Planes, Cranes & Swedish Fish

Posted byFractured Faith BlogPosted inA Fractured FaithTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Whenever one of the hatchlings misbehaves, which is most days if I’m honest, Fionnuala and I threaten to hit them where it hurts the most. We go for the gadgets. Want to make a 6’1” rugby playing teenage son’s bottom lip quiver? Take his PS4 off him. The same applies to our two delightful daughters. Hannah cannot exist without her phone, while confiscating Rebecca’s I-Pad is a sure fire way to guarantee tears.

I was therefore pleasantly surprised, yesterday, to discover a technology free way of holding their attention. Take them to the top of a multi storey car park and let them watch the planes taking off from the adjoining Belfast City Airport. Well, Adam and Rebecca were entranced. Hannah took one look, decided it was too windy and took off for the sanctuary of IKEA, remarking she didn’t see what the big fuss was as it was ‘only bits of metal flying into the air.’

I loved how she witheringly dismissed one of the miracles of 20th century invention in a single sentence. Who can be bothered marvelling at the genius of the Wright Brothers et al when there are acres of Scandinavian flatbed furniture to navigate prior to buying your body weight in ‘Swedish Fish’ sweets at the end of your trek? You just can’t compete with logic like that.

We took a few snaps of the Belfast skyline. Incredibly, it’s not raining, so I hope you get a taste of the city and surrounding hills. The big yellow cranes dominating the skies are situated within Harland & Wolff shipyard, where The SS Titanic was built. They are called ‘Samson’ and ‘Goliath,’ and stand at 348 and 315 feet tall respectively. Or, at least that’s what Wikipedia says and we all know that it’s always right.

Almost as famous as the iconic cranes, are the tourist t-shirts proudly claiming ‘Titanic – She was all right when she left us’ and ‘Titanic – Built by the Irish, Sunk by the English.’ To say Northern Irish humour is dark, is like saying President Trump tells the occasional fib, but it got us through 30 years of murder and mayhem so who am I to argue. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photos.

What is your city/region famous for?

Published by Fractured Faith Blog

We are Stephen and Fionnuala and this is our story. We live in Northern Ireland, have been married for 17 years and have three kids - Adam, Hannah and Rebecca. We hope that our story will inspire and encourage others. We have walked a rocky road yet here we are today, together and stronger than ever. We are far from perfect and our faith has been battered and bruised. But an untested faith is a pointless faith. Just as a fractured faith is better than none at all. We hope you enjoy the blog.

42 thoughts on “Planes, Cranes & Swedish Fish”

  2. I live in Fort Worth, Texas, which is mostly known for being “Cowtown,” and for having Billy Bob’s Texas club. We are very close to Dallas, which is known for killing John F. Kennedy. Oh, and the Dallas Cowboys, I guess.

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  3. Gingin Western Australia, known as one of the food bowls of WA where fresh produce is abundant. Also the home of most of the biggest dope busts in the state 🙂

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      1. Yes, we will have been married 12 years in a couple of months.

        Also, I checked this response for spelling errors twice so she doesn’t get upset with me 🙂

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    2. I have lived in Northern California my entire life and I have never visited San Diego. I seriously need to get out more. I think it’s time for an adventure.

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  6. I am also from Fort Worth,Texas (Hi Jeff nice to see your comment as well). Fort Worth has long been known as “Where the West Begins”. Dallas, 30 miles away is where the East “just kind of peters out”. It’s always amazed me how different people can be in those 30 miles. Of course, we’re not sure if Dallas is part of Texas…

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  7. Near Liverpool airport there’s a National Trust property, Speke Hall, my teens love standing on the raised platform at the centre of the maze watching planes take off and land. You can’t see the runway so the planes suddenly emerge from behind the trees, it’s pretty awesome.
    Have a great week.

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  8. Nice article, bud! Unfortunately I’m from an area that is known for Elvis and not much else. It’s not that I have anything against the Elvis connection, but some 40 years after his death there has been little to no effort to foster a new identity.

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  12. Right now, the influx of co-eds for Spring Break – locals “pooping in the bluebonnets” (a Texas tradition where you take a picture of yourself crouched among wild lupines – generally at the expense of traffic) and unpredictable weather. Which is why I hope those spring break kids who can spring for SXSW tickets (literally $1000 for the week, and that’s access to the shows, not shelter, food or other things) pack some winter gear. It will swing between 50 and 85 F over the week.

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  14. My province Manitoba was colder than Mars and North Pole this year. Our capital city Winnipeg is referred to as Winterpeg. We are known for being cold. Lots of snow. Bitter winds. But I would not change it for anything. Except a warm beach.

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  16. The area i just moved from six months ago to come to Michigan was the home of John Deere Tractor company. The tiny town I live in now in MIchigan is called Mint City and has a Mint Festival – lots of mint farms in the area.

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