A Titanic journey through the North
A whistlestop trip across the border is an adventure on the wintry roads
WATCHING Die Hard. Playing a soccer match. Making a lasagne from scratch. Driving from Dublin to Belfast. What do these things have in common? They all take roughly two hours. Belfast and the Causeway Coast was named as the top place to visit in 2018 by Lonely Planet but the last time I was there Phil Collins and Billy Ocean were in the charts and I was in nappies. It was this thought that cemented the idea of a road trip to Northern Ireland’s capital.
We set off in the midst of winter and the weather only got worse the further North we went. ‘No wonder Game of Thrones is filmed here,’ my girlfriend Natalia remarked as we crossed the border. We arrived at the Titanic Hotel on Friday afternoon and immediately take shelter from the howling winds outside. The hotel, which is constructed in the former Harland & Wolff HQ and opened its doors last September, is an architectural gem.
The €32m building has been carefully transformed into a bright, luxurious space and offers views of the Titanic slipway where the doomed ship was constructed over 100 years ago. It’s an impressive sight but the hotel’s one weak point is that it’s slightly outside the city centre. In a clever move, this entire area of the city has been redesigned to honour its shipbuilding heritage and renamed the Titanic Quarter, attracting hordes of tourists in the process.
We had originally planned to walk to our restaurant but quickly changed our minds when we realised the evil, horizontal rain and shrieking winds were still out in force. Instead, we jumped in a taxi and arrived at Home restaurant within 15 minutes. Our three-course feast with four glasses of wine came to just £82. It included starters of whipped goat’s cheese with figs, beetroot and chicory, followed by pearl barley risotto, Falafel & lentil tabbouleh and Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Mango Compote for dessert. We topped the night off with a cocktail in the decedent, five-star Merchant Hotel followed by some live music in Bertz Jazz Bar next door.
When we awoke the next morning I realised the storm had died down. Buoyed by the news we set out on a scenic drive, heading towards Carrickfergus before continuing along the coastal route towards the Giant’s Cause- way. The main roads seemed fine and we foolishly admired the snowy mountains in the distance from the comfort of the car. We took a detour to Torr Head which, according to Discover Northern Ireland, offers ‘spectacular views over the Mull of Kintyre’. We never got to experience those views.
The road to Torr Head is extremely narrow, windy and dotted with very steep hills. We quickly realised we had made a terrible mistake. After about ten minutes we were surrounded by snow and the road was covered with a thick layer of ice. It was terrifying but there was no room to turn around so we kept going. I swear I heard my non-religious girlfriend whispering rapid-fire prayers under her breath as we gracefully slid around corners like a car from the computer game Micro Machines.
We eventually managed to turn around and began carefully making our way back. But halfway up a particularly steep hill, my 13year-old Polo began shrieking like a banshee before its tiny engine could puff no more and gave up on life. The car began sliding back down the icy hill so I jammed on the handbrake, not knowing if it would halt our terrifying descent. Thankfully, it did. But we were stranded.
I spent the next 20 minutes trying to phone the AA but there was limited coverage. Luckily, two tourists arrived and alerted a farmer. A little later our hero arrived in his tractor, a wry smile painted on his face. He obviously found the situation very amusing but he couldn’t have been nicer.
HE salted the roads, removed the ice from under our wheels and gave us a push to the top of the hill. We managed to make it to the Giant’s Causeway before it closed but the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, Dunlece Castle and Bushmill’s Distillery were all closed. Needless to say, we took the motorway back to Belfast.
When we arrived back in the city we both agreed that we needed a number of drinks to calm down following the excitement of the day. We headed for Ox Cave – a relatively new wine bar and sister-establishment to the Michelin Star restaurant ‘Ox’ next door. Alain, the owner and maitre d’, showed us to our seats and began bringing us course after course of delicious wines and nibbles. First came roasted almonds and Kalamata olives, followed by Connemara beef with celeriac remoulade and finally aged Comté with truffle honey. Each course came with its own matching wine and we left with full bellies and wobbly knees.
We finished the trip on Sunday with a visit to the Titanic Museum, next to the hotel meaning we only had to brave the cruel, sideways rain – it returned overnight – for a brief moment to get to the entrance. This behemoth experience spreads across six huge floors and tells the complete story of the tragic ship and its doomed voyage.
The ground floor focuses on booming Belfast at the start of the 20th century before bringing you through the construction of the ship, its maiden voyage and eventual sinking.
The museum is littered with clever multimedia exhibits which bring the ship’s stories to life making it engaging for children, or hungover adults. The highlight is a theme park-style ride through the bowels of the ship.
As we crossed the border on our journey home we were already making plans to return to Belfast. Although next time maybe in Spring.