As I opened the door to The Dark Horse bar along Belfast’s Instagram-famous Commercial Court, I felt like something must be wrong. No one was sitting in the inviting pink velvet chairs, leaning on the reflective bronze tables or sidling up to the long, gleaming bar.

The solitary person in the room was the bartender, Kevin. He smiled as I approached.

“Can you fit me in?” I joked.

“I think we can manage. What’ll you have?”

Kevin set me up with a local cider, the Belfast Blossom, and invited me to sit where I pleased. I chose a window seat and soon we were chatting about this and that.

As soon as I told him I was travelling alone and this must be the prettiest bar I had ever seen, he insisted on taking my photo in it. He took snaps of me in the chair I had chosen and suggested I also sit in the middle of the room. It felt like I owned the place.

“Where are all the people?” I asked Kevin.

He told me that lunchtime can often be empty, especially since the pandemic, but said that nights were always busy.

After taking the photos, Kevin told me I couldn’t miss the murals in the courtyard out back, explaining that a local artist had done them and was always changing them. I thanked him for the suggestion.

I slowly enjoyed my cider and the quiet of the bar as Kevin went back to work.

Later I headed to the courtyard to look at the murals. Just then the door opened and Kevin lit up. It was the artist he told me about, Ciaran Gallagher. (Kevin later told me he only comes in about once a week.)

I was immediately introduced and Kevin suggested Ciaran show me the murals himself. Not only did Ciaran do that but he brought me across the street to another bar where he’s been more experimental with his work and explained two vivid murals and their backstories, spending roughly a half hour with me.

After I said goodbye to Ciaran, I returned to The Dark Horse to thank Kevin for introducing me and being so kind. He told me that next time I came to Belfast, I would have to bring my fiancé and he’d teach us both how to pour a proper Guinness.

“What if I come back tomorrow?” I asked, too delighted with the idea to wait for whenever next time might be.

“Well then I’ll show ya then,” he kindly said.

Of course I came back the next day and I poured my very first Guinness after Kevin’s deft teaching.

Since the bar was technically closed (Kevin and the owner insisted I stay when I showed up not realizing), I ended up drinking the Guinness I had poured behind the bar as Kevin stood on the other side, more like a customer.

We chatted more about our families and travel for about 30 minutes before I had to go. It was one of the warmest interactions I’ve had in all my travels and I would return to Belfast just to go to The Dark Horse and talk to Kevin again and look at what Ciaran’s been up to outside with the murals.

When I first arrived to Belfast, I had no real plan about what to do. I only had a couple hours before I would need to log in to work so I just looked at a couple places I had bookmarked on a map and went to the nearest one: Commercial Court.

I walked into an inviting bar and had an unforgettable experience as a result: A personal mural tour by the artist himself, and an extended interaction with a kind bartender who made sure I poured my own Guinness on my first visit to Ireland.

Sometimes having a good plan and making reservations it the key to having a good time in a new city. But sometimes winging it leads to serendipitous experiences like the one I had. Instead of being locked into some packed itinerary, I was flexible.

And then, magic.