Festive Belfast
This afternoon I flew direct from Inverness to Belfast on a hush-hush mission. I was met at the George Best city airport by Susan Lovell, my opposite number at ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Ulster. She was supposed to pass me a brown envelope containing secret documents, but these were still being checked and double checked by her people back at headquarters. Instead she hurried me into a coffee bar and interrogated me about my beverage preferences.
"I'll have a latte, " I told her, "medium size, not shaken but slightly stirred."
I raised one eyebrow and had another standing by in case things turned ugly . Susan nodded. It was the right answer. It meant I also qualified for a jammy biscuit.
Ok, enough of that. This is what happens if you go to see the new James Bond movie the night before a big meeting. The truth is I'm in Belfast to help Susan with a recruitment process and share my experiences of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland's move from Queen Margaret Drive to Pacific Quay. It's useful to compare notes with things like this and I always enjoy my trips to Belfast. It's become such a modern, confident and very European city. Its proximity to Scotland makes you think it will be a bit like Glasgow, but to my eye it looks a lot more like Cardiff.
Tonight I took a wander into the heart of the town. There's a Continental Festive Market in the grounds of the City Hall. There are lots of little huts selling everything from Peruvian ponchos to Polish pastries. I lingered around the Bratwurst stall with my tongue hanging out, hoping for a free sample. Finally I handed over four quid for two big fatty sausages in a bread roll. Well, you know me, I always go for the healthy option. With mustard.
There's also the Belfast Wheel. It's on the same scale as the London Eye and towers over the surrounding buildings like an alien spacecraft. I thought about buying a ticket and climbing into one of the pods, but the landing at George Best airport had already satisfied by thrill quota for the day. How can I describe that? It's like landing on an aircraft carrier while it's sitting in dry dock. I'm surprised they don't have those high tension wires to catch the planes as they touch down.
Still, if it's good enough for James Bond, it's good enough for me.
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