Flags, Goths and Gospel Singers

Today I would have loved to see Belfast through the eyes of a tourist.

  This week is Belfast Restaurant Week, http://visit-belfast.com/things-to-do/theme/belfast-restaurant-week-2013 ‎ and we got last night off to a good start by going to Michael Deane's Deli in Bedford Street for dinner with friends.Michael Deane even has his own vineyard and micro brewery now.  Dinner kind of stretched into the early hours, the food, entertainment and company was good and the night was not so young when we finally made it home. (the tables have finally turned, the sez the daughter this morning "what time did you get home at last night?")

 Today we had to do it all over again, we had arranged to go to James St South with son no 1 and daughter for lunch. Son no 1 loves his food, in the kindest way possible I say that. He loves to try new places and new foods. He had never been to James St South, the chef there Niall McKenna has been on the Great British Menu and we all love a tv chef.  So, feeling a little the worse for wear, the husband and I set off to do it all again, only more sober, it being only lunch time.

Well, as we walked past Belfast City Hall, surprise there was a flag protest, or as we in N'orn Irland

call it, a "fleg protest". I swear, the flegs get bigger every week. Somewhere in the United Kingdom a flag company is rubbing its hands in glee, and saying to their staff, "bigger, bigger". Further down in front of the City Hall the goths had their usual Saturday seats booked. In the grounds of the City Hall there was a big marquee with lots of foody events going on. There was also a long line of portable toilets, kind of the council to provide them for the foodies, the fleg protesters and the goths, there is never enough when I go to an event. 

Well, we had a lovely lunch en famille (minus son no 2 who has just headed off to the USA to work - last week we went to the Barking Dog to celebrate his doctorate and new life and eat Peter Hannon's rib eye steaks). When we came back past the City Hall, the fleg protesters had gone, (to shop, be foodies or protest elsewhere?), the goths had gone to do gothy things and both had been replaced by the gospel singers and biblestory tellers. Never a dull day in Belfast!

Oh, the daughter and I made a detour through Primark, and everybody who wasn't eating, singing, gospelling, protesting or gothing was in Primark in the queue ahead of us for the till, probably buying their Christmas jumpers and onezies. How do you spell onezies?

All the best,

Helen

x

ps in the BBC "The Blame Game" Jake O'Kane did a really funny skit on the flag protests last week, check it out on the iplayer or you tube. 

pps I am going to the Mac to a talk on Jane Austen this week, having dinner before with a friend and later in the week going on a Titanic walking tour with 3 courses in different venues with my scrap booking friends.

If my doctor should ever read this, I am TRYING to lose weight, honest

pps I also did a little quilting and knitting this week, but more about that next time.