D-Day

I set off at around 8:40 p.m. Arizona time on a direct flight from Phoenix's Sky Harbour airport to London's Heathrow. The plane was packed, so packed that British Airways was offering to pay around $1,800 to anyone willing to take a flight on the 20th instead of the 19th. It wasn't even a small plane, it was a Boeing 747, a "Jumbo Jet", one of the finest examples of 1970s aeronautical engineering but unfortunately also a plane that was showing its age; a third of the toilets on board were broken, in-flight entertainment consisted of a tiny TV that played more static than actual film, and leg room was a luxury that only those in first-class could say they had.

Actual Image from Inside the 747

Nine hours and two mediocre meals later the 747 touched down in rainy London, the pilot set it down so smoothly that I didn't even feel it.

 Our 747 at the Gate in London

At Heathrow I transferred terminals, went through more security, and waited by the gate for around two hours until the next plane finally showed up, forty minutes late. Belfast is just a short hop from London, and by the time we had reached cruising altitude we we're about to begin descent for landing. As we broke through the thick clouds which hung low over Belfast, the rocky coast and choppy seas of Northern Ireland became visible for the first time. I must admit I was pretty intimidated by the sight at first, the whole city looked like it was trapped in a oppressive haze, and the Irish Sea looked like something out of one of those dramatic fishing shows on the Discovery Channel.

The Outskirts of Belfast

George Best Airport is probably one of the smallest airports I've ever been in, from what I could see it was really just one terminal, a control tower, a runway, and a big bombardier aerospace building (Bombardier is cutting its workforce in Northern Ireland as we speak, which is a huge blow to the cities economy). The corridors are narrow and the whole building was frigid, but hey, it had free WiFi.

The Terminal at George Best 

The Corner of Lisburn Road and University Road

One short ten minute cab ride later and my mother and I were at the apartment we had rented. It's small but quite nice, right near the university in the city centre. Anyways, I haven't seen much of the city because we only arrived after night, but I'm excited to start exploring the area tomorrow! I'll report back then.