Returning to Belfast after 47 years, but first a short reminisce of our first visit.
In 1971, Russ was stationed in Germany with the US Army. One of our excursions in our VW camper bus was a trip to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Scotland, Ireland, and England. We ferried from Scotland to Belfast in Northern Ireland. In retrospect, we were young and somewhat oblivious and didn't really understand the turmoil and terror going on in Northern Ireland between the Catholics and the Protestants. We had been too focused on the Viet Nam War and disregarded other world news.We were soon to find out. We drove from the port into a dismal city with blown out store fronts and few if any residents were walking on the street. Concertina wire was coiled on building tops with para military snipers and machine guns watching us from above. Roads were blocked, cars were checked.
We were stopped and with our Norwegian reindeer skins rolled up on our bed in the bus, we looked as if were smuggling a body. "They" who stopped us were looking for a "them" political prisoner who had escaped. Cleared by those who stopped us we moved on.
We were so terrified, that we put the pedal to the metal and got out of Belfast as fast as we could without looking back. In a VW bus, that wasn't very fast.
As we drove out of Belfast, we passed two young men hitch hiking. They were about our age, but so were the men with the machine guns. Did we dare pick them up? We decided no and continued to the Republic of Ireland and to Galway Bay.
But then as karma would have it, our bus started coughing and died a couple of miles past the hitch hikers. Russ, the mechanical engineer, finally ascertained that one of the pins off of something or other wasn't firing. Just as he finished diagnosing and making a temporary fix with a hair pin (really, I think we saw this in a movie), the two young men caught up to the bus and asked if we needed any help. One spoke English and the other Gaelic.
Shame faced for not picking them up the first time, we asked where they were headed...Galway Bay of course. So we gave them a lift and they gave us an earful about how awful the situation was in Northern Ireland and how thankful they were to get away for a holiday. The young men said that the news media was actually under reporting the daily terror.
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| Leaning Clock Tower in Belfast |
Friday, June 27, 2018
We left Newton Stewart about 8:00 am on Friday morning. The sky is dark and it is raining as we reach the ferry dock at Cairnryan, Scotland. Fortunately, the wind is light and the sea is flat. It doesn't even feel like we are moving. The rain and fog obscure the land, but the closer we get to Ireland, the lighter the sky. We dock at Larne, 20 miles north of Belfast and drive south toward the northern edge of the city.
Our AirBnB is on JoanMont Road, a cute cottage behind the main house. It is extremely well appointed and modern.
We notice all of the flags hanging from the lamp posts.
Our host tells us that the flags are territorial (neighborhoods of Catholics and Protestant). We are in a Protestant area. John Lennon's song Imagine comes to mind....Imagine no religion. So the fighting is over, but the residual religi-political allegiances still persist.
It is too late in the day to go into the downtown area of Belfast. We will go by city bus tomorrow. The weather forecast looks pretty dismal for tomorrow, rain, wind, thunder and lightening. We decide that we will take the Hop on Hop Off Bus and go to the Titanic Experience tomorrow.
Saturday, June 28, 2018
The sky has opened and the rain is falling. We board our bus about 8:30 in the morning. We anticipate full force school holiday crowds and want to get a jump on the queues. Saturday morning on rainy streets look quiet.
We buy our bus and Titanic Experience duo ticket. The other big tourist attraction to see here are the filming sites for Game of Thrones.
The rain has stopped, so we sit upstairs in the open air as we travel out to the shipyard where the Titanic was built.
Built in Belfast between 1909-1911, the Titanic was a huge endeavor that put thousands of people to work (both men and women) and boosted a sagging economy. Belfast was the hub of industry, tobacco, whiskey, soft drinks, shipbuilding, and fine linen.
The Titantic Experience is a really well done.
It is more than a museum, it is indeed a three dimensional experience of sound, touch, and sight.
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| Missing in the design and engineering room are computers and women. |
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| All drawings, schematics, planning, calculation done manually. |
There is even a Shipyard ride.
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See any Icebergs, Russ? |
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We also visited the Nomadic, the tender that brought passengers from shore to the Titanic in Cherbourg, France. The Titanic's keel was too deep for shallow ports.
The Titanic was the highlight of our day in Belfast. The rain put a damper on doing any hopping on and off the tour bus, so we viewed most of the sites through rain droplets on the windows.
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| These Boat Lifts are Now Protected Relics of the Past, and remain even when no ship building occurs here anymore. |
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| Peace Interface |
Murals commemorating the struggle, the groups, and the "peace" are on building walls around the city.
Many shops are closed down, for lease and for sale signs are prevalent. Despite the growth in tourism, there is still an underlying discontent and sluggish economy.
Northern Ireland's government collapsed here a year and a half ago because the two religi-political parties couldn't form a coalition, so the parliament building is empty.
Local councils take care of city business. London appointed a Secretary to oversee Northern Ireland until the two parties can get together.
Yes, Belfast has changed for the better in the last 47 years, but it is still recovering and trying as our guide said to push "tourism over terrorism."
By late afternoon, we were soaked and returned to our cottage for dry clothes, hot soup and cheese sandwiches. We leave Belfast in the morning and are heading to Donegal.
All is Well With the Worrall Travel Rs in Belfast, Ireland
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