Visiting Belfast: Salmon of Wisdom

“Wisdom requires a surprising amount of discipline and sleep to eventually obtains,” – Old Sean

An Arrival in Belfast

After doing a full loop of the Republic of Ireland, I caught a bus back to Dublin, visiting Belfast immediately afterwards.

Visiting Belfast is a cool, if a bit rainy experience.  It involved a lot of walking and bus rides, since the famed port city is fairly spread out.

Overall, Belfast has wide streets, distinctly modern looking buildings and busy market spaces. While most of the shops and smaller shopping arcades feel distinctly Irish, a lot of the city’s central features are modeled after the Victorian style. This results in a Irish-UK combination vibe when wandering the city.

Dragons of The Ulster Museum

I first stopped at the Ulster Museum, which is worth a visit. It’s a strangely styled building with blocks, columns and concrete curves all meshing together in a state of functionality.  The interior is great, since it’s a local cultural institution crammed with exhibits. 

The displays on the top levels are temporary, with different exhibitions moving in and out.

While I was here, they heavily focused on Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones has a fair amount of filming done in the lands around Belfast. So there was some pride when educating about the series. One guide advised people visiting Belfast to also check out Cushendun Caves, Murlough Bay, Larrybane, Inch Abbey and The Dark Hedges.

Of particular interest in the museum, I browsed an eighty-meter woven tapestry depicting the events from Game of Thrones.

The tapestry, which looks hand-stitched, loops around a irregular wall, allowing the fabrics to display the numerous, complex events of the show. While the tapestry is interesting from the beginning, the quality improves after the first couple of turns. Many events are depicted, often with thin lines of colored, stitched text.

In the same theme, I also got to visit the central lobby of the Ulster Museum, where a pair of giant wicker dragons hung off balconies.

A Tale and Tumble of Wisdom

Later during my walk, I ended up visiting a couple of candy shops, specifically to do some work interviews.  I got a behind-the-scenes tour of Auntie Sandra’s Candy Factory. The pink building offers delicious, handmade candy options alongside a fudge display and candy-making demonstrations.

Aside from visiting candy shops, I spent time moving along the river to visit Fionn’s wise, giant Salmon Statue, which I pestered for advice. 

The Salmon Of Wisdom is a popular figure in Irish lore, largely rooted in a specific, reoccurring magic salmon which ate hazelnuts that had fallen into the fountain of wisdom.

In some stories, the Salmon offers advice to heroes or children fleeing tragedy. In other tales, the Salmon is a more active figure, summon monsters to punish people who have offended it. However, the most famous story revolves around the Salmon of Knowledge being eaten by the legendary Irish hero of the Fenian Cycle, Fionn mac Cumhaill.

Fionn and the Salmon of Wisdom

In this tale, young Fionn has learned the various arts of war, woodcraft and survival in an effort to survive a plot against him, which had already claimed his father’s life. However, the man hunting him, known as One-Eyed Goll mac Morna was known to be a cunning and wily foe.

To prepare his mind as well as his martial skills, Fionn was sent to study with the wisest poet of Ireland, Master Finnegas. The great bard taught Fionn all he knew, granting Fionn a sharp intellect. In the meantime, Master Finnegas was obsessed with capturing and eating the Legendary Salmon of Knowledge, thought to be swimming in a nearby river.

Though Finnegas successfully caught the Salmon, Fionn ended up consuming after a fated accident. Armed with the Salmon’s full wisdom, Fionn left to confront Goll and prove himself worthy of his father’s original office.

The Salmon of Knowledge (also known as The Big Fish) in Belfast doesn’t have the full story written on it’s scales. But the sculpture has various images and text snippets regarding Belfast’s history.

Among the Remembered

After speaking with the inert statue, I visited the final remaining ship of the White Star Line. the White Star Line was an extremely prominent shipping-line company responsible for the RMS Titanic along with equally doomed RMS Atlantic and HMHS Britannic. It also constructed many other famous, successful shipping vessels which touched shores around the world.

Located behind a strange statue of Charlie Chapman, I continued walking until I reached the famed Titanic Museum, which is shaped a bit like a major ship on land. I spent a few hours inside, browsing the various artifacts and learning their forlorn stories.

Again Across the Sea

Following my time in the Titanic Museum, I went to pick up my backpack. It was finally time to catch a final ferry towards Liverpool.

Sadly, I made a spectacular bundle. After expending my time visiting Belfast, I managed to forget my adapter, charger, iPod and spare travel-battery.

Now, I’ve accumulated a lot of advice for folks during my travels.

“Always wear reflective sunglasses at the Moroccan Market to avoid eye contact with salesfolk.”

“Wear sandals when touring pagodas to make it easy to remove shoes.”

“Travel jungles with someone you can outrun.”

“Don’t blink a lot when facing down a tiger.”

“Don’t accept superpowers from governments.”

“Watch cartoons after the news to stay informed and not jaded.”

“If you can’t carry it, you can’t afford it.”

But the best advice I can provide any long-term traveler is to sleep.  Sleep often.  Sleep deeply.  Revel in your sleeping time.  Revere it. 

Nearly 80% of all of my mistakes and missteps are derived from a lack of rest, impulse decisions and the forgetfulness founded in exhaustion. 

While traveling, I’m constantly overstimulated and my body is always prepped for another sorely needed snooze cycle.

So I squirrel away naps like a narcoleptic puppy. I sometimes try dozing by riversides, napping during sauna hours, snoring liberally through nights and nodding off while hugging my backpack on extended subway rides.  It keeps my insanity at manageable levels.

So if there’s wisdom to be had while traveling, it’s in sleep.

Back In Liverpool

A few hours later, I made it to my hostel in Liverpool, at which point I fully appreciated my error. Luckily, I wasn’t too badly ruined.

I called my Belfast hostel where I left my various electronics and they were kind enough to send the gear ahead of me to London on express mail.

The was enormously generous.  The manager didn’t even charge me despite repeated offers, which is beyond accommodating. 

So my long and continuous thanks goes to Belfast City Backpacker for the best service I’ve yet seen.

Still, it made my eight hour ferry ride a journey of saltwater and self-reprimand.

Anyway, Liverpool was still Liverpool, Since I’d already been to Liverpool a few weeks earlier, I didn’t feel the need to go exploring. Instead, I hunkered down and rested for the remainder of the day.

Tomorrow, I’m heading off to Manchester, where I expect to enjoy a new city I’ve never visited before.

So until then,

Best regards and excellent trails,

Old Sean

Written July 19th, 2018

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