“Northern Ireland has had so little to be proud of that we cling to our food,” our tour guide describes Belfast’s food scene. Dotted throughout Belfast are reminders of the nation’s violent past – peace murals that are anything but peaceful, schools still divided by religious and political beliefs, and neighborhoods decorated with either Union Jack or Irish flags. As the dust settles on the Good Friday Peace Agreement, the world is...

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I realize that a beer guide to Belfast might sound a wee ridiculous. It’s Northern Ireland, after all. Doesn’t beer flow like the rain falls from the sky? Isn’t there a pub on every corner? All very true statements. But this isn’t a pub guide to Belfast. This is a Belfast beer guide intended to highlight the city’s growing craft beer scene by directing readers towards the best restaurants, pubs, and beer...

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I was tired. The kind of tired you only feel after a restless, overnight flight. The kind of tired where both your body and mind tell you that you should indeed be sleeping. But something presses you on. Adrenaline, maybe? The excitement of a new land? This is how I felt as I loaded onto the Erne Water Taxi for their Lough Erne Food Tour in the Fermanagh lake region of Northern...

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Day 1 – 72 Hours in Belfast 9:33 am – Not the Way to Welcome a Travel Writer As a travel writer, I don’t expect a lot from a host destination. I don’t expect them to slaughter the fatted calf, open a bottle of their rarest vintage, or offer up the village virgin. What I do expect is for them to let me into the damn country – which almost didn’t happen...

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As if you couldn’t tell from my previous hotel reviews, I like to be spoiled. Even in my beercation itineraries, I tend to recommend higher end hotels. Sometimes, my readers give me pushback. “I prefer Airbnb. Much cheaper.”     That’s true. However, when I travel, I want to be spoiled. I want the finest linens available to grace my skin, beds that I can sink into, and staff that bends over...

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I’m pretty stoked about this month’s Brewery Snapshot, which features Boundary Brewing in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Not only does the post paint a bright future for what’s in store for Northern Ireland’s craft beer scene, it also kick starts a new series on the blog focusing on beer and food in the once troubled country. I couldn’t think of a better way to launch a series on Belfast than with Boundary Brewing....

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