Belfast
Four other Fulbrighters and myself spent the weekend in Belfast, enjoying time together, learning about the history of Northern Ireland, learning about the building of the Titanic and celebrating Stephanie's birthday. We had a fabulous time!
Saturday morning brought us a beautiful, sunny day with crisp, cold temperatures. After our just warmer than ice showers, we wandered to the Titanic museum. The Titanic was built in Belfast, a port city famous for its ship building. The Titanic left Belfast Harbour in one piece in the late spring of 1911 and then went to South Hampton where the interior of the ship was complete. The people of Belfast are truly proud of the ship that they built - after all, it took thousands of men to build it. The men had to hammer in each and ever rivet one at a time, being paid by the amount of rivets they put into the ship.
The museum opened this year in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the sinking, and it is a very well designed museum with history of the city, the design and building of the ship, information about the people that were lost and about the investigation that came afterwards.
We walked up to the Christmas market set up in front of city hall - full of shoppers and fellow tourists enjoying sweet treats, tasty savories, gift items and even a roasted pig. We stopped for hot mulled wine and some delicious potato cakes - quite Irish and quite delicious!
Tom, our tour guide for the afternoon, picked us up for a black cab tour around the city to fill us in on some of the history. I will admit that I am very ignorant when it comes to the history of other countries, but I was especially ignorant of the severity of the struggles Northern Ireland has struggled with in very recent times. I know that disagreements between two beliefs happens all over the world, but for it to happen in a modern world in very modern day was hard to grasp. The struggles seem very similar to those of our Civil Rights in the 1960s.
Just to fill you in on some of the basics... Northern Ireland is a completely different country from the Republic of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland's population is mainly Catholic while the population of Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, is mainly Protestant. In Belfast, the city is divided, but predominately Protestant. Schools and neighborhoods are still predominately segregated and walls remain separating parts of town. It reminded me a lot of Berlin. The city certainly has beauty, hope, and promise, but there is a lot of sadness mixed in. It seems everyone has their own personal stories of loosing friends and loved ones to violence.
After an enlightening, somewhat depressing, but well-presented tour, we decided we'd learn a little bit more history by visiting a pub older than our own country! McHugh's was founded in 1711 and while I have no doubt much has changed, I am confident good times were had there 300 hundred years ago just as they are these days. The two-man band played a wonderful mix of songs from traditional Irish songs to U2 hits to Dave Matthews to John Denver and even Walking in Memphis. They announced that they would take requests, and well, I just couldn't resist. I requested "Sweet Home Alabama" and they were thrilled to play it for the first Alabamian they had ever met! We had a fabulous evening enjoying lively music and celebrating together!
Friday night we made a stop in one of the oldest pubs in Belfast - the Crowne. It was a beautiful bar with booths set off by walls about 5 feet high. We were able to secure of these little stalls and enjoy some time catching up on our week at school.
The museum opened this year in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the sinking, and it is a very well designed museum with history of the city, the design and building of the ship, information about the people that were lost and about the investigation that came afterwards.
We walked up to the Christmas market set up in front of city hall - full of shoppers and fellow tourists enjoying sweet treats, tasty savories, gift items and even a roasted pig. We stopped for hot mulled wine and some delicious potato cakes - quite Irish and quite delicious!
Tom, our tour guide for the afternoon, picked us up for a black cab tour around the city to fill us in on some of the history. I will admit that I am very ignorant when it comes to the history of other countries, but I was especially ignorant of the severity of the struggles Northern Ireland has struggled with in very recent times. I know that disagreements between two beliefs happens all over the world, but for it to happen in a modern world in very modern day was hard to grasp. The struggles seem very similar to those of our Civil Rights in the 1960s.
Just to fill you in on some of the basics... Northern Ireland is a completely different country from the Republic of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland's population is mainly Catholic while the population of Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, is mainly Protestant. In Belfast, the city is divided, but predominately Protestant. Schools and neighborhoods are still predominately segregated and walls remain separating parts of town. It reminded me a lot of Berlin. The city certainly has beauty, hope, and promise, but there is a lot of sadness mixed in. It seems everyone has their own personal stories of loosing friends and loved ones to violence.
After an enlightening, somewhat depressing, but well-presented tour, we decided we'd learn a little bit more history by visiting a pub older than our own country! McHugh's was founded in 1711 and while I have no doubt much has changed, I am confident good times were had there 300 hundred years ago just as they are these days. The two-man band played a wonderful mix of songs from traditional Irish songs to U2 hits to Dave Matthews to John Denver and even Walking in Memphis. They announced that they would take requests, and well, I just couldn't resist. I requested "Sweet Home Alabama" and they were thrilled to play it for the first Alabamian they had ever met! We had a fabulous evening enjoying lively music and celebrating together!
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