Well, we are in Ireland. We spent the first two days in Belfast. We had been given some rather harsh reviews of Belfast, but we thought we'd give the place the benefit of the doubt and check it out for ourselves. And we love it! probably more so than Dublin! Belfast clearly has been through a lot - you can see where there have been attacks and the buildings are broken down and dishevelled. But it is in the process of redevelopment - i guess a chance to start over. There is very little IRA conflict here - you hear about IRA attacks however we have found it to be very subtle when walking the streets of Belfast. I must admit it was a little un-nerving walking down Falls and Shankill Roads - the Protestant and Catholic Quarters - in essence, the IRA and the Loyalists. Me and Adam were trying our best to be as quick as possible to take some photos of the wall murals and hide our camera. But the locals seem friendly enough.
Actually funnily enough on our initial arrival at the bus depot, we were looking at our map with complete confusion and a local taxi driver approached us and started talking - and i did not understand a word he said...i paused and then said 'huh?'. It was exactly like Family Guy when Peter goes to Ireland to find his father and asks a local a question...hysterical. And we also managed to get ourselves lost... (Sorry, the video is sideways...)
On the first day of our arrival in Ireland, we roamed the streets into the city centre which was actually quite nice. very nice and modern buildings - not completely redeveloped but well on its way. The town is very simple. everything you need to live a very nice and simple lifestyle. We went on the Belfast Ferris Wheel, saw the Town Hall (very impressive) and the slightly leaning Clock Tower. The streets are lined with colourful flowers, i suppose to brighten up the city from its hardship. It works well.
On our second day, we took a bus tour to North Antrim (Paddy Wagon Tours). It was just spectacular, and definitely worth the 50 Euros. First stop was Carrick-a-rede. It was this little island off the coast, the cliff faces were gorgeous, not to mention the crystal clear waters. just stunning. the water was so clear you could see the schools of fish, and the colour of the water changed to the varying depths. The rocks were black so in some areas the water was jet black, then graduated to a clear green and blue. We walked along the path to Carrick-a-rede and crossed the rope bridge. This rope bridge is somewhat famous - and you have to have guts to cross it - as we did. Its a long and narrow bridge made of ROPE! the winds were fierce and a good 20 metre drop to the water bank below. however we were reassured it was safe and replaced a few times a year. But the island itself was just awesome. The ground was like nothing we had ever felt - it was spongy - you could bounce on it!
Then we headed off to the Giant's Causeway - the eighth wonder of the world. This was impressive. The causeway is 40,000 hexagonal tiles and spires of cooled lava. Thousands of years ago (prehistoric) a volcano erupted and surfaced through the water, cooling and crystallising on its way up to form this magnificent formation. But there is a good Irish myth behind it about the Irish Giant 'McCool'...and so on. something about building a path to see his Scottish girlfriend more conveniently, shaving his hair off to look like a baby or something like that. good entertainment.
Then we went to Derry/Londonderry (being politically correct here)- where Bloody Sunday took place. We had a walking tour with a local who was clearly very passionate about the historics of this place, spoke perfect Gaelic, and was rather tactless when it came to our fellow American and British tourists.
The next day, we woke up at 6:30 (which is becoming quite normal for us, perhaps earlier on most days) and caught a bus down to Dublin. We were very limited with the photos as we forgot our charger, however we found there wasn't much to photograph. Lots of churches and cathedrals, mini streets lined with pubs (loads of pubs) and little boutiques lining cute pebbled streets. It was very much like Melbourne, perhaps strolling down Brunswick Street. However, it was ridiculously over-crowded after lunch - the streets were completely filled with people - mostly tourists. I think the highlights were St Patricks Cathedral (spectacular) and the Guinness Brewery (we didn't enter - 15 euro each) so we walked the walls of the brewery and then stopped at a pub to try the real thing. Yes, we had our very first Guinness at a true Irish pub - only half a pint tho. Dublin is a very beautiful place, but we think we prefer it here in Belfast - we haven't quite figured out why yet.
Today, we went for the very LONG walk down Shankill and Falls Roads. There was some very brilliant and self explanatory wall murals. Shankill Road being Catholic and Loyalist to Britain. The streets were lined with the Union Jack, and the murals were very aggressive and somewhat graphic. The street itself was, to be frank, an absolute dump, and it was a daring walk. Then when we tried to cross over to Falls Road (Protestant and Republic) the linking roads were blocked off. Falls Road was much more developed and had a lovely park and some nice shops. But both roads were very depressing and had a very oppressive feel to it. The whole experience has changed my views on the conflict and i think we now have a more balanced view of what has/is taking place here.
Today we are off to see where the Titanic was built. pretty darn cool! Our tour guide made a joke (i think we were the only ones who laughed) that while the Protestants were building the Titanic, the Catholics were building an iceberg.
Please check out our photos: link is here: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewAlbums&friendID=149380279
I think we've found the craic...
much love,
ashandadaminIreland.x
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