Northern Ireland – Morning in Belfast

We left Dublin early Monday morning and drove straight to Belfast, with only a stop for the necessities.  Our magic carpet looked like this:

Sean Nee, our tour guide dropped us on the street in Belfast, and this is him driving the Vagatron by the Grand Opera House looking for a parking place.  Yes, Vagatron.  The name for the modified Land Rover Defender used by the Vagabond Adventure Tours.  The box on the back seats 12, comfortably I might add, and the trailer behind carries our luggage.  The company, Vagabond Tours, has the tour well thought out.  I highly recommend trying Vagabond  if you want an active, very interesting tour.  The company also offers a less strenuous tour, Driftwood Tours.  The company website: http://vagabondtoursofireland.ie/

Northern Ireland is part of the U.K., consisting of six  of the original nine counties that comprised the ancient province of Ulster.  There were originally five provinces in Ireland , Leinster, Meath, Munster, Connacht and Ulster.  Over time, Meath was absorbed into Leinster.  This link shows the four provinces and also a list of the counties of Ireland: http://www.enjoyireland.com/provinces/

The start of our trip beginning in Belfast, was not only the start of a marvelous experience, but also the start of a reeducation for me.  The history of Ireland I learned in the States was entirely from the British point of view.  I was of course aware of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, but had no understanding of the historical background.  Even given the whirlwind nature of our visit, we got an education in the realities on the ground so to speak. As I am trying to write this, I keep getting sidetracked following links about Irish history, the Troubles, etc.

The reasons for the Troubles are complex and the resentments of the Catholic population in Northern Ireland toward the English and the Protestants run deep.   The Irish were denied their rights to their religion, their language and their land by their Protestant English overlords.  I could spend hours writing about the topic, but it is beyond the focus of this travel blog.  A search on the internet will provide you with an education on this topic.  Or, spend some time in Northern Ireland.

Belfast on a Monday morning is a bustling city.  Beautiful architecture:

The Grand Opera Building.

Two photos of the Old City Hall.

Building for sale

Another Belfast building

This seems like a reasonable activity for just before noon on a Monday morning:

Sean dropped us in front of this bar (wonder why?)  Be a beautliful place to spend a little time.

After hanging around the streets of Belfast for a while, we caught up with Black Cab Tours for a tour of Belfast. http://belfastblackcabtours.co.uk/ Our group split up into two cabs, one driven by a Protestant, one by a Catholic.  More to come.