Victorian Bling

Dave and I had decided that we wanted to tour some of the buildings around Belfast.  On Saturday morning, after Toby’s long walk, we journeyed over to the Botanical Gardens.  We traveled into the greenhouse dubbed "The Tropical Ravine"; for a few short minutes, we forgot we were in the middle of winter in the far north and enjoyed a visit through an exotic rainforest.  Next, we ventured into the Ulster Museum.  We easily could have spent an entire day looking at all of the fascinating exhibits.  Because we were trying to make the 2:00 p.m. tour of city hall (a twenty minute walk away), we picked and chose what we wanted and saved the rest for another venture.  Down the congested city centre streets we walked, getting closer and closer to the gem in the middle of the city.  We were especially anxious to take a tour of city hall's interior architecture and history, since its exterior had proven such a feast for the eyes.  We excitedly crossed the street towards the rear of city hall, but noticed something amiss: the city hall courtyard and the adjacent streets were peppered with police officers.  Furthermore, all of the gates surrounding the building were locked with reinforced steel chains, eliminating the option of a 2:00 p.m. tour.  As we walked around to the front of the building, we could start to see a collage of tri-color union jack flags marching atop the assembled crowd.  Dave suggested we not act like gawking tourists and instead ask a police officer if he knew if there was going to be any tours that day.  He replied, “Well, as you can see, there is a wee protest in front right now, but they will be done by 2:30, so check back then.”  He directed us towards the tourism board’s souvenir shop to bide our time.  Soon enough, 2:30 came and the protest dispersed.  It was worth the wait; I don’t think that my jaw picked itself off the floor until well after we were outside the gates after the tour.  Our tour guide described city hall as "Victorian Bling", which doesn’t even begin to describe the elegance of the structure.  The tour guide went on to inform us that the builders spared no expense in the construction of this miniature palace, and that was most evident as we continued on our tour.  Out of solid marble staircases climbed solid marble columns, soaring towards the heavens. Each room was grander than the next, with wool and silk blended carpet padding our steps and paintings inspired by the Sistine Chapel hanging above our heads in the rotunda.  Expert craftsmen, some of whom worked on the Belfast-built Titanic, displayed their works in meticulously carved thrones awaiting the Lord Mayor’s presence (in which we got to sit!).  It's fair to say that the tour was simply overwhelming to the senses.  We have both decided that we could easily repeat the tour and learn more about the building that we missed as we were drooling over the ornate architecture.  But, we have some time to fit it in, in addition to the other free tours we keep finding, over the course of this next year in Belfast.

Dave in the Lord Mayor's chair

Sarah in the Lord Mayor's chair