Students of history will hopefully get the reference in the post title. Anyway, Its been nearly a week since my return home from the Emerald Isle and some of you may remember that I still owe a post from that journey. Anyway, now that I have my business-related travel out of the way (I had to go to Virginia almost immediately after returning home) and the weekend is finally upon us, here you are:
Going way back, to the third day in Ireland, we picked up our rental from the Dublin airport and, after all the bureaucracy involved there, were on our way out of the country. That's right, don't forget that Northern Ireland is still part of the UK. Crossing over the border is seamless though, no customs stations at the borders or anything. Signs change (miles instead of kilometers, Gaelic is dropped, for example), but other than that, you wouldn't know you just entered another country.
Its just under two hours drive between the island's two largest cities. After entering Belfast, it took us a few minutes to find our destination, but, given that driving was on, you know, the wrong side of the road, Joe handled it well. We were looking for the Days Hotel, right in the heart of downtown. From there, we could call and schedule a Black Taxi Tour. Now, a Black Taxi Tour is given in a cab (not necessarily black though...our's was blue) and it takes one to all the important sites related to The Troubles, the period of strife between Catholics (who favor re-uniting with the rest of Ireland) and Protestants (loyal to the UK) and British forces between the 1960s and 80s, along with a final stop at the shipyard where the Titanic was built.
The hotel staff contacted a company for us and we just had to wait a few minutes until we were underway, though I was quizzed about my Arsenal track jacket a bit (that might not have been a smart choice of clothing for this particular portion of the trip). One of the maids, with a very rough Irish accent, asked me "yer not an Arsenal fan, are ye?!". Anyway, we were greeted by Kevin (wearing a Liverpool shirt. Arsenal had just beaten them the other day, so Kevin wasn't thrilled with my jacket either-but kept it friendly).
Now, I had had the tour recommended to me by a friend who had lived in Ireland. And now I can safely recommend it as well. It was awesome! Even if you aren't interested in that frame of history, it is still pretty eye-opening, and bear in mind that resentment between the two religious groups does linger. Kevin is Catholic, and his tour did come with bias, which I loved. Some might complain about this, but I think it gives the tour a great twist, and makes it even more interesting. He threw the occasional barb at his Protestant countrymen. For instance, when showing us one of the gates to the massive wall that surrounds the Catholic neighborhoods, cutting them off from the Protestants, I asked how British soldiers could tell who to let in and who to turn away (the gates are no longer manned, but do still close at night). He said it was easy, Protestants' eyes are closer together, because they are all inbred (just a disclaimer here: that is obviously not true. It was mainly by choice of clothing). What is also fantastic is the intimate knowledge the driver's have of the whole situation, as they grew up during or were even involved in The Troubles. Kevin was far too knowledgeable not to have had a front row seat to all of it. Our tour took us past some of Belfast's most famous political murals, Europe's most-bombed hotel, the city's infamous prison and courthouse, and the Wall of Collusion, a memorial in the Catholic area to those killed by British and Loyalist forces. Kevin knew several of the faces on the wall. We were also allowed to sign the Peace Wall, a part of the wall separating Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods that has been overtaken by graffiti, much of it appealing for peace. Bill Clinton signed it during a visit. First Bill, then Adam.
After a quick stop at the Titanic Shipyard ("The Irish built it and let the English sink it" was the take-home lesson from Kevin) we bade our adieus to Kevin and to Belfast, to explore some more of Northern Ireland. We drove through County Antrim (the county Belfast is located in) along the North Atlantic coast. We bounded upon an abandoned castle (our lucky day too, just as a rainbow was forming over it), attempted to see a long rope bridge (it was closed...but the walk to it was nice nonetheless) and made it to the Giant's Causeway, a curious rock formation, just before it became too dark too enjoy it.
We ended the day, some might remember, in Londonderry (or Derry, as Kevin scolded me). We checked into our Bed and Breakfast, owned by the wonderful Seamus (awesome name, by the way), who wasn't bothered by us showing up at the late hour (2230). He recommended that we walk the few blocks or so down the road to Peadar O'Donnell's, a local pub popular with the locals, as they were having live music that night (check out the bar's website: http://www.peadars-gweedorebar.com/)
So we did just that....and it was remarkable. We walked in to a boisterous atmosphere, a band comprised of a fiddler, a bagpiper, and a dude on guitar were belting out Irish music, and a couple of the bartenders were trying their hand at a jig. Awesome. Derry not being a huge tourist venue, we were probably the only non-locals in the place, which I was just fine with. Despite being a Sunday night, the place was still packed, apparently nobody was too concerned with the start of the working week. So there we were, a table with a perfect view of the band, enjoying music, the atmosphere, the rambunctious guys sitting next to us (they went pretty nuts during a couple of the band's numbers), and our own conversation and jokes. I could have listened to the Irish music for quite some time, but around 0100, some public security officers came in and told the crowd to drink up, it was time to go home.
So that concludes the Irish adventure. Bring on the next one. Until then, I should have some restaurant and movie reviews (its been a while since we had one of those) and anything else I deem worthy. See you back here, very soon. Before you leave though, do check out some photos from Northern Ireland:
Going way back, to the third day in Ireland, we picked up our rental from the Dublin airport and, after all the bureaucracy involved there, were on our way out of the country. That's right, don't forget that Northern Ireland is still part of the UK. Crossing over the border is seamless though, no customs stations at the borders or anything. Signs change (miles instead of kilometers, Gaelic is dropped, for example), but other than that, you wouldn't know you just entered another country.
Its just under two hours drive between the island's two largest cities. After entering Belfast, it took us a few minutes to find our destination, but, given that driving was on, you know, the wrong side of the road, Joe handled it well. We were looking for the Days Hotel, right in the heart of downtown. From there, we could call and schedule a Black Taxi Tour. Now, a Black Taxi Tour is given in a cab (not necessarily black though...our's was blue) and it takes one to all the important sites related to The Troubles, the period of strife between Catholics (who favor re-uniting with the rest of Ireland) and Protestants (loyal to the UK) and British forces between the 1960s and 80s, along with a final stop at the shipyard where the Titanic was built.
The hotel staff contacted a company for us and we just had to wait a few minutes until we were underway, though I was quizzed about my Arsenal track jacket a bit (that might not have been a smart choice of clothing for this particular portion of the trip). One of the maids, with a very rough Irish accent, asked me "yer not an Arsenal fan, are ye?!". Anyway, we were greeted by Kevin (wearing a Liverpool shirt. Arsenal had just beaten them the other day, so Kevin wasn't thrilled with my jacket either-but kept it friendly).
Now, I had had the tour recommended to me by a friend who had lived in Ireland. And now I can safely recommend it as well. It was awesome! Even if you aren't interested in that frame of history, it is still pretty eye-opening, and bear in mind that resentment between the two religious groups does linger. Kevin is Catholic, and his tour did come with bias, which I loved. Some might complain about this, but I think it gives the tour a great twist, and makes it even more interesting. He threw the occasional barb at his Protestant countrymen. For instance, when showing us one of the gates to the massive wall that surrounds the Catholic neighborhoods, cutting them off from the Protestants, I asked how British soldiers could tell who to let in and who to turn away (the gates are no longer manned, but do still close at night). He said it was easy, Protestants' eyes are closer together, because they are all inbred (just a disclaimer here: that is obviously not true. It was mainly by choice of clothing). What is also fantastic is the intimate knowledge the driver's have of the whole situation, as they grew up during or were even involved in The Troubles. Kevin was far too knowledgeable not to have had a front row seat to all of it. Our tour took us past some of Belfast's most famous political murals, Europe's most-bombed hotel, the city's infamous prison and courthouse, and the Wall of Collusion, a memorial in the Catholic area to those killed by British and Loyalist forces. Kevin knew several of the faces on the wall. We were also allowed to sign the Peace Wall, a part of the wall separating Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods that has been overtaken by graffiti, much of it appealing for peace. Bill Clinton signed it during a visit. First Bill, then Adam.
After a quick stop at the Titanic Shipyard ("The Irish built it and let the English sink it" was the take-home lesson from Kevin) we bade our adieus to Kevin and to Belfast, to explore some more of Northern Ireland. We drove through County Antrim (the county Belfast is located in) along the North Atlantic coast. We bounded upon an abandoned castle (our lucky day too, just as a rainbow was forming over it), attempted to see a long rope bridge (it was closed...but the walk to it was nice nonetheless) and made it to the Giant's Causeway, a curious rock formation, just before it became too dark too enjoy it.
We ended the day, some might remember, in Londonderry (or Derry, as Kevin scolded me). We checked into our Bed and Breakfast, owned by the wonderful Seamus (awesome name, by the way), who wasn't bothered by us showing up at the late hour (2230). He recommended that we walk the few blocks or so down the road to Peadar O'Donnell's, a local pub popular with the locals, as they were having live music that night (check out the bar's website: http://www.peadars-gweedorebar.com/)
So we did just that....and it was remarkable. We walked in to a boisterous atmosphere, a band comprised of a fiddler, a bagpiper, and a dude on guitar were belting out Irish music, and a couple of the bartenders were trying their hand at a jig. Awesome. Derry not being a huge tourist venue, we were probably the only non-locals in the place, which I was just fine with. Despite being a Sunday night, the place was still packed, apparently nobody was too concerned with the start of the working week. So there we were, a table with a perfect view of the band, enjoying music, the atmosphere, the rambunctious guys sitting next to us (they went pretty nuts during a couple of the band's numbers), and our own conversation and jokes. I could have listened to the Irish music for quite some time, but around 0100, some public security officers came in and told the crowd to drink up, it was time to go home.
So that concludes the Irish adventure. Bring on the next one. Until then, I should have some restaurant and movie reviews (its been a while since we had one of those) and anything else I deem worthy. See you back here, very soon. Before you leave though, do check out some photos from Northern Ireland:
Mural in Protestant area of Belfast
Signing the Peace Wall
Kevin and Your Correspondent share a laugh (not at the Protestant's expense though)
Rainbow over County Antrim (castle can be seen in the foreground)
Looking out over County Antrim's coast
Part of the Giant's Causeway
The Four Corners conquers another part of the World
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