From Dublin to Bruna Boine and tour of the murals of Belfast

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Day 2: BRUNA BOINE - BELFAST

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Ringgggggg, it's 6 in the morning and the alarm clock is already ringing. This sounds like a full-fledged vacation. It was today the day we started our tour of Ireland and ended up seeing the Belfast murals?
The first thing we do is look out the window and see that the weather is dark and the street is wet. Surely it has been raining at night and we haven't even noticed. Last night we fell in bed.
We went down to breakfast at 7 in the morning and we found a continental breakfast, little varied, but correct. We will have to wait for tomorrow to eat an irish breakfast.
We told the reception last night that we would need the transfer to the airport at 8 in the morning. So after breakfast and check out at the Holiday Inn Express Dublin-Airport, we go in search of the bus that will take us this morning back to the airport, this morning we will pick up the rental car in Ireland.

Between one thing and another, the procedures for car rentals, however simple, in the end are always long, so we left the office at 9 in the morning.
The Budget company does not have it very well mounted in Dublin, we had to wait for a bus to take us to other offices, which are on the outskirts of the airport and once all the procedures were done, we had to wait for the rental car to be delivered because they were washing it. Something that we have not found very professional, since they knew that we were arriving at that time to pick up the rental car.


We try not to get nervous and wait patiently until they tell us that everything is ready.
So after reviewing everything we have set our way to our first destination of this trip: Bruna Boine.
The first thing has been to connect the GPS that we bring from home and above all control the driving on the left, since at any time you get confused and you are in the opposite direction.
Although the truth is that this is the "best" thing that can happen to you, because of the fright that you take you will not be wrong again!
It took us about 30 minutes to arrive and we paid our first toll: 1.80 euros.
The entrance to the deposits are not too well indicated, so we had to take a couple of turns before finding them.
We have reached the parking lot of the Visitor Center and there we have paid 11 euros per person to visit Knowth and Newgrange.
If you have a rental car, a good option from Dublin is to book an excursion to Newgrange and the Boyne Valley, by bus and with a guide in Spanish.
From here we have been able to see, from a viewpoint, Newgrange from afar and from a distance it has seemed impressive !!


Newgrange views from the Visitor Center

In the Bruna Boine Center It is very well organized and gives a very interesting global vision. It is worth spending a few minutes before the guided tours begin.
At the entrance they put 2 stickers with the visiting hours. They will take us by bus to each of the sites and there we will take a guided tour in each of them.
So calculating, we will leave about 2 in the afternoon.

More practical information to prepare your trip to Dublin

- 50 things to see and do in Dublin
- 10 essential places to see in Belfast
- 10 essential places to travel to Ireland essential
- The best free tours in Belfast for free

This makes us think that we are going a little late, but hey, we are on vacation, so we will take it easy.
The first site we visited is Knowth and we find a burial mound that dates from the same time as Newgrange (3200 BC), but seems to want to overcome it both in size and content, as it has the largest collection of figurative elements of all graves of corridor discovered in Western Europe.
First we do the guided tour of the entire site, which lasts approximately 40 minutes and is in English.
After this, they leave us there 15 minutes to be able to cross it with tranquility and to our air.
This is when we really enjoy the environment in which we find ourselves.


Bruna Boine. Knowth

Bruna Boine. Details in Knowth

Bruna Boine. Knowth

After facing some drops that surprise us in full visit, we return to take the bus that takes us again to the stop, to change buses that will take us this time to Newgrange.
We wait less than 5 minutes and once we are all Newgrange visitors, we ride another bus and it takes us 5 minutes to reach the new site.
As we get closer, the greater our impression. It looks like a toy, it doesn't seem real. It is as if they had taken it out of a story.


Bruna Boine. Newgrange

The guide begins the explanation and we have to say that we do not follow it too carefully, we are more absorbed admiring what we have right now.
Newgrange is the largest corridor tomb of the Stone Age of Ireland.
It has a circular white stone wall, topped by a grassy dome.
It is impressive, with its 80m diameter and 13 high. After the explanation comes the moment we most expect and is the entrance to the grave.
There we pass through a narrow corridor, where we see the rocks adorned with impressive carvings and we arrive at a small, taller and slightly wider cavity where the time comes to recreate what happens in the winter solstice.
Magic moment, and although knowing that it is not "real", we get the creeps.
Here they do not let you take pictures, so we bring this image stored in our retina.
After this, almost without realizing it passes the visit and it is time to return to the Visitor Center.
But first, as in Knowth, they leave us a few minutes to tour the site.


Bruna Boine. Entrance to Newgrange

Bruna Boine. Newgrange surroundings

After this brief walk through the enclosure, we return to the Visitor Center and seeing that it is time to eat (it is just after 2 in the afternoon) we take advantage of eating there a couple of paninis, plus 2 waters, 2 cupcakes Dessert and 2 coffees for 30 euros. Take it now !!! 🙂
After resting for a little while, we return to the parkig to pick up the rental car and head for Belfast!! We're going to Northern Ireland!
We take the highway again and pay the euro and eighty cents toll.
This route is always done by highway, surrounded by green fields, dotted, even if we want it, by the drops that do not stop falling all the way.
It took us an hour and a half to get to our hotel in Belfast. Tonight we will stay at the Dukes at Queens.
We are in a very central and very lively neighborhood, with many restaurants and cafes.
We are on a street parallel to Botanic, so looking at it on the map, we are less than 10 minutes from the center of the Belfast city.
We check in and immediately, we see that our room is more than correct and since it is almost 5 in the afternoon, we take the car again to go to the area of ​​Falls Road where there are the Belfast murals .
There we parked the car and for an hour we admire the Belfast murals that come out to meet us, why we must say that we have not taken any guide. We intended to pick it up at the Cultural Center and it has been impossible, because just when we arrived they were closing it.
A good option to better understand the history of the city is to book this free tour in Spanish through the city.
Almost it has been the best thing that could have happened to us, because in this way we have not gone with an established itinerary, but that everything has been discovered on the walk.


Belfast murals. North Ireland

Belfast murals. North Ireland

Belfast murals. North Ireland

Walking through all the streets of the neighborhood, we hardly even realize that time is passing and there is not much left for nightfall.


Belfast murals. North Ireland

Book the best rated tours and excursions in Spanish in Dublin by travelers:

- Excursion to the Cliffs of Moher
- Tour of the Game of Thrones stages
- Excursion to Belfast and the Giant's Causeway
- Excursion to Wicklow and Glendalough
- Dublin Mysteries and Legends

- More excursions and tours here


Belfast murals. North Ireland

Belfast murals. North Ireland

When we see that it is almost 7 pm we have not gone to the City Hall area.
There we have seen the Linen Hall Library and the rest of the important buildings that we find in Donegal Square, which we go through almost 3 times to “soak up” the life in this city that we are really enjoying.


Belfast City Hall. North Ireland

Opera House in Belfast. North Ireland

Famous taxi in Belfast. North Ireland

Looking for somewhere to go for a drink in Belfast, we have remembered that we read that near where we are is the Crown Liquor Saloon, which is one of the most famous pubs. But once we got there we found it totally full ... So without being able to stop to cool our throat and despite the fact that the atmosphere of the area is very youthful and lively, we decided to go looking for somewhere to have dinner.


Crown Liquor Saloon. North Ireland

After watching dusk we have gone to the hotel in Belfast for dinner at an Italian restaurant right next to the hotel. What would we do without our Italians 🙂
We ate a lasagna, a pasta dish, 2 waters and garlic bread for 30 pounds.
At the moment it seems that we are behaving with meals ... hahahaha We are adjusting the budget and see what we thought here would be all much more expensive!
It's a little after 9 p.m. and we're half dead again, last night we slept just under 5 hours and the body is noticing.
We need to rest, so we go to the Dukes at Queens with that intention.
And that we will do, so I will close the computer ...
Tomorrow a little more, well no, tomorrow much more !! Ireland, wait for us.

Day 3
BELFAST - CARRICK REDE PENDANT BRIDGE - GIGANTES FOOTWEAR - DUNLUCE CASTLE - DERRY

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