I am back from London but I also need to tell you about my Belfast trip from the weekend before which was the 13-15. If you ever come to Ireland I would suggest visiting Belfast even if it's just for a day or so. Have I lost my mind in telling you to go to Belfast? No certainly not. I'm sure you all have heard or perhaps not I'm not sure how well news from here travels, but things in Belfast are calm but occasionally some group decides to revolt again. The two sides are more or less Protestants and Catholics as well as various political parties involved but I will not go into details of the parties because some of the lines with each are a bit fuzzy and I'd be confusing you all as well as myself. Belfast if nothing else will be a wake up call to the rest of the world as to the problems Ireland has faced over the centuries with England/UK , itself and the rest of the world.
The divide is still there and you not only see if you sense it. You can feel the tension between people on the streets in certain areas. Some don't even wander to the 'other side' so to speak due to the tensions. Yes I've been told the war is over, but I don't get the sense it really is. Surely on a battlefront level it is, minus the few random bombings that some groups decide to do, but otherwise it isn't like everyone has 'kissed and made up' and forgotten everything. It's one of those things that I feel will never be forgotten and it can be a blessing or a curse. I'd say it's both because there will be those who will not forget and never get past that tension and divide so that leaves it as a curse because everyone is at a standstill. It is a blessing that they do not forget it because it will be a reminder of something that was not so stable and how far they've come. I don't mean to be the negative one at this instance but I feel that full peace and cooperation and harmonious living (or at least as harmonious as you can get) will not happen in my lifetime in Belfast. It's a process that it going to take generations to reeducate views and morals and ethics on. And those large brick walls with massive metal gates and barbed wire that make it seem like a ghetto must come down. However, before the physical walls come down the mental and the thinking process of people in Belfast needs to change. Then again I almost wonder if the walls would remain as a reminder or if for nothing else a tourism attraction alike most of Ireland's dark history. The mentality of the UK/England as well as the rest of Ireland has to change as well to be accepting of Belfast as well as the rest of Northern Ireland back into the Republic of Ireland and away from England/UK. In that case I feel a massive political overhaul will be needed and political mindsets opened and not kept closed. The recession also needs to end as well for Northern Ireland to even stand a chance at becoming economically independent of England/UK. They are given over 7 billion pounds by England/UK to support themselves.
Economically England/UK relies on them for trading purposes though since WW2 Belfast as a industrial city has gone down to nothing. Belfast used to be the biggest shipbuilding factory in the world and now the massive yellow cranes stand there rusting as a reminder of the days when Belfast could make it's living off shipbuilding. Same goes for all of the linen factories in Belfast the last closed up in 1960 after Korea and China jumped on the market with mass production for cheaper. Belfast could no longer compete and slowly but surely by 1960 all was shut down. Jobs were cut and lost and just when things were attempting to pick up again the recession hit. The only thing Harlan and Wolfe shipyards are building now is a replica of the Titanic for their Titanic exhibit in 2012 as a 100 year anniversary/museum opening tribute. And it annoys me to know that everything or just about everything we own/buy these days is made in China or Korea. I can still find numerous crafts and sweaters and such that are handmade here but that's because there is still a market for it. However, with everything else there isn't and even the homemade things here are expensive. Not everyone can afford it so they buy the stuff made in China. You almost don't want to because you know it's only burying these closed up factories closed. Though you wonder what choice do I have? It's to the point you can't go without buying something made there. Whatever happened to toasters that lasted for decades? Or ships that were so well built that even after WW2 and sitting in a shipyard that ship is still good enough to run? No one makes things like that anymore. I almost feel as if the days of putting time, effort and care into the things we need and use on a daily basis is gone. Robots or child labor whip things out in a faster rate than we can ever imagine. Yes it is industry and commerce but at the end of the day why make millions of something that isn't going to last? Our landfills will be overflowing and we'll only kill ourselves faster. But no one bothers to think of such things it has to be now now and right now. Instant access. So I commend those few that still despite the lack of a massive profit they're making in Ireland or the States or wherever for at least staying true to making things that last and are genuine and not laced with arsenic. This is why I will probably never go to China or Korea I'd probably get so frustrated and get myself in trouble for saying this is rubbish. But I'll get off my soap box on all that for now.
All that aside Belfast is still an interesting city. It is bigger than Dublin but still has that Irish feel to it despite the divides. And the countryside in the North is just as beautiful if not more since there are more hills and mountains there. Instead of lots of rock walls like in the south, Belfast uses more hedges for the dividing lines of property in the countryside. There are the infamous Black Cabs that drive around and most offer tours of the different sides so you get a really good picture of the divide in Belfast. I didn't go on one but after going on the bus tour I had a pretty good idea of that as well as walking around.
The one day was spent going on a Paddywagon tour up to the Giant's Causeway and the Carrick-a-reide rope bridge. It was a overcast and rainy day and in the matter of an hour I saw 10 rainbows along the coast. If it wasn't so foggy out on the sea I could've seen Scotland. It rained while I was there and was very windy on the rope bridge. I'm not really a fan of bridges over water; small ones you have to walk over I'm alright with but the bigger the body of water and the higher up the bridge and if you have to drive over it I just don't do so well with. It makes me uneasy but that usually doesn't keep me from going across them. I just make myself go which is a good thing but this bridge on the way back I almost wished I didn't go across. It was probably a bit too windy for us to be on it because if you didn't grip both sides of the rope you might as well let yourself blow off into the sea. You never realize how powerful wind is until it has the ability to knock you flat on your bottom. I did look down at the teal sea crashing up against the rock below me it was a pretty sight to see. It's a small rope bridge that was originally built by fishermen to get to this large rock right along the coast where the salmon fishing was best. Not sure if I'd ever want to stand on that bridge and go fishing unless it was a calm day. It was a fun experience though I've always liked rope bridges. Even if they make me uneasy. I met a few ponies on the coastline there on the walk to the bridge. They were pretty wet but they were very happy being there. We piled back onto the bus and headed to the Giant's causeway while listening to our tour guide tell us about Belfast, his acting career, and listened to him sing some Irish songs. The Giant's Causeway was originally made from a lava river bed that dried up hence the octagon shaped rocks that make up the thing. Ireland is working on making it the 7th Wonder of the World or was it the 8th I forget now but one of the Wonders of the World. It was nice to see the sea again and climb around on the rocks-Emily came with me on this trip she kept thinking I was part mountain goat or something because she didn't get why I could climb them so well. I used to climb trees in my back yard so climbing rocks wasn't much different. It was fun and after walking back up the hill frozen, we ate in the cafe jumped back on the bus and headed to Londonderry for an hour or so. I wandered around saw a cool old cemetery, walked around the upper stone wall full of old cannons-no they didn't work anymore and probably for a good reason most were aimed at the segregated sides of the city would not have gone well if they worked. After that we got back on the bus for Belfast.
I'm sure you're wondering if I managed to make a total fool of myself at some point on one of these trips-I assure you I have on more than one occasion. For instance when our waitress asked us what we wanted to drink with our dinner I asked her if they had a Bud or Harp(Irish beer made by Guinness) and she's like Bud? What's Bud? Alas the Irish do not know the short hand of Budweiser. So I went with the Harp knowing I shouldn't attempt to explain that to her. No one says awesome thank you either around here so I got a weird look for it. I'm sure Emily wanted to kill me with her fork under the table. We weren't really dressed up for the restaraunt either but it was downstairs of our hotel which wasn't 5 star by any means more like 2 max so I didn't get the whole fancy restaraunt thing. Nothing says American like jeans and a sweatshirt with Mickey Mouse on it. Then when asked if I wanted dessert I said 'I'm game' and she stood there confused while Emily did one of those palm slaps to her head. Instead of feeling like an idiot I just laughed and told her yes. After that we went back to the room and crashed until the next day and the 7 hr bus ride back to Dublin where our bus broke down-that was the 3rd time a bus had broken down with me on it I really have something going for me on that one. We barely made our connection in Dublin for Galway-you learn to run and jump stairs pretty well in a heavy bag quickly if you want to make a bus. And after sitting in traffic from the soccer match-sorry football match, we finally made it back to Galway and ordered pizza. The pizza man couldn't find my apartment number so I had to go outside and find him.
So that my dears is the end of my Belfast trip. Here's some photo links for your enjoyment-If I look frozen in any photos there is a reason for it. Because I was frozen.
