We were picked up at our hotel this morning by a black cab for a tour/history lesson of the most devastated neighborhoods during the violence in Belfast. There are many black cab tours of Belfast to choose from because there was a huge increase in their numbers during The Troubles. Many bus services were withdrawn when terrorists began bombing buses or stealing them for barricades and setting them alight.
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| Flags everywhere on the Shankill Road |
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| Abandoned elevated lookout |
Jim, our driver, took us first to the the Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist Shankhill area where he was born. Today street after street is still an overdone sea of Union Jack flags and banners of blue, white and red. The ends of nearly all the buildings were painted with enormous posters dedicated to the cause and its heroes. We stopped at numerous points to wander about and photograph while Jim carefully explained four hundred years of history and the underlying unrest which erupted in the 1960's and lasted until the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement. His telling was thoughtful and balanced expressing belief that the great divide was based on nationalism not religion. Jim made a few turns within a short distance and we were in the Catholic/Nationalist Falls Road area. Surprisingly there were no masses of tricolor flags but instead the flags of Gaza and Palestine. The Nationalists consider themselves the downtrodden and oppressed so they strongly identify and support the Palestinians. More huge murals glorifying their martyrs adorned the ends of terraced housing.
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| One of dozens of murals |
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| Flags and more flags |
The two neighborhoods are separated by miles of walls up to eighteen feet high with many sets of yellow steel gates which are manually closed every night. On the Shankhill side the road runs along the wall which is decorated with artwork, political slogans, historical quotations, and signatures. Anyone who wishes is encouraged to add their mark. Mike and I declined as we felt "Jan and Mike were here" was of little importance. A fabricated metalwork sculpture is attached with quotations from the Dalai Lama, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
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| One of dozens of murals on the wall |
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| Quotes from famous people |
All of the homes on the Falls Road side were destroyed by fire. When they were rebuilt hideous steel cages were added by the local council. Each one stretches from the house to the wall in hopes of deterring rocks, debris, and fire bombs.
At our request Jim dropped us off at the Ulster Museum which has a temporary gallery display, "The Art of the Troubles". Irish artists used all mediums from painting to sculpture to photography to express their feelings and personal experiences. The works were arranged in sections with a poster of background information explaining each theme.
The museum is quite new and arranged so that patrons can begin at the top and walk down to galleries staggered at different levels. We were pleasantly surprised by the diversity and quality of the exhibits. In a quick walk through we saw a large periodic table with specimens and information on every element, engineering displays, and a wonderful natural history room that included a huge elephant skull.
Having read about the Opera House and knowing there were no tours we dropped into the ticket office. Smiling sweetly and asking politely we convinced the staff to let us in for a quick look. Opened in 1895 it is the "best example of oriental architectural theatre design in the United Kingdom." We know nothing about that but it is large and elaborately decorated.
From there we trekked over to City Hall arriving only minutes too late for the last tour. The unchaperoned are allowed in the ground floor so we took advantage enjoying the elaborate domed entry, the stained glass panels, and arched passageways.
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| City Hall |
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| Ceiling of the rotunda |
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| Famine window in City Hall |
In our walking around town we dropped in to the Victoria Square Shopping Center to climb the central tower and observe the view of Belfast. The view was nice but the structure was breathtaking and found in a rather ordinary mall.
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| Victoria Square tower |
The afternoon was slipping away and it was too late for high tea at the Merchant Hotel. Not wanting to miss the elegance of a bank converted to hotel we hiked over and sat in the lobby and soaked in the grandeur. We found it hard to believe that the chandeliers, sculpture, and ornate ceilings could possible have been designed for a bank. Wow!
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| Entry of the Merchant Hotel |
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| Entry rotunda |
Cousin Michael called to say that Jane was back from London, she would cook dinner, and he would drive by and pick us up. We hurriedly purchased an armful of wine and were collected at our hotel for our second dinner of the week at their house.
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