Idly Idyl

On our first full day in Belfast, we took the advice of our tour guide from Dublin, and found a bus tour of the city. As we were walking to the tour company to get our tickets, we realized we had come to Belfast at a rather busy time. The whole south of the city was decked out in union jacks and royal decorations for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, celebrating 60 years of the Queen's reign.

We found the tour company, bought our tickets, and they shuttled us over to where the tour began from, near city hall. It started with a nice quick tour around the southern tip of Belfast, then in to West Belfast.

The Belfast City hospital. It was recently voted the ugliest building in Ireland
and the U.K., and is now up for ugliest building in the world.

One of the most famous murals. This was just on the edge of South Belfast,,
a largely Loyalist area. It was set to be painted over two days after this photo.

One of the nice things about taking the bus tour was that the tour guides were very knowledgable about the history of Belfast. Personally, I knew that there had been problems in Ireland, but I never really understood the specifics. The bus tour was a really good history lesson in that way.

A mural for a major IRA volunteer who helped organize the hunger strikes in West Belfast.

The first thing I learned was that there was no name for what happened. Most people simply refer to it as, "the troubles," or, "the conflicts." And the actions weren't widespread. In fact, most residents of the city moved away to try and escape the fighting and the politics.

The Catholic church in West Belfast.

Another thing I learned was that these conflicts weren't based in religion, but in politics. The factions were the Loyalists, who wanted to remain a part of the United Kingdom, and the Republicans, who wanted to leave the UK and join the Republic of Ireland. It just so happened that most Loyalists were Protestant, and most Republicans were Catholic, a divide which later became part of the rhetoric and propaganda.

A Loyalist memorial to innocent civilians killed in the conflict.

We also saw a lot of memorial gardens and murals, but very few of them were ever dedicated to the fighters. On both sides, they memorialized the deaths of the innocent people killed in attacks. Whether it was meant to memorialize or serve as propaganda is anyone's guess, but it was a distinct difference from the many "glorious army" statues that dot the rest of Europe.

The former courthouse of Belfast. It was turned into a hotel, which was privately,
and poorly, managed. It was taken by the state for restoration, which is under way.

Another nice part about the bus tour is that we got to see parts of Belfast that would have just been too far away on foot, like the shipyards, where the White Star liners, including the famous Titanic, were built.

The newly opened Titanic Museum, at the Belfast Shipyards.

Titanic Studios, where Game of Thrones was filmed. They're the largest
TV studios in the UK.

The ship building industry in Belfast was huge. With a dry dock just over one mile long, the longest in the world, there was ample space for several ships to be built at once. They also have two of the world's largest cranes to help with the building, Samson and Goliath. At it's height, the industry employed over half a million workers. Today, it employs mere hundreds. This is a history I had no idea about when I decided to go to Belfast, but it's a really cool story, and I hope to go back and see the museum at some point.

One of the cranes over the dry dock.

A view of both cranes. Goliath is in the forefront, Samson is in the distance.

The last place we saw that we certainly couldn't have reached on foot was the Northern Ireland Parliament building. Unfortunately, there was another huge event going on, Northern Ireland had just held the ceremony for the Olympic Torch that morning, and we couldn't go up to see the building. We did, however, cruise by the gates and get some photos.

The Parliament building, sitting atop a massive hill.

 During WWII, the building was a command center for the Royal Air Force. The suburb it was located in, however, wasn't adhering to the blackout rules, and the light color stones were making the building too easy of a target, so they painted the whole building black. To this day, the stones at the base are still blackened from the paint.

Afterwards, we headed back to the city center, and our tour guide came up to the top of the bus to answer some questions. I giggled intensely when I realized he looked like Tintin, and I almost snapped a photo, but I didn't want to look like a creeper, so I took pictures of outside instead.

A statue symbolizing the hopeful and stable peace.

City hall, decked out for the Olympics.
There was also a faire happening in the courtyards.

The largest Celtic cross in Ireland, at Saint Anne's Cathedral.

The Prince Albert Memorial Clock. And no, my camera
wasn't tilted, the clock is sinking backwards.

After we got back to the city center, Beth and I walked around a bit, grabbing some food and goodies at the faire, then hunting down some souvenirs.

The main street is lined with these spires, each one celebrating
a major ship built in Belfast.

The WWI memorial in the courtyard of the City Hall.

Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel because my memory cards were full, and Bethany wanted to write some postcards up and send them out. Overall, it was a very easy and enjoyable way to see the city, and I would definitely go on the tour again to learn more, and take better advantage of the Hop On, Hop Off ticket.

The next post is more Belfast, and then I have some posts on some day trips from Paris, and then I'm starting my 2 week countdown to leaving next Saturday. Expect new posts often, especially since I'm done with work and school here.