Spring Break in Ireland

Belfast- 6/4/11

Our bus to the airport on the morning of the 6^th was at 3.20am and we arrived at the empty bus stop at 3.27. That was just how our morning started. A very tired pair called a taxi and 67 pounds later we were at Stansted airport. Our flight wasn’t until 7.30 so we napped and read the paper before getting on the plane and passing out before even taking off. We found our hostel easy enough and thankfully they let us check in early so we took an official nap before heading out into the city at about 11. Our first destination was to find the murals. Shankill Rd was near to us and it wasn’t long before we could see murals covering the sides of houses. We were standing looking around and deciding where to go when a local noticed us, “Do y’ want to see the murals? Come with me, I’ll show ya.” He introduced himself as Sam, just back from 3 years in Australia and told us about the area, including the bombings he had experienced. He told us about a time when he was in the street when it happened. “I saw a body, lyin naked. Y’ know how all the clothes come off with a force like that? And she was face down, with cuts covering her body from the shrapnel. I thought it was my ma an I ran over to cover her with my jumper. But when I went to turn her face toward me my fingers went straight through her skull, shattered it was, and she was dead. It wasn’t my ma but the horror was still there. But y’ know what haunts me more? What comes back to me at night? It’s the screamin, all those children screaming, for their mothers and their fathers and cryin at the sight of the ruins”

The murals

Claire studying the murals

Sam didn’t stay with us for too long, but he was a good introduction to the area. There are so many different political parties that Claire and I are unsure exactly who was who but we resolved to look into it. The peace wall was nearby and it was the least peaceful looking wall I’ve ever seen. It was about the height of a 3 story house with barbed wire and political graffiti covering it, it still has gates which get shut at night to keep the areas separated.

The Peace Wall

 I should mention that the weather was lovely, blue skies and sunshine helped to beautify what was otherwise a very dero part of town. Wandering back into the city we found out that it was the 100^th anniversary of the Titanic and the City Hall’s lawns were set about with a photographic exhibition of the great ship. Inside the hall we were given a tour of the Victorian rooms and a brief history of the town.

City Hall

Inside the hall

Sitting in the Mayor's seat

The main foyer

The streets of Belfast

 At this late stage of the day we picked up some food and went back to the hostel for our second nap of the day (Win!) We had an aim for the evening; the hostel had recommended Fibber Mgee’s, a pub down the road, for its live music every night. We headed down to this very atmospheric pub and ordered our pints of cider. The pub was very quickly full and the musicians played keyboard, accordion, harmonica and guitar and played mostly Irish folk music but also some newer stuff. They had us swaying and tapping our feet, laughing at the old guys dancing and even after our long day we had to drag ourselves away at midnight knowing that if we didn’t, we wouldn’t wake up the next morning!

7/4/11

On our second day we managed to wake up early enough because we had a plan. Claire and I like to collect ‘essential experiences’ and one of those experiences is to find a national or clichéd food to eat. In Ireland (apart from the potato) that food was a full Irish breakfast. We strolled into the first greasy diner that we could find and ordered the Ulster fry with tea and coffee. Sooooo greasy. We had beans, mushrooms, egg, bacon, sausage, fried bread and something else bready that we couldn’t identify. No black or white pudding yet L It all got finished but I can’t say that either of us felt great about it afterwards.

Claire and her Ulster Fry

 Still we unclogged our arteries with the hot drinks and for some reason got on a bus. The idea was that we were catching a bus to the botanic gardens, but for some reason we thought that the first bus we saw was going there so we just got on. Turns out we got a nice scenic ride out to the outskirts of the city and then back in again. Once we got back in we made an effort to read the bus timetables and found the bus that would take us to the botanic gardens. It was again a gorgeous day and the gardens were teaming with people, sitting on benches amongst the flowers, playing soccer, lying on the grass and eating ice-cream. It was beautiful to see in what had so far been a fairly rough city. Most of the flower beds were in full bloom and we visited a few conservatories, one called the tropical ravine was so warm and moist that the air was thick to breath.

In the gardens was the Ulster Museum. It was a very impressive museum, this sounds so sensible, but everything was just very well set out. We found out a lot more about The Troubles and about how it is still ongoing (Just last week a policeman was shot on the border of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over political disputes). We had what was probably an inappropriate amount of fun for people of our age in the children’s interactive area where we got to dress up in corsets and hoop skirts. The attendant in the area commented on us being big kids :D

Being a big kid

Painting

 We also enjoyed the art interactive area where we got to paint in water colours, so many reasons to love museums! It did close eventually though and we hopped on another bus which we thought was going to the beach (we had been told this by the guy at the hostel) but when it got to the end of the line the driver turned to us to ask where we had been wanting to go, and when we said the beach he gave us a very puzzled look. Back into the city it was, and we aimed for a glass dome visible over the other buildings. It was a shopping centre set about a spidery tower of stairs, elevators and escalators. We took the elevator to the top where a platform was suspended in the middle of the huge dome and we could see a 360 view of the city.

The Dome 

We had our fun there and in the shops until we headed home for dinner and made our way back to Fibber Mgee where there were new singers (same old creepy guys), just as good, and we spent an even longer night singing along! 

City Hall

Breakfast with Queen V.