Titanic Belfast November 2013

Friday 29th November

A YOCO reunion

In other words.... students who were part of study China Nanjing Easter 2013
You're Only In China Once

Two of the girls from England came over to see us girls from northern Ireland.
We had "such" a good weekend.
Chantelle who had just turned 21 and my roommate Rosie from Nottingham.

On the Friday night the majority of us met at the Christmas continental market at Belfast city hall after Nicola, Rosie, Lisa and I went for some cocktails in The Fly in Belfast as it's £3 Sunday-Friday until 11pm and they are tasty! Perfect setting for a catch up

We had a quick look around the bustling market stalls, full of hot food from Spanish Paella, french crepes, roasting hogs, German sausages, and all the strange exotic burgers, like kangaroo burgers!its always busy, full of people buying from all the little stalls, admiring the tree inside City Hall or outside, trying mulled wine, eating, shopping or have a drink in the German or Laverys beer tent, the market always has a great buzz to it. However due to its popularity meant that the beer tents were packed unfortunately. We fancied Asian cuisine as this was a China reunion (everyone I told this to was convinced i was meeting Chinese friends ha-ha) we tried Cosmo in +Victoria Square but without a reservation we would need to wait an hour. Instead we dined in +Wagamama great for Asian food! We meet 3 of the other girls from here that we were in China with, Siobhan, Gillian and Shannon and had a major catch up and reminiscing session other our meal before we went our separate ways. Rosie got the bus back to mine and met my family and the dog and was hit with my mother's intense Christmas decorating (she'd stolen my mannequin to create a Santa.. along with my favorite and oldest pair of Dm boots!) Rosie thought they were awesome to the point that she took a photo to show her mum (and later when she returned home she sent me one of her home decorating skills...tinsel on bikes haha)

wagamama, chinese chopsitck memories

Saturday 30th November

 up early, my parents gave Rosie and I a lift to town to meet up with Nicola and Lisa for our belfast tour bus. We gave her a mini car tour of comber , the birthplace of Thomas Andrews Jr. the ship designer for the +Titanic showing her the memorial which was also my primary school, Andrews Memorial primary school, Adara where he lived and "Aureen house" where his mother (Elizabeth Pirrie) lived. there's a full walking tour to do which i've promised for next time

top of victoria square

http://www.walkni.com/d/walks/448/Comber%20Heritage%20Walking%20Guide%202011.pdf

once into Belfast we got on our black bus tour once we met the girls. it was a cold day, and fortunately for us there wasn't many on the bus apart from one other small group of girls so we had much information from our tour guide. A young student i soon caught on that I recognized him, He had been Clarence the clown for the recent Halloween haunted tour bus trip i had done round Belfast, he was great at it, doing a booming voice like impression of Tom Hardy's Bronson and making us laugh and shriek throughout. Today however he was very informative, funny and interesting in what he told us. we went past various important buildings and monuments, from city hall to the Albert clock  round to the Titanic museum with the famous towering yellow cranes Samson and Goliath of +Harland and Wolff which of course helped create the infamous ship. We travelled all around Queen university area laughing at the restaurant with an awful pun name of +THAi TANiC before going round the falls and shankhill areas and seeing the famous +Belfast Peace Wall  it was fascinating, as although i lived near the city there's so much of it i hadn't seen or known. Unfortunately on our way back there was some trouble at city hall. it was a year since Stormont had decided to remove the union flag from the pole accept for the designated 17days causing chaos with the loyalists. so there were hundreds upon hundreds of protesters there. they eventually moved on thankfully but it was funny when we first saw them, one was dressed as the queen haha!

 being jack and Rose

 Titanic centre

justice courts at Crumlin road used in the troubles

we stayed on the bus and got taken back to the +Titanic Belfast world's largest Titanic exhibition Titanic centre. I had never been before so i was very excited. we took some pictures posing outside before getting in out of the cold. The foyer was decorated especially for christmas and looked charming!
we got our tickets (student discount ofc!) had a tasty snack in the restaurant area before donning captain hats and getting a photo in the foyer in front of the green screen (optional purchase at the end)

the whole thing is HUGE and fantastic. absolutely fascinating giving you loads of vital information on key facts about eh ship, its creators, the Harland and Wolff company, the political movements at the time. life on board and the voyagers. there was even a ride which moved you through the steel works creation. there was so much to see, touch, and listen to. interactive sections, movies. everything you could think off. actual ship recoveries. reconstructions of the interiors. it was amazing! could go several times and each time I know i would see or find something new and fascinating that i'd missed before. It's a brilliant museum suitable for all ages. I highly Recommend!

 after all this we had another reunion with the girls, one of which was over to celebrate her 21st, for this we all went to Filthy Mcnasty's for a cocktail making class along with snacks. it was great fun. the first cocktail was made for us (we were late on arriving due to the vastness of the museum and the fact that we didnt want to leave it was so enthralling!) for our first lesson he gave us an explanation of what he was doing and made us all one. we drank this while others went next, chatting and catching up. next he chose a couple of us to add and help him make it before our last go were we each made it ourselves in pairs. however. he decided to make it competitive for myself and Nicola, BIG MISTAKE, she has lots of brothers and im VERY competitive when i get going. we watched and memorized the ingredients of the pair before us before it was our turn. we had to try and race each other to completion. it got VERY competitive, almost messy. there were elbows, grabbing, in the end i didn't even use the measuring devices. I beat Nicola by a good few minutes, however hers was sweeter and won for taste. we near broke things, i may have tried to bite her. but it was a great laugh and the cocktails were very tasty, well worth it!

               competitive cocktail making!!!

after this we preswalled at Lisa's student house

"Pre-swall

A gathering of people who meet up before they go on a night out to drink as much alcohol as possible.

This is usually done by students to save money. It also adds a bit more to the night and there can even be an after-swall on special occasions."

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pre-swall

there was lots of drinking, dancing and of course singing, the Lady in glitter was mentioned and much reminiscing ensued. we headed to The parlour bar and partied on. we had jugs, danced like we were in china, sang some more and apparently a lesbian tried it on with me. We woke up not in Lisa's house but Nicola's were she had not only stolen her housemates mattress which we were sleeping on, but also her whole bedset. definitely a fun night. the day was spent watching mean girls and being sad that Rosie had to leave back for england. A hearty munch was followed and tears were nearly shed at the airport. are reunions always this sad?


 the parlour belfast