Traveling with the Jones

During an unplanned port day in Belfast on our 14-Day Celtic Explorer Cruise, we returned to a favorite seafood restaurant discovered during a prior visit to Northern Ireland.

The Mourne Seafood Bar, located on Bank Street in central Belfast, is the destination for fresh, local seafood. The restaurant sources all of its shellfish from its own shellfish beds at the foot of the Mourne Mountains south of Belfast.

As you enter the restaurant, — or just walk by– you can preview the fresh fish on the menu by looking into the window where the offerings are displayed on ice.

After a busy morning of hiking and exploring the views from Belfast Castle, we were quite hungry. This always leads us to over order.

Mr. Jones can never pass up a seafood chowder, something he is known for making at home. While he can be a tough critic, he gave the chowder at Mourne a high rating.I started with the Piri Piri prawns, a spicy appetizer. Portuguese in origin, Piri piri sauce is generally made with crushed chilies, onion, peppers, paprika, and a number of other spices.

This dish is tasty but the spice overwhelms the prawns.

Mr. Jones ordered his standard lunch when in the United Kingdom or Ireland — fish and chips, that is served with a side of mushy peas.

What he most enjoyed during our lunch was helping eat my mussels.

As we learned during our prior visit, the Mourne mussels in white wine and cream are the star entree at the Mourne Seafood Bar. While they are served with a crusty roll, we knew to order extra bread.

The extra bread is important as you work your way through the mound of mussels. The best part is the remaining sauce, sopped up with crusty bread, and savored while drinking a glass of Sancerre wine. Really, this is all we needed for a delightful lunch at the Mourne Seafood Bar.

In case you visit for dinner, you might want to try the Scallop Linguine, a favorite from our prior visit to the Mourne Seafood Bar. Or, this dish may be crab linguine, depending on what shellfish is in season.

Like most great restaurants, there is a cookbook, which we almost purchased. But those pesky airline weight restrictions made us reconsider. Luckily, however, the Mourne cookbook is available via Amazon:
Mourne Seafood Bar: The Cookbook

Have you visited Belfast? Where’s your favorite spot to dine?

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We used this book to help plan our day in Belfast, as it includes a detailed section on Northern Ireland and Belfast (although they are part of the United Kingdom)

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Ireland

 If you prefer a tour when in Belfast, check out these options (and many more) from Get Your Guide:

As can happen on any cruise, bad weather forced some missed ports during our 14-Day Celtic Explorer Cruise on Holland America’s ms Prinsendam. The good news was that two unplanned “bonus” ports were added to our cruise in place of the three that were skipped.

One of those “bonus” ports was Belfast, in Northern Ireland, which thrilled us, even though we’ve spent time in the city before. Ever since the 1998 Belfast “Good Friday” Agreement that was seen as the end of The Troubles (the conflict in Northern Ireland that began in the late 1960s), the city of Belfast has worked hard to rebuild tourism. Tourism representatives boarded our ship to hand out city maps, and help direct guests who wanted to explore specific highlights. Free shuttle buses transferred cruise passengers from the port to the Visit Belfast Tourist office.

There is much to experience in Belfast, from the Titanic Belfast museum to the city’s iconic ship-building cranes nicknamed “Samson & Goliath.” The Victorian Palm House near the Ulster Museum and Queen’s University are all worthy of a visit while walking around Belfast. There are numerous public art installations to view such as The Big Fish ceramic mosaic sculpture or the 64-ft. tall girl with the ponytail known officially as the Thanksgiving Statue by Andy Scott. Belfast has great restaurants and iconic pubs.

Belfast is also located for a day tour of Northern Ireland’s Causeway Coast where visitors might taste whiskey, cross the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and/or climb on Giant’s Causeway.

The complimentary cruise shuttle let us off at the Visit Belfast Welcome Center on Donegall Square North, right across the street from the stately Belfast City Hall.

We knew from our prior visit how helpful this visitor’s center is; we went inside and bought two Metro bus Day tickets. These tickets only cost £3 each, and are valid for all Metro services in Belfast for the full day.

Most helpful, the person selling us the tickets marked on our map where to pick up the bus to take us to our desired location.

We wanted to visit Cave Hill Country Park that overlooks the city of Belfast, and offers a hiking route with panoramic views.

Cave Hill is distinguished by its famous ‘Napoleon’s Nose’, an outcrop which is said to resemble the profile of the famous French emperor, is officially named McArt’s Fort after Art O’Neill, a 17th-century chieftain who controlled the area. If you look closely at the photo above, you can see people hiking on “the nose.”

Cave Hill is thought to have inspired author Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.  When Swift resided at Lilliput Cottage near the bottom of Belfast’s Limestone Road, he imagined Cave Hill as resembling a sleeping giant safeguarding the city.

We rode one of the bright pink public buses on Antrim Road, about 4 miles north of the city center of Belfast. Our bus driver kindly told us that this was the best stop to reach Cave Hill. We headed through the neighborhood in the direction he pointed.

Before long, we saw signs pointing the way to Cave Hill Park, and to Belfast Castle.

Finally, we reached the park border. We decided to follow the paths to Belfast Castle since they were paved. While the weather was postcard perfect while we were in Belfast, the unpaved trails indicated there had been recent heavy rainfall.

After a healthy climb, we reached Belfast Castle, which offered spectacular views in both directions. We saw there were actually two cruise ships in port in Belfast.

The Belfast Castle dates to 1870, and today houses a restaurant and event space. There is also a visitor’s center that details the area’s history.

Multiple hiking trails lead from the Belfast Castle up to “the Nose” and past the five caves in the hillside. Dissuaded by the muddy trails, we gave up on reaching “the Nose.” Instead, we hiked back down the hillside via a different paved route, and through the neighborhood to catch a return bus to the city center.

All of that hiking and bus-riding made us thirsty. We headed to “The Entries” — a series of narrow alleys full of pubs — just off of High Street in the oldest part of Belfast. We enjoyed Smithwick’s Irish Pale Ale at White’s Tavern, which dates to 1630 and is said to be Belfast’s oldest pub.

As we contemplated lunch, we remembered our favorite seafood meal during our prior visit to Belfast.

We were able to find our way to Mourne Seafood Bar on Bank Street. The fresh fish is displayed in the window, but we had mussels on our mind.

As one of Belfast’s most popular restaurants, there was about a 15-minute wait for a table.

All of the fish and seafood that we’ve tried at Mourne Seafood Bar has been delicious. Our favorite, however, are the Mourne Mussels cooked with white wine and garlic cream, and served with crusty bread. Ask for more bread, as there’s not enough to sop up all of the delightful sauce. Of course, the mussels pair nicely with a glass of carefully-selected white wine.

As we enjoyed our seafood feast, we learned that the couple sitting next to us was also in Belfast via a cruise. They were, however, on the Oceania Insignia, on the last part of a 180-Day-Around-the-World cruise. We enjoyed the conversation as much as the food.

Full of seafood and exhausted from hiking, we found our pink bus shuttle back to the ship. What a glorious “bonus” day in Belfast.

Have you visited Belfast or other parts of Northern Ireland?

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Learn more by reading 34 Fun Facts About Belfast and/or check out our Belfast and Northern Ireland page on Pinterest.

We used this book to help plan our day in Belfast, as it includes a detailed section on Northern Ireland and Belfast (although they are part of the United Kingdom)

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Ireland

 If you prefer a tour when in Belfast, check out these options (and many more) from Get Your Guide:

We made our first visit to Liverpool, England via Holland America’s 14-Day Celtic Explorer Cruise on the ms Prinsendam.

The captain dealt with high winds as he sailed the ms Prinsendam up the River Mersey to dock at the Liverpool Cruise Terminal, which is a 1,150 ft. floating structure that allows cruise passengers to conveniently depart near Pier Head in Liverpool.

Pier Head is renowned for its trio of buildings known as the Three Graces – the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building. These buildings showcase Liverpool’s great wealth during the late 19th and early 20th century, and are part of the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Royal Liver Building (left in the photo above) dates to 1911, and is topped with two liver birds, the symbol of the city of Liverpool. The birds face away from each other, with one designed to watch the city and its residents, and while the other bird faces the sea, long known for bringing prosperity to Liverpool.

The Cunard Building, (right in the photo above) was constructed between 1914 and 1917, and was home to the Cunard Line headquarters until the 1960s.

From our research before we visited the city, we learned about the history of these buildings as well as these 18 Fun Facts About Liverpool. 

Also on Pier Head, you will find the Memorial to the Engine Room Heroes of the Titanic. As home to the White Star Line, the city of Liverpool has a strong connection to the ill-fated liner that sank on April 15, 1912 after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean. Liverpool was the port of registry for the liner, and the words ‘Titanic, Liverpool’ were visible on the ship’s stern.

This waterfront memorial is dedicated to the 244 engineers who lost their lives at sea as they remained working below the passenger decks to supply the stricken liner with electricity and other amenities for as long as possible. Constructed in 1916, it is the first monument in the United Kingdom dedicated to the working man.

Walking a little farther, we reached the popular Beatles Statues on Pier Head. It’s a popular photo op.

The Beatles got their start in Liverpool, going on to achieve 17 number one hits during their time together. The band named two of their songs – Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields — after areas in their hometown.

Visitors can learn much about the lives of The Beatles at the world’s largest permanent exhibition purely devoted to the band at the Albert Dock in Liverpool. Buy tickets instantly here for admission to The Beatles Story.

We did not take the tour, but our friends that did really enjoyed it.

We did spend nearly two hour in the nearby Merseyside Maritime Museum, with a variety of exhibits ranging from the sinking of Lusitania during the First World War to the untold story of the connection between Liverpool and the Titanic. The museum tells the stories of emigrants who sailed from Liverpool in search of a better life in the ‘New World’, explains ‘Life at Sea’ for seafarers, and even has Hello Sailor! – an exhibit about gay life on the ocean.

Best of all, admission is free to the Merseyside Maritime Museum, as well as to The International Slavery Museum that is on the third floor of the same building.

Liverpool played a key role in the slave trade; the city was also home to three prominent men who pioneered the abolitionist movement.

We love coffee and we love bookstores, so of course we loved a late morning coffee break at Cafe W on the second floor of the fabulous Waterstones bookstore in Liverpool. We could not tear ourselves away from the store without buying a stack of books.  After all, sea days on a cruise ship and reading go together, and bookstore in the United Kingdom always help us discover English authors that are new to us.

Rested and refreshed, we set out to explore more of Liverpool. As one walks further away from the waterfront, you see signs of the tough times the city of Liverpool as faced during the last few decades.

A key for keeping Mr. Jones exploring on foot is an occasional stop at a local pub. In the photo above, he’s enjoying a pint of Carling beer.

After more walking, we were ready for lunch. At 16 Hanover Street, we discovered The Hub Alehouse and Kitchen, which served excellent food in addition to a proper Gin and Tonic.

Of course, we found a Starbucks at Liverpool ONE, so we could add a mug to our collection. (We actually use our mugs; as you can see if you look closely I’m having my coffee in this one today as I write this post.)

Finally, we wrapped our day in Liverpool by walking along the waterfront back toward our Prinsendam cruise ship. As we walked, we got a great view of the waterfront attractions including the Open Eye Gallery (large black building in photo above), and the Three Graces Buildings.

Liverpool is a terrific city to visit via cruise ship as many of its new and historic attractions are within short walking distance of the port.

Learn more about Liverpool, England with these resources:

Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide

Liverpool

Tours in Liverpool to check out:

Have you visited Liverpool, England?

Interact with us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram.

Check out other posts from our 14-Day Celtic Explorer Cruise on Holland America’s ms Prinsendam:

• A Do-It-Yourself Walking Tour of Dublin, Ireland
• The Bow Street Experience at Dublin’s Jameson Distillery
• A Look Around Ocean-view Stateroom 421 on Holland America’s Prinsendam Cruise Ship
• Views from Walking Around Central Amsterdam