Growing up in the UK in the 1970s made me very, very scared of Ireland and of Belfast in particular. Not necessarily with good reason, but seeing the Troubles through the prism of living in a middle class area during a Tory government (Sorry, Conservative and Unionist Party government) with largely apolitical parents led me to believe it was a deathtrap and if you went there your chances of making it out alive were essentially 50/50.
Clearly things have moved on a lot since then. The Good Friday agreement and other factors have served to make the city and the area a lot quieter (and apparently has been voted the second safest city for tourists… within what pool of cities I don’t remember). I’m not going to delve any deeper than this into the history and politics of the area here as others have already covered this much better than I (indeed, The Everywhereist has already covered Belfast, Dublin and North Eastern Ireland much more entertainingly and thoroughly than I plan to, thanks Geraldine!). Suffice it to say, if you had suggested to me when I was in my 20s that I have my summer holiday in the vicinity of Belfast I would have thought you had it in for me for some reason.
And so, today we did the Belfast City Bus Tour.
Here Joel is examining the map prior to departure. He has form on…
- examining the safety card at length before departing on plane journeys
- asking many, many questions about safety arrangements in the event of ditching on water
- needing to go to the toilet immediately after departure
- getting bored straight away
I like to think it’s a sign of maturity that on this occasion he waited until about 15 minutes in and then told me he was a bit thirsty and hungry. And then laid his head on my lap, thus missing… the ring road on the way to Stormont.
Anyway, on to the pictures. This is the new Titanic museum. We’re going there on Saturday. I’m very much looking forward to this. Hopefully Leonard Cappucino will be there to show me round in person…
This is Stormont. I was impressed by the fact that it sits in a quiet, leafy suburban neighbourhood. And that they thought to camouflage it during the war (with tar & manure, apparently). Also, the moose head street lanterns from the Canadian government are a nice touch. Maybe next year just send the cash, eh?
Joel took this photo. It’s a lovely statue next to Victoria Bridge. The lanterns on this bridge have fish around the base of them. I like these ones.
Next we headed into the areas which spawned the nightmares of my childhood. The gates on the public road below are closed at 6pm so that people on each side of the peace walls feel safe. I watched the BBC3 documentary on marching bands which was on recently, and one thing which was remarkable after watching that was that on the loyalist/protestant side of the wall, there was a big gap of barren wasteland next to the wall and a road. On the other side, people’s gardens. I know which side I would sleep more soundly on, no matter what my actual political persuasions may be. The only rationalisation the people interviewed on the documentary could give for the marching bands is that “it’s our culture”. In other words, we do it because we do.
Some lovely pictures of the queen on the Shankhill Road. As the tour guide said, most of the people here are more British than anyone from anywhere else in the British Isles. And likewise two roads over with Irish/Ireland.
Two streets away, a hunger striker memorial on the side of the Sinn Fein offices. One of the “baddies” of my childhood. I understand the situation a little better now I think, but it still seems frankly bizarre.
And finally, we got off the bus at Queen’s University, where Lorna studied for her Masters. A lovely looking building!
