Belfast, Northern Ireland – Part Two

The bus tour I went on with Allen’s Tours was meant to last 1hour 45 minutes, though with traffic can last a fair bit longer. We covered most of the city and important sites around the centre, including Stormont, Shankhill Road and the Titanic Quarter.

Murals: The murals of Belfast were to mark the different zones of Protestant and Catholic Belfast during ‘The Troubles’, though some now are for other purposes including the Narnia wall in tribute to C.S. Lewis and the peace wall which depicts murals of troubles around the world.

Belfast, Northern Ireland – Part One

Munich airport beergarden - Europa train station Belfast

I left gorgeous, sunny Munich at 10.45 am after having sat in an airport beergarden catching the sun at 9am. It was a far cry from the rain that poured on my arrival at Belfast airport and didn’t stop until my last day. However, this didn’t deter my fellow breakfasters in the B&B I stayed in on the first night from deciding to go for a walk along the beach.

Die Weisse Rose - The White Rose

Munich is dotted with many memorials to its historic past, including the plaque to Kurt Eisner, the ‘Wunden der Errinnerung' series and also some to the White Rose Movement. Of course, not all the memorials are related to the second world war, but it’s something that Munich was a major part of, with Hitler starting his campaigns in the city and where the beer hall putsch took place, along with many other significant events.

Small things

My landlady today took the black labrador she's temporarily looking after for a walk in the Englischer Garten. They ended up, after many diversions for the dog to swim, in a meadow and she picked a bunch of flowers. When she got home she gave them to me which was very kind of her. It's small things like this that make things better.

10 things I’ll miss about Munich

I’m sure this list could be much longer the more I think about it, as Munich is a great city to visit and live in. One of the best I’ve known.

1. Beergardens. These are typically German, unlike pub gardens in the UK, they are normally an outdoor space dedicated to drinking beer.

10 things I won’t miss about Munich

I love Munich, so writing negative things about the place is difficult, but nowhere is perfect and some things can bug a person after a while. Some things you get used to, many of the things listed below, don’t bother me much anymore, in fact they can add to the charm of the place as you laugh off a lot of things or a few choice words in the local lingo can do wonders for you, even if they have no effect on the other person, it makes you feel good. But as I’m leaving, a few things I won’t miss about this city may make the break easier!

1. Dogs in restaurants. I like dogs, but in places where food is served, no thanks.