Belfast

Our day started bright and early with a 7:30 departure from Delany's. John came into city centre and picked me up ten minutes later. Our trip to Belfast was a two and a half hour bus ride north. We watched the movie, In the Name of the Father, which was an appropriate movie to watch when driving to Belfast.

There is such history with the city of Belfast, and certainly much of it negative in the history books. This is a new Belfast, with tourism on the rise as the city is very different than it was a few decades ago. It is still inhabited with those who proclaim to be Irish, and others British. Some are Protestant and some are Catholic. They use the pound in northern Ireland, and not the Euro, so there are definite differences.

When we arrived in the city we picked up our tour guide, Rosemary. She sat in the front seat of the bus and provided play by play of the entire city during our hour and a half bus tour. The only time she stopped talking into the mic was to direct John into what lane to be in or what direction to turn. She has lived in Belfast her whole life and currently has two daughters enrolled in Queens College in the center of the city (and hopes to have her son there next year). She was working at a bank in town when Bobby Sands died of his hunger strike, and they closed the bank that day for fear of what might happen. We saw the famous painting of Sands on the side of a building (see above), and the many other murals painted throughout the city (see below). She told us often that we could download pictures of them from the internet, since we were unable to get off the bus for most of the photo opportunities. She was a wonderful tour guide who wanted to share the new Belfast with us.

After our tour was over we had about an hour or so to walk around the city. After snapping some photos of the Opera House (who was showing High School Musical 4 at the moment), the Crown Pub (oldest pub in Belfast), and the famous Europa Hotel that was bombed 42 times (and hosted Bill Clinton in the past), I wandered to city hall (picture at the top) and the tourist center. I saw the Titantic monument. That famous ship was built in Belfast, at the largest shipyard in the world. It no longer makes ships but has moved on to other manufacturing. We saw the hospital where they first developed titanium rods. As is often the case, medical innovations take place in wartime and that is what happened here. It was totally ironic that a friend was scheduled to have two rods inserted into his legs today in Connecticut. He was definitely in my thoughts and prayers as we passed that hospital.

We arrived back in Dublin by 4pm. The city was crazy full of traffic and people. There was a sea of green as everyone was preparing for the big World Cup qualifier at Croke Park, against France. John was able to get six tickets for the game, so six of our student teachers were able to attend. I got to see Poland play Ireland last year in a "friendly" game in Croke Park. It was an amazing atmophere to watch a soccer (football) game. The importance of this game will make that stadium electric tonight.

John dropped me off at the flat and those attending the game also stayed in the city. Two other students wanted to do some shopping so they hopped off too. The nine of us decided to go for an early dinner of pizza. I suggested Milano's, a place in the Temple Bar district that the kids just loved last year. It took awhile to get our food, but it was worth it. The pizza was excellent. As we left Milano's I headed back to the flat, Lizzy and Brooke went shopping, and John, Luke, Lauren, Krista, Megan and Jenna started walking to Croke Park. They were very excited to see the game.

The game just ended on TV. The Irish came up short, 1-0. They play again in Paris this week. There is still hope, but it will be tough to outscore the French on their home turf. They announced that there were over 74 thousand in attendance, so it must be crazy in that part of town tonight. I hear a lot of sirens outside and I hope it's not the result of a lot of unhappy Irish men and women reacting to a tough loss.

Tomorrow we head to the Wickow Mountains and Powerscourt. Hopefully the sun will shine, as we will be outside a lot. No worries, I have a new umbrella in case it rains!

Pictures are posted on picasa. The link is available on yesterday's post. Let me know if you have trouble accessing them. I heard from one person that it is freezing up on them. Hm.....