I know you have all been waiting all week but I have been sick so I am just getting around to it.
Most of your probably know but for those of you that don’t there is a section of Ireland (Northern Ireland) that is not part of the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, it is part of the UK. It uses Pounds rather than Euros and even has the traditional cabs you would see in England. And as you could have guessed this separation in Ireland did not come without a fight. There is a huge distinction between the Catholics and the Protestants (especially in Northern Ireland) and it is basically a war that is not over.
The first day we were in Belfast we had the option to just walk around and see the sights. But as we were coming in we passed a sign that said that the IRA was there (picture above) and one of the leaders asked if we were staying around there (she sounded slightly frightened since she was from Ireland) and the bus driver made it very clear that we were not and that we should not hangout around there. Therefore, my roommates and I stayed around city centre. It wasn’t anything tooo exciting just a normal city with normal shops. However, the European Music Awards were going on that upcoming week so the town was getting ready for it. We even passed a hotel where Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga were staying. Unfortunately the concerts didn’t start until Sunday night and we were leaving that morning so we didn’t get to see any of that. After a couple of hours of walking around in pretty cold weather we found a place called the Globe to eat. It was a pub that had a great special 5 pounds for a meal and a pint! So that was like until $9 for the meal and the drink!
Once we went back to our hostel we got ready to go out for our pub crawl. Ironically our second stop was the place that we had dinner so obviously we found a pretty good place :). The drinks there were delicious too! They had these specials that were candy drinks mine was rainbow something and tasted like cherry soda and then came with pixie sticks in it and my one friend, her drink tasted like black liquorice. They were all pretty good but I still think mine tasted the best 🙂 After the pub crawl we went back to the hostel and I got to Skype with all my girl friends from home! They were having a girls night and it was sooooooooooo nice to be able to join in! 🙂
The next day we were able to sleep in a bit after our late night and then went on a famous black cab tour. It was quite interesting because there was nearly 200 people on the trip and we all rode in cabs that could fit up to 7 so we did them in shifts. The black cab tour was called a 50/50 tour because 50% of it was about the Catholic side and 50% of it was about the Protestant side. It was such an unreal experience for me because there is still that drastic division in Belfast.
The peace wall on the Catholic side
We drove to a peace wall that had murals of people who went on a hunger strike and died and that was in the 90s (wall pictured above). That peace wall was on the Catholic side. Then we drove through these gates. Like an actual gate that could be locked and that is when you know you are on the Protestant side. There the peace wall was made up of different graffiti and signatures. The cab drivers all had markers so we all got to sign the peace wall. We then went to a place where on the back of like apartment buildings there were murals and they explained many of them but it was so unbelievable how this war is still going on today. There was a mural of a kid who died at 22 years old but was honored by this mural because he had killed 15 Catholics…..in 2000. Can you believe that? We were talking to the driver and he said that it is a lot better today but that Protestants and Catholics still cannot work or live together. And we asked how the city centre was able to be mixed. His response was as long as you avoid questions like what part of the city are you from or what school did you go to usually you can get your shopping done without running into problems but that if those two questions are answered it is very easy to tell with side they were from. He then went on to tell us how the children are raised to hate either Catholics or Protestants and that it is still to this day passed on from generation to generation.
the gates that divided the two sides
the mural of the boy who killed the 15 Catholics in 2000
He told us that his tour company tried to take 15 Catholic students and 15 Protestant all 12 years old and mixed them up in the cabs. So a few Catholic and a few Protestant and then show them the tour to try to show them both sides of the city but that the hour and a half tour was only 2o minutes under way when the kids started fighting in the back seat and they had to take them all back. These kids are 12 and have no idea what is going on and yet they already have such hatred for each other. It was so sad.
After that heart wrenching tour we were dropped back off at the hostel. The intent was to go see the dock and the shipyard that the Titanic was built-in BUT it was soooo cold and a very far walk so we decided not to take it and instead check out the college down the street and the botanical garden. Again, we ate at a very nice place that was just 5 Pounds for a meal and then went back to our cold hostel to try to warm up before we went out for the night.
Queen’s College (beautiful campus)
The next morning we woke up at 8:00am and after a long night out it was rough for quite a few people but we got on the bus and were off to the very north of Ireland. We stopped at the rope bridge first! It was right along the water front and the mountains and the scenery was unbelievable. After the crossing the rope bridge since we didn’t have time to eat Carey and I along with pretty much then entire bus stopped in the tea cafe and had well a cookie and tea for breakfast but it was better than nothing!
Once everyone got to see those amazing sights we were onto Giant’s Causeway. And I must say the weather was remarkable the entire weekend…sunny (for the first full weekend since well probably the Galway trip) but it sure was cold. But between the sun and the spectacular views on the causeway it was breathtaking. You basically just walk along the waterfront and can look at the rock formation and things. It use to be a volcano (a realllllllllyyyyyy long time ago) so the formations are the rocks are unique and make for such great sights and pictures! The coolest thing about it is that you can walk/run/bike the water front from the Causeway to the rope bridge. Wouldn’t that be amazing to be able to wake up and do every morning?
And after that amazing day we headed back to Dublin. Though about 20 minutes outside of Belfast we see this girl go up to the bus driver and they are talking and we are all tired and half listening but then chatter around the bus started. Turns out this girl was not part of UCD and that she actually was just staying at the hostel and instead of taking the early tour bus (that looks just like ours) she got on ours and thought that it would take her back to the hostel. And on top of that she had a plane to catch from Belfast airport that night soooo we ended up turning around and dropping her off near Belfast so she could get a reasonable cab to the airport. She is lucky she was paying attention because I was asleep before everyone started talking and wouldn’t have realized we even passed through Belfast so I am glad it was not me!
Overall it was an extremely emotional weekend. Between getting to see my best friends for the first time in a long time (well over Skype) and then learning about the monstrosities still going on in Northern Ireland today it is such a saddening thing to think about let alone to witness the compete separate of two religions that should be able to live together in peace. And then to go and see the wonders that mother nature can make. It was definitely a remarkable weekend and would recommend it to everyone.
dianaindublin 