The Ulster Museum

 I recently visited the Ulster museum within Belfast 

The Christmas Market

During mid-November to December within the town of Belfast, the Christmas market is open to all, which transforms Belfast into a winter wonderland. It's mainly a festive market that offers a variety of delicious food, unique gifts, and a whole lot of fun. This makes it a place that you have to visit during the Christmas season. 

When I arrived at the Christmas market, there were stalls everywhere selling various amounts of products. A lot of them sell uniquely handmade gifts. I was looking at all of the different Christmas decorations and wooden trinkets that someone had made. I saw these were quite expensive, so I decided not to buy anything. I did buy myself some food from one of the stalls, which was a sizzling sausage with hot chocolate, which allowed me to really fall into the festive season. 

They do have a lot of entertainment within the market, as when I visited they had all sorts of live music and choirs, which all sing various Christmas songs to get people into the festive mood. They even have an ice skating rink,, but it wasn't functioning yet, unfortunately. I enjoyed the music as it allowed for a relaxing experience whilst looking around the market. At the end of my experience, I thought this experience was worth doing; however, it can get very busy as it is very popular.

I do have some tips for anybody that's planning on visiting which is to absolutely dress warmly as it is rather cold exploring the market. It is also completely free to visit so if you are looking for a budgeted adventure then this would be perfect.  

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Castle Rock

 I visited Castle Rock for the next location that took me and my friends about 2 hours to travel too from Belfast by train from Lanyon Station.  

When I arrived at Castle Rock, we travelled to a charming seaside shop so that my friends could buy themselves a paddle board that they could use within the water. It was a shop that offered many different types of items to be used by the seaside. The staff was very friendly, so it was well worth the visit. Once we got the paddle board, we headed down to the public changing rooms so that we could change into appropriate swim wear. Once we changed, we headed for the sea and spent a couple hours messing around in the water and using the paddle board to ride the wave. It was a lot of fun to do this, and I would highly recommend using a paddle board to enhance the experience.  

Once we finished with our water adventure, we decided to have a barbecue by getting an instant throwaway able barbecue. We went to a butcher to get high quality meat which included burger patties and sausages. We cooked them all up which took about an hour or so and just ate everything by the sea. It was a very fun experience just had to buy the necessary items. After that we explored all the rocky areas that were on the side of the cliffs, and we just climbed these and sat around admiring the view, which was a very fun experience. After this we all decided to get some ice cream and simply just walked around the small town of Castle Rock, which was a relaxing way to wind ourselves down before we went back to Belfast. Before we left, we decided to visit the many shops and get ourselves a souvenir to remember the entire experience.  

After we had visited all the shops, we decided to head back to Belfast, which took around 2 hours to get back, which was a relaxing experience. Once back in Belfast we all headed our own way homes and it was a great experience I would highly recommend.  

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Bangor

For the next location I travelled to was Bangor which is a city and seaside resort in County Down. I took a train from Botanic Station which took about 40 minutes which is a relatively short time to travel. It was a simple and easy travel experience with no troubles. When I arrived in Bangor I stayed over for the day and booked myself a room within a Premiere Inn hotel which was extremely close to the train station as it took about 10 minutes of walking in order to arrive at the hotel. I quickly packed away all of my luggage and headed deeper into the city of Bangor. 

The first activity I took part in was exploring Bangor's seafront which is a boat docking station with lots of different types of boats all stationed by the peer. I enjoyed this as I was able to get a close up look of various different kinds of boats which was extremely fascinating for me. I was also able to book a boat tour in which I was able to get on a boat and they would take me around whilst showing me the city of Bangor from the perspective of the water. It was truly a Beautiful experience in which I would give much praise to. 

The second part of my journey resulted in partaking in Kingsland Pitch and Putt which is a mini golf course which was entertaining enough for me to pass the time. It took me about an hour or so to actually complete it as I found it to truly be a challenge but it was very fun as It became quite a competitive environment once me and my friends started to compete with each other. 

After the golfing me and my friends took a trip on down to the Bangor castle which is very fascinating to look at as It offers great scenery. I was able to enter the Bangor castles museum which was interesting to learn about and it was surprisingly interactive as they allowed for individuals to wear various costumes from the era in which the castle was actually made. Around the castle has a lovely grass trail which I explored and found it truly fascinating to explore and it offers a great chance to bask in the nature that Bangor has to offer so I would highly recommend this just make sure to bring appropriate foot wear or it could ruin your shoes. 

Finally I visited the Omniplex in Bangor to watch a movie called the Substance which was a very good watch. I found this as a simple and cheap activity to do with friends. The cinema was within a close walking distance from the hotel I stayed in so this was a hassle free experience. After this I decided to call it a day and return to the hotel. 

Once I had woken I simply just packed all of my luggage and headed back to the train station to head home. This experience was great and I learned a lot of different things along the way so please give Bangor a go and stay updated everyone as I have a new adventure just around the corner. 

Helens Bay

Helens Bay was my next location that I visited which is a village on the northern coast of County Down in Northern Ireland. I found this to be a relaxing getaway that was absolutely free as Helens Bay offers a beautiful beach with waves that makes for an amazing walk. 

When I arrived parking was quite easy as there was lots of free spacing available. When I arrived at the entrance to Helens Bay it offered an amazing sight of the sea. I feel that Helens Bay in the summer would be a wonderful place to participate in swimming activities like surfing, paddle boarding or just general swimming. I didn't participate within any of these water activities because it would be absolutely freezing since its near winter but for summer it would be an absolute perfect place to swim. 

Helens Bay also offers a beach which is quite accessible to just about anyone due to the nearby free parking. The beach spreads for miles so it was very easy to get a quiet spot to have a picnic. I packed myself a picnic to have quietly on the beach which I found to be very relaxing. The beach offered lots of room so me and my group decided to play various ball games to pass the time which was an extremely enjoyable experience. Whenever it got dark me and my group decided to light a fire on the beach whilst listening to music which I found to be a great end to the Helens Bay experience. I would highly recommend a night time fire as it just creates an amazing vibe for the entire group.

Helens Bay offers a walking trail which takes about two hours to fully walk which takes you through the coastal nature that Helens Bay has to offer. On the trail I was able to see all sorts of different wildlife and a wide variety of different plants and flowers which I found to be very thrilling. I would recommend taking some water with you as I found myself getting quite dehydrated but besides this I would recommend the walking trail as it was very scenic. 

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Portrush

Portrush - The Gem of Northern Ireland  

Portrush is a seaside town that offers beautiful scenery and a great atmosphere. Portrush is truly wonderous for anyone wanting to have a relaxing travel experience. Portrush is truly a must-visit destination, I would highly recommend it. I travelled to Portrush with a handful of my friends, which did in fact enhance the experience.   

  

  

  

The Beach:   

The first activity I did was to explore Portrush beach which I found to be a wonderful site. With the group I went with we all came together and got a Frisbee and ball. We coordinated with each other and came up with different types of ball games to play to pass the time. Once we had completed this we all decided to take a swim in the water, which was incredibly fun, but it was rather cold. I found the beach enjoyable I would just recommend taking a swim in the summer but not near the winter.   

  

  

  

The Fun Park: 

When we finished at the beach, I decided to explore the Fun Park that's in Portrush. It's called Curry's Fun Park which I found to be wonderfully fun. It is a place that provides various rides that are suitable for any age range from calm and relaxed for the young to exciting and adventurous rides for teenagers. I was able to try the ghost train which I found was a very spooky and action-packed ride. They also offer arcade games which I found quite entertaining, however, to use them you must pay for tokens. One token cost one pound, which I found to be affordable enough to allow anyone to spend at least an hour or 2 in this amazing fun park.   

  

The Food:   

Portrush offers a variety of different places to eat ranging from different Bars and a variety of different Chippies. I decided to eat at Portrush's local chippie restaurant which I found delicious. I had a chicken burger and chips which was again actually quite affordable so if you have a budget issue this would be a perfect spot to eat.   

  

Hiking:   

Portrush also offers a lovely trail to walk which would take you about thirty minutes. The trail offers a breath taking view of the ocean. It's a beautiful trail on which my friends and I spent about an hour and a half on the trail taking our time and basking in the nature that Portrush has to offer. 

  

  

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Titanic Quarter

Titanic Belfast's Museum: 

 

Hello In this blog post I travelled and explored the Belfast Titanic Museum. I enjoyed this experiences as I found it to be relaxing and easy. The museum offers a wonderful view that would share the same design as the outside of a ship. From this experience I learned that this museum informs the public of the history of the titanic from its creation all the way up until the unsinkable boat sank. 

My first experience I had on entry was having to pay for the ticket which costed around 20 pound for one adult. I learned that it takes around 2 hours to fully explore the museum whenever I entered the building. I was given a boarding pass which had the real names of certain passenger's that were actually in the titanic. I had to climb the grand staircase to gain entrance to the first exhibit which was just a recreation of what the staircase looked on the actual Titanic. The first exhibit I reached was the interactive iceberg exhibit which mainly consisted of a replica of the iceberg and the temperature that the water would have been for the passenger's stranded in the water. I found it to be extremely cold I could hold my hand in the water for more than a couple minutes. 

The next exhibit I went to was the recreated cabins exhibit which showed what the different cabins would have been like on the titanic. I saw the first class and third class cabins and I saw a huge difference between the two as everything was really nice in first class whilst the third class was rubbish in comparison. The next exhibit was the lifeboat exhibit which showed what the survivors would have evacuated in. Me and my friends just sat in the boats and they seemed to fit a lot of people in them but I learned that the Titanic didn't have enough boats to meet the number of passenger's that they had. Moving on to the next exhibit I learned about the entire history that the Titanic has and all the decisions which lead up to the creation and destruction of the Titanic. The part I enjoyed the most about this part of the museum was learning about the various history of all the people who were on the Titanic. 

I enjoyed exploring the museum and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in history. thank you for reading and I hope you all stay updated.