (not that I saw any 1z buses, but who knows, maybe there are).
Put simply, it was too much oil! If I had squeezed out the oil from the chicken, I could have used it to fry eggs while leaving enough oil for the chicken to exist. I found that very annoying. And to be fair, I tried the chicken at 2 different locations in Belfast to see if it was just the wrong branch I went to, so nobody can say I didn't give them a chance. And the chicken was the same oily thing. The only reason it doesn't come last is that the chicken generally tastes like the KFC I know, and lurvv, it just had too much oil.
To be fair to the franchise, these kinds of businesses generally adjust the menu and the taste to fit the city/country they are in. E.g. the one in Ikeja has a bit more pepper in it. The one in NY is gigantic, as is typical of American food. So maybe the people of Belfast like their chicken with more oil than I do?
Did you know the Titanic was built in Belfast?
And the company that made the Titanic had other ships too? Such as one called the Laurentic, the Celtic, the Nomadic, the Olympic and, of course, the Traffic; the last one caused a lot of Traffic on the high sea 😅
If only the people of Oceangate took their passengers to Belfast's Titanic Museum instead of the Titanic maybe... (I joke)
Speaking of unique experiences, the Giant's Causeway is a once-in-a-lifetime view; 10/10 would recommend seeing this.
Pictures don't do it justice. The rocks are so unique, unlike anything I've seen or heard of.
Plus, if you sit at the edge (pictured below) and make a wish, it will come true. I wished for something, of course; I'll let you know how that goes 😅
Giant's Causeway is very far from Belfast (a 3-hour bus/train trip or an hour-and-a-half drive if you rent a car/uber), but it's worth the trip.
Speaking of wishes, like most places of the world, Belfasters have their folklore. E.g. they say, if you touch this fish, you'll get wisdom. I went to the fish, and it touched me instead 🤷🏾♀️ I don't make the rules 🤭
I'd also really recommend the bus tour. It's a great way to see some of the key parts of Belfast.
I'd recommend paying for 2 days rather than 1 because, with 2 days, I could take the trip slowly and not be too tired by the end as there are almost 20 stops with at least 5 worth seeing. Travelling slowly is more fun (less tiring) than just checking off all the places on your bucket list. You get to see and experience more. And the additional charge for 2 days is just £5 while a 1-day trip is £20. Instead of paying £40 for 2 separate day bookings, pay £25 for a straight 2-day booking.
There's a lot to see in Belfast, lovely greenery, lovely parks, very, very different accents to the typical Brit and Game of Thrones.
I quite enjoyed my time in Belfast. Many people told me I didn't need a week to see Belfast, and they would have been right if I just wanted to do all the activities and leave. Doing a week allowed me to take breaks between outings and travel slowly. Of course, it meant I was paying double rent (rent for my flat in London, where I wasn't staying, and the Airbnb in Belfast), but something must give.
A final word of Advice
Consider the hotel and flight costs when planning a trip to Belfast.
Don't just look at the flight cost when going to Belfast. Hotels in Belfast are cutthroat expensive, and so are the Airbnbs. I couldn't find a hotel that'd charge less than £1,000 for a 7-night stay in Belfast.
Cost and smell aside, I recommend Belfast, if only to see the Titanic museum, and Giant's Causeway, which is a one-of-a-kind view.
Watch out for the next one... TTC: Gibraltar (arguably the best country I've been to yet)
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