We went to Belfast yesterday, departing Dublin by bus in the early morning. We arrived in Belfast in time for some yummy fish and chips, which reminded me a lot of my days in high school (especially with the brown gravy!) We toured throughout the city for most of the day – there are a lot of really neat things to see and do. We took a black cab tour (see picture below) which emphasized areas significant to the political/religious tension between the Protestants and Catholics. None of which is actually religious of course, but that is the category they like to use for some apparent reason.
We visited the Shankill area – a Protestant community which appears to be very poor and probably equally criminal. There were many interesting murals to see that related to the political/idealogical tensions. It was helpful to have the events explained to us and even more interesting to understand Northern Ireland’s relation to the Republic (NI is part of the UK, not the Republic of Ireland – Dublin is in the Republic). One immediate and obvious difference is that the police in the UK carry pistols whereas in the Republic (such as Dublin), they do not. The currency of course is another obvious difference – the pound is much stronger than the Euro. Nonetheless, prices weren’t too bad in Belfast and I suspect it will be similar in Scotland where we will be tomorrow.
We ended our evening in Belfast in a very traditional pub drinking Guiness! We played spades in the pub as well and it was nice to finally win! Though Matt and I just barely beat the ladies.