I love Belfast in the springtime

Braved the weather to go over to see Rupes in Northern Ireland. It was a bit disconcerting seeing the wings being de-iced at Birmingham airport. As we came into the cloud above Derry the plane was being thrown about but I told Jill confidently that this would stop when we exited the cloud. My knowledge on this type of thing is a bit dodgy and if anything it got worse. The wings were bucking up and down and it was not pleasant.

The last time I had a landing like this it was in a Dakota, which shows you how long ago that was. We made it to Belfast that night with the help of several snow-ploughs

As you can see it was a bit difficult to explore the area with all the snow and flooding but we managed to get onto the Ards Penninsula and drive down the coast to Portaferry and across to the Downpatrick side on the little ferry. I was amazed it was running in the high winds. The snow-topped Mountains of Mourne were just ahead of us but we were told we should avoid the area as there was deep snow. The drive along the west side of Stranford Lough is lovely but it wasn't the day for walking. It was bitter and very windy. It wasn't so bad when it snowed but when it turned to sleet it was like being hit by icey shrapnel.

Went into Belfast on Sunday and did St George's market and had a look around the Titanic quarter. A bit odd having a visitor attraction centred on something (ie The Titanic) which isn't there but there you go. Had a look at Samson and Goliath, the two huge gantry cranes at the old Harland and Wolff shipyards which dominate the Belfast skyline. It's sad to see the acres of derelict land where once stood the biggest shipyard in the world.

The symbols of the splits in the community are everywhere. The Union flag was flown widely to the east of Belfast and the Unionist murals appeared as we drove further into the city. I wouldn't want to put anyone off visiting the city though. Everyone we met was really friendly, asking where we'd come from and whether we'd enjoyed ourselves and apologising for the weather.

Yesterday we intended to drive up the Causeway Route which follows the east coast from Larne to Ballycastle then along the north coast to the Giant's Causeway. It's fantastic country with views across to Scotland. Unfortunately we had to cut inland from Carnlough to Ballymena (Willie John McBride country) as the road further north was blocked by snow. The chap in the Tourist Information office in Carnlough told me with much enjoyment that it was the worst snow he'd seen for 50 years and further up the road they were evacuating people from first floor windows so deep was the snow. John Laurie from Dad's Army came to mind.

Great weekend. Saw Rupes for a meal on Saturday and Sunday and despite the weather saw a bit of Northern Ireland.