After our sojourn in Cork, we boarded the train at Kent Station and headed to Belfast, changing trains at Dublin - which included a ride across Dublin on the LUAS tram from Heuston Station to Connolly Station. Although we had diligently obtained our UK ETAs (Electronic Travel Authorisation) for our passports, we were never asked for them at any time during our visit to Northern Ireland. A warning to anyone planning travel to the UK - there are several scam website out there that advertise UK ETA. I was taken in by one of them, and was only saved by my bank refusing to process a credit card payment. Make sure you get your ETA from www.gov.uk/eta website. If in doubt, ask for help!
We started our visit with a walking tour of the city centre. I was a bit surprised to find out that Belfast really started to develop as a city in the second half of the nineteenth century, so much of the city centre architecture looked familiar as it is of a similar to style to what we would call 'heritage' buildings in Calgary or Vancouver's city centres! 
We stopped by the Visit Belfast Tourism Office opposite the Belfast City Hall, and they suggested we start our tour of Belfast with a visit to the completely free 360-degree view of the city at Victoria Square shopping centre!
Next up, our third prison tour! Across the street from the burnt-out Crumlin Road Courthouse, we found the Crumlin Road Gaol.
The courthouse was not open for tours, but inside the Gaol, we saw the tunnel that allowed prisoners to be transferred underneath Crumlin Road between the two facilities.
The layout of the prison matched the approach we saw at Kilmainham and Cork City Gaols, with the difference that Crumlin Road Gaol remained an active prison up to the 1990s, while the other two had closed in the 1920s, so overall it felt a bit more modern.
Crumlin Road Gaol has some terrific interactive displays, providing good detail on the lives of prisoners and guards in different eras of the gaol, including a very sobering presentation on capital punishment.
Naturally, as the prison was active through the 1990s, there is quite a lot of information about the Troubles. The prison yard included these examples of armoured vehicles used by the British Army during the Troubles.
I was curious to see a maple leaf on this truck, but I did not discover the story behind it.
Wessex helicopter, a frequent sight in the skies over Belfast during the Troubles.
After Crumlin Road, we wandered along Shankill Road, at the heart of Loyalist Belfast (Loyalists are so-called as they are loyal to the British Crown). Loads of commemorations of Loyalist history, with a significant emphasis on the Battle of the Somme.
Lots of flags and many arches like this one, featuring imagery celebrating their loyalty to the Crown.
A short distance from Shankill Road, we found the Peace Wall on Cupar Way that separates Unionist and Nationalist neighbourhoods. It's quite the sight, heavily decorated with loads of murals and graffiti.
Great sentiment from the Dalai Lama!
These gates are closed every night to restrict direct movement between the two neighbourhoods. They were open for us, though, so we passed on to the Nationalist neighbourhood around Falls Road.
One of the first sights on Falls Road was this big mural of Bobby Sands.
Nationalist areas favour murals, in contrast to the proliferation of flags in the Loyalist areas. There are also memorials to victims of the conflict.
The Nationalists have embraced the Palestinian cause, and by contrast there are Israeli flags in the Loyalist areas.
On the way back to our hotel, we found a tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth.
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