The morning we headed up to Belfast, we had some really Irish weather-everyone dreaded and everyone in my tour group was concerned that the whole day might end up being rainy, but remarkably the rain stopped and we had good weather after that. Being a bit of a tourist ditz, I didn't realize that I would need pounds on the trip, so I had to make a quick visit to a cash machine. I also didn't realize that black taxicabs were going to take us on a political tour.
The main reason why I wanted to go to northern Ireland is to see the Giant's ring, the giant's causeway and dolmens, but the guide said it wasn't part of the tour. I was so dismayed because I didn't look at my brochure, but I made the best of the trip. Belfast used to have political unrest and I guess it has calm down now. This is where the horrific events occurred that we've heard in the news and inspired Bono to write Sunday, bloody, Sunday. There are omnipresent monitoring cameras all over the streets, fences and walls that separate Catholics from Protestants and an uncomfortable feeling that lingers in the air. The black taxi drove us around and took us to some of the most provocative murals around the city. Lots of murals painted on their homes commemorating the hunger strikers, religious prejudice and various terrorist groups. They were very controversial and it was quite sad that some people are not able to leave the past behind. I don't understand their motivation and my tour of the Belfast murals was both moving and disturbing experience. Moving because I felt the murals were a vivid expression of how people felt on, disturbing because it seems to glorify what the murals portray. After seeing the murals, we went to the peace line. It is a wall similar to the Berlin wall and it was designed to protect neighborhoods from sporadic attacks and have a sense of peace and protection. It was a very controversial tour and visitors are encouraged to write their thoughts of peace on the walls. I grabbed a marker that the tour guide provided and wrote the words "Be the change you want to see". For the sake of their future generation, I hope that they can seed their consciousness with peace, love and forgiveness. After the tour, we drove back to Dublin for some good positive energy. I invited a couple of savvy travelers from my group to go out that night and we had a lovely evening at a pub called George. We discussed our experience in Belfast and we all agreed that we hope that someday the people in the north Ireland can heal their wounds and replace their murals with more peaceful and progressive paintings.
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Belfast Hotels
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