BELFAST

=BELFAST= With really only the one full day in Belfast we decided to take a “Black Cab” tour of the “Troubles” areas, namely Shankill and Falls Roads. The “black Cab” was multi-coloured which confused us at first but then we remembered that we were in Ireland! The driver, John, was very informative and answered all our questions without a pause. The sight of the wall that still divides this city was quite difficult for us to accept but with John pointing out things we noticed the high barred gates that were closed (to block access on weekends), the taxis that only drove in either the Protestant or Catholic side and, of course, the many wall murals. Some of these murals in Shankill Road (Protestant side) are new, reconciliation ones replacing older divisive ones, but others depict “heroes” of the Ulster Defence or commemorate historical battles when the hated Catholics were defeated.
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In Falls Road (Catholic side of the divide) the murals appear more subdued and there are a number of remembrance gardens marking residents killed in the conflicts since the 1920’s. All in all it was quite a sad and sobering tour and made us once again, ever so grateful to live in the country we do! To cheer ourselves up we decided to wander the city and check out a number of pubs, having a late lunch in one and just a drink in another. It’s a pretty small city and easy to get around on foot – tonight we hope to catch some jazz in a small bar we found but might need a snooze first to recharge the old batteries. and so its .....GOODBYE IRELAND
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