[Worldtrippers home] [2025 Crystal-Viking]
Today’s port of Belfast, Northern Ireland, was not originally on our itinerary. (Actually, it was on the itinerary a year ago, but it was removed with no explanation.) We were supposed to have a day in Reykjavik, Iceland, on July 27 before disembarking the next day. Unfortunately, the weather in Iceland is predicted to be awful. So a few days ago, the captain announced that we would skip Iceland on July 27 and add Belfast on July 25.
We have visited Belfast several times before. Most recently, Russell was here with our son Joss last year. Russell tried getting an escort on his favorite excursion, “A Taste of Belfast.” But with the late arrangements, this was not possible. Instead, Russell and Gail took the shuttle bus into town and walked around for a bit.
Russell made sure to introduce Gail to his favorite stop, a tiny artisan chocolatier called “Daisies.” This was one of the stops on the food excursion that Russell and Joss took years ago. Russell was enamored of the place, but couldn’t remember the name. On a subsequent trip, he literally walked all over Belfast trying to find the chocolate shop again. By sheer chance he bumped into his original tour guide, who pointed Russell in the right direction. Ironically, “Daisies” is located a block away from the shuttle bus stop.
Gail is still recovering from her recent illness, so we didn’t stay in town long.
Back aboard ship, we have two sea days before we disembark the Viking Vesta and head home. Russell has a lecture on each sea day, plus one this afternoon. Due to the schedule changes, Gail volunteered to present a lecture as well. So in addition to meeting with almost a dozen guests for one-on-one genealogy sessions, Gail will also present one of her genealogy lectures/workshops on the final sea day.
