http://www.crescenttownhouse.com/
Once I had whizzed down the Shankill Road in the Friday rush hour, we found our first stop. Other than the dodgy parking situation ( criminal part three- no parking eight til six in the area and wardens are rampant apparently) the hotel was very good. We had a very large room. Other half and I had our own room with a comfy bed in it, and there was a little lounge area where teenager had the sofa bed made up and a tv of his own ( heaven). The bathroom was very smart with a belfast sink in it (of course) and Molton Brown smellies- lots and lots of them....
The room overlooked a popular bar in Belfast called the Empire. It was very lively all night. Teenager spent a couple of hours after dinner watching the comings and goings (and the occasional fight). Having brought up in the country all his life he was fascinated. Eventually other half and I fell asleep exhausted... teenager continued to watch the fun outside.
We had a great meal in the hotel brasserie: Metro. I recommend it. Check the menu out on the website above. I had scallops and chilli and garlic squid for main course. Wonderful!
I had to set the alarm before eight so I could move the car before it was ticketed. We didn't like to leave it stranded unattended in some dark alley all night. I struggled out in lashing rain ( sympathy yet folks?) and shifted it to a free parking area. When I went to get it, to let other half and teenager load the bags the police stopped and stared in to make sure I wasn't going to stop permanently...just as well I was behind the wheel with the lights on. Perhaps they would have preferred us to walk to the car with all the bags and get soaked, across a busy road? In fact, I am sure they would.
In the morning we had an ulster fry and indulged in fresh soda bread. We had a look around Victoria Square shopping centre and I looked up my blog on a huge screen in the Apple shop. The weather was totally dire but we still went up on the Belfast wheel. It was blowy, and I am not sure how convinced other half was as the machinery creaked and groaned. 'You are now 200 feet up' said the narrator cheerfully as he told us about the various scenes. The views were great.
We decided to leave the tourist bus to another ( drier) time.
We set off for our cottage mid afternoon, and headed up to Bushmills and Lisnagonogue.
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