The iconic Harland & Wolff cranes

Today starts a series of themed posts about my adopted home city; Belfast (not my actual home city - it is barely a town)

The Belfast of today is a far cry from the Belfast of 30 years ago. Yes, it's been through a hell of a lot of crap and while there are still pockets of people unwilling to change, the city has developed through the determination of its people. I think it is a testament to the humble humour of the people of Northern Ireland that the infamous period of unrest was named "The Troubles". In any other country, it would be civil war, but calling it that gives it power and I think giving it such a belittling title shows the contempt and frustration many felt.

As a kid during The Troubles, I was in Belfast twice a year, once in August to get my school clothes from C&A and again in December on a recon mission, to the much-missed Leisure World, to pick my presents from Santa. I don't really remember much, just that it wasn't a place to visit often.

Skip forward a few years and I'd just sat my GCSE's and was determined not to go to my local college - Belfast was the place I wanted to be. So wide-eyed and eager, this former bumpkin got the train every day to Belfast and loved every single part of the city I discovered.

Over the course of this series I'll be touching on different aspects of Belfast that I hold dear:

• Shopping: (obviously) iconic Belfast shops and the best of Belfast's menswear.
• Food: good food & good prices.
• Culture: things to see and do on a visitor friendly budget.
• Architecture: my favourite Belfast buildings.
• Belfast's lost treasures.