Belfast – Taste Tour
We could have slept in today, too, since our shore excursion wasn’t until 1:15 PM, but we didn’t. We went to the buffet for breakfast, where Hubby could get a made-to-order omelet, and I could get some cream of wheat. I don’t remember what we did the rest of the morning, but it was soon time to decide if we were going to have lunch or not. Our shore excursion was a 4-hour walking tour of Belfast, where we would stop now and again to taste local specialties. So, should we eat lunch or leave room for the tastings?
We compromised by going to O’Sheehan’s and having an appetizer each. After all, how could we know how substantial those tastes might be? Hubby got a couple sausage sliders, and I got some loaded nachos. Then we left the ship to find our bus on the pier.
The bus dropped us and the tour guide, Roisin, off in downtown Belfast. Roisin took us across 2 streets to a pub called The Crown, where we got to sit in a pair of ‘privacy rooms’ that had been reserved for us. The specialty here was a local gin, which was served with tonic water. I was so glad I’d told her I didn’t think I’d be drinking any alcohol, as I got to have a coke. I like my mixed drinks like my wine – as sweet as I can get it.
After the Crown, Roisin realized she had a member of the ship’s crew in her group, and she asked him to bring up and rear and try to keep any of us from getting lost. I was glad she did that, as about 3 blocks later, I didn’t see the group turn, and I just kept going forward until Hubby yelled at me. I came back and eventually got reunited with the group.
Our next stop was a world-class chocolate shop called Daisy’s. They served us all a half cup of hot chocolate, a tiny cannola, and a chocolate liquor ball. I thought the balls were various candies like malted milk balls, but after I sucked on the one she gave me for a moment, I got a mouthful of liquor. I decided I didn’t want any of those. But Hubby bought a pound of coffee beans, which we took turns keeping track of for the rest of the walk.
More walking, and then we arrived at a grocery shop. While the rest of the group went inside for a look around, Roisin brought out some food stuffs for us to sample. There was a bowl full of pieces of bread, a number of toast corners with dried salmon, 2 small bowls of dipping oil (one garlic-flavored, and the other spicy), a bowl of crescent-shaped pieces of butter that was so yellow people kept thinking it was some type of fruit, and a bowl of pieces of a mild blue cheese.
Our next stop was a store called Born and Bred, where we were given about 30 minutes to look around. By this time, I was flagging, and opted to sit on the bench outside, where I could keep an eye on the store’s door. The store next door, I noticed, was call Forbidden Planet Unlimited, so I wandered inside Born and Bred to let Hubby know. He took a minute to pop over and look at the stuff in the window. But even here, there was tasting to do, in that Born and Bred offered crackers with 3 different toppings to try. One was black butter, which is an apple butter made from apples only grown in Ireland. I expected to like that one, but didn’t. Neither did the other 2 toppings appeal to me.
So we continued on, turning off the street into an alley, which the Irish call an entry. Then we crossed 2 streets and went in another alley until we came to White’s, which I seem to remember her saying was the oldest tavern in Belfast. At White’s we were given our choice of a seafood gumbo or a bowl of Irish stew; a glass of Guiness or some white wine. Hubby took the gumbo and a Guiness; I opted for the Irish stew and wine. I liked the stew a lot. Hubby liked his gumbo, too, but spent more time removing the meat from the various shellfish his bowl contained than he spent eating the gumbo at last. His bowl had so many shellfish, that when he finished eating and put the shells back in his empty bowl, they filled up his bowl!
White’s was the end of the tour. A lot of our companions left the group to go exploring on their own. The rest of us walked about a block to catch our bus and were taken back to the ship.
Hubby and I went to our cabin and took it easy for a while. I took the library book back to the library and turned it in. Then I sat on the pool deck, where there was a little bit of breeze, and did some writing. Eventually, it was time for the library to open so I could check out another book (It’s only open for 1 hr in the morning and another hour in the evening), so I went and selected another book, a sf Young Adult novel called Alien Superstar by Henry Winkler and Somebody Else (I didn't note the name. I was probably so beguiled by the idea of the Fonz writing YA novels (Yes, it was he.) that the other name had no chance of making an impression on my mind. And that's a pity.
We had supper at Ginza, a restaurant that is either complimentary or pay, depending on what you order. Hubby wasn’t feeling very well when we went but started to feel better as he got some food in him. He had pot stickers, Kung Po Chicken and 5 Spice chocolate cake. I had spring rolls, vegetable fried rice and coconut tapioca pudding. After eating, we called it a night and turned in.
No comments:
Post a Comment