Troubled Times.

Growing up in an Canadian Irish family, you pay attention to stories from older relatives and that which is on the news to do with the so called “troubles”. During the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, being the more recent extremely bloody times in Northern Ireland, it is hard to imagine growing up in such violence. The Shankhill / Falls Road area of Belfast has known more than its fair share of turmoil and is still a fortified neighborhood in the city of Belfast. To learn more about this history, dad and I decided to take what is called a Black Cab tour…this is offered by the people who grew up and live in the said neighborhood and who obviously are well informed personally and politically about the past as well as present day goings-ons. Dads mother grew up on the Falls Road side which has become the ‘Catholic’ side. It was another intense day with the ghosts of his past…Protestants and Catholics used to live side by side, but of course because of deep rooted beliefs on both sides too much violence has since separated the two. There is a wall running between the neighborhood which runs for miles and is 25 feet tall in most places. They were originally built as temporary structures but have since become permanent. There are gates in and out of the areas that are locked at 10p.m and reopen for the working day the next morning. I was amazed and frankly a bit shocked to realize how fortified this urban, working class area is and how strange it felt to see the effort put into keeping the ‘peace’. In both areas are huge murals painted on the walls in tribute to fallen comrades and heroes of the causes. I was able to get a few pictures before my damn battery went dead(with no backup nearby) and only ones from the first part of our tour which was the Protestant area of Shankhill Road.                  

Walking with Giants…

On the north east tip of the Antrim coast you’ll find one of the strangest sights in geology…The Giants Causeway as it is known, is home to thousands of perfectly formed basalt columns and gives way to many legends. The most widely told is that of the giant, Finn MacCool (gotta love that name!) who laid the causeway to reach his lover who lived across the ocean on the island of Staffa in Scotland. There are similar formations on that side as well. Scientifically the story goes how 61 million years ago a series of volcanic eruptions began the process of developing these amazing stone pillars.

It is a place which attracts thousands of tourists every year but the sheer beauty of it stands on its own and is for obvious reasons, a photographers dream….the cliffs surrounding the sight are lush and gorgeous as well and luckily we were there before they started to build a newer, BIGGER visitors center which will probably change the feel if not the look of the place. Anyway, well worth a visit… 
Further on up the road and inland is the city of Derry. On the road signs in the U.K it will say ‘Londonderry’ and after some confusion I asked our driver Eric what gives with the name? He told me what I suspected that it depends which side of the coin you’re on…Catholics call it Derry and Prods call it Londonderry. It has been home to much conflict and in particular of recent when British troops shot dead 13 demonstrators in 1972.  There is such a strong sense of the troubles when you are in and around places like Derry. Murals depicting fallen heroes and the like are seen throughout the town. Unfortunately  I forgot my backup battery so no photos of Derry. The people were very friendly and we had lunch in a cozy old pub. Anyway, save for the Japanese girl who delayed the bus for 45 minutes we arrived back safe in Belfast for a good old pint at the crown Saloon…apparently one of Belfast’ oldest pubs who housed the builders of the Titanic. We also took a stroll through the Europa Hotel which is the most bombed hotel in the world.

A ride in the Paddy Wagon…

My dad and I decided that instead of renting a car, we would take a bus tour along the Antrim coastline.  We hadn’t quite wrapped our heads around the madness of Irish and U.K driving methods even though I own and have been driving a right hand drive van for 3 years. I still needed to warm up to the crazy speed limits and those oh so joyous roundabouts! We booked a comfy, large coach from the Belfast Hostel by phone and just about died laughing when the thing pulled up in front of the 5 of us tourists waiting by the curb. We thought the Dublin hop on hop off was cheezy! Roll on up…The Paddy Wagon! Big , green and a huge, scary Leprachaun painted on the side of the bus.                                                                                                           

Well needless to say we sat right up front for optimum views and close contact with our driver, being the crazy, hell bent tourists we are. Our day started out with nice weather again and off we went. Northern Irelands’ coast is rugged and cliff strewn. As we ambled along our driver gave us an amazing history about the area as well as the south of Ireland including a detailed account of Oliver Cromwell and his campaign against the Irish in the mid 17th century. Much mention was also made of the uprising of 1916, Michael Collins and the recent troubles in Belfast Derry and Omagh. Ireland , it seems, has always had conflict amongst the people and therefore reflects in all aspects of life here. Our first stop was on the outskirts of Balleycastle and the view of Ratlin Island.

The next stop is a rope bridge at Carrick-a-rede which although had spectacular views, the 8 pound fee to cross the thing was not within our limited budget…        

We enjoyed the walk and cooed with the cows in the field…