Belfast- one of the best?

So apparently Belfast is one of the best places to live in the UK.

The city the majority of us call home came in at 9th place on the list, beating the likes of London and Liverpool.

How? I’ve been asking that myself- especially as rioting/flegs did not feature in the requirements. Instead, it was factors such as jobs, health, income, work-life balance, travelling times for work, and skills which saw us enter the top 10.

Don’t pretend that it doesn’t make you a wee bit proud, finally we have something to boast about other than our penchant for hating each other and a knack for making petrol bombs. So what are some of the things which Belfast has that other cities don’t?

1) The Big Fish: apparently it’s supposed to be the Salmon of Knowledge but really it’s just a nice big fish that everyone really likes for no reason.

An American with the Big Fish, I embarrassingly couldn’t explain why it was there.

2) Millies and Smicks: Nobody outside of Belfast has any idea what these words mean. They’re a scary, intimidating sub-culture but Belfast wouldn’t be the same without them. I haven’t had a good day until I’ve seen an orange-faced teenager in a tracksuit standing outside Primark with a pram and a bottle of WKD blue.

3) Murals and Peace Walls: There is nothing better than watching tourists on the Falls/Shankill taking pictures beside the murals and looking around anxiously in case they get jumped.

This picture really sums up Belfast. Shite weather and some murals.

4) Clubs: All our clubs are more or less in the same area (Box is an exception, but if you’re going to Box then you’re irrelevant anyway) This means you can go from The Bot to Limelight to Thompson’s without really needing a taxi at all.

5) Translink: Timetables that don’t seem to mean anything and the most miserable breed of bus drivers you’ll ever encounter. Transport just wouldn’t be the same without it.

6) Belfast Hangover Delivery Service: a  godsend, and Belfast is so small you can rest assured your cure will still be warm.

This. This is something every hungover person needs.

7) Titanic:  No list about Belfast would be complete without a mention of this monumental disaster. The Troubles and Titanic- that’s more or less our historical contribution to the world.

Titanic. Disaster for humanity, fantastic for our tourism industry.

8) Craic: We’ve got both types

Rihanna demonstrated this wonderfully in her 2011 “We Found Love” video