Northern Ireland is not to be confused with the Republic of Ireland; Northern Ireland is a part of the UK. It has a population of 1.8 million, and 400,000 people live in Belfast. Belfast is known as a ship building town that used to employ 300,000people at one time, but today employs only about 100; it also has the largest dry dock in the world and the Titanic was built here in 1912. There is an entire area near the shipyard where the Titanic was built that is being renovated to attract tourism.
Much of central Belfast was destroyed by bombs during WWII because ships and planes were made here. I found the city to be a lot newer than I imagined it would be. New housing has replaced slums. Old warehouses have been torn down and replaced with modern office buildings. There are ornate Victorian homes, row houses with brightly painted doors, suburban subdivisions, old stone churches and buildings, modern office buildings – a little bit of everything. There are pubs everywhere (I think this is one of the largest industries in Belfast!?!) with colorful flower filled window boxes. Many of the older ones are like museums.
One terrific bit of trivia is that the language most spoken in Northern Ireland (after English), is Mandarin! Yep, tons of Chinese came when Hong Kong went back to China and they stayed. The economic mainstay in Northern Ireland today is small business, and is the largest producer of cigarettes in the world.
Michael:
I had no idea what to expect today, and so there was no way I could be disappointed. On balance though, I rather enjoyed this (my second) visit to Belfast. The tour I escorted this morning began at Hillsborough Castle. This is a large, rambling two-story late Georgian mansion which dates back to 1760. It is home to the British Secretary of State, a vacation residence for the British Royal Family, and accommodates visitors to all State functions in Northern Ireland. George Bush and Bill Clinton have both stayed here. When we entered the reception area, our guide pointed to me and asked me to sit down in a rather ornate chair, and pull it up to an even more ornate table. I was instructed to open the book laid out on that table. It turns out this is where all visitors must sit to sign the guest book upon arrival, and I got to turn to the pages signed by Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne. I asked where I should sign, and I think she got a little cross with me! By the way, they sign in using only their first name. We toured the rest of the Castle, except for the Royal bed chambers, and it was beautiful.
From here we proceeded to Belfast for a quick tour of the city. Highlights included Queens University, and an immense city hall building. We toured some very interesting sections of the City. The national pastime in Belfast is drinking, and we saw the main roads where, when the bars close at 1:30 AM, the streets are literally gridlocked with traffic. They do deal harshly with these people though. Our guide told us that “anti-social behavior is quickly sorted out with two warning shots to the back of the head.” This is Belfast after all! We also saw the “Titanic Quarter,” where the city is investing heavily in recreational activities and high tech industry to try to speed up much needed city revitalization.
By far the most interesting part of our tour was a look at the areas that were at the heart of the “Troubles,” (as they call them), which began in 1969. As everyone knows, the city was divided by religion, and there was literally a fence (it’s still here), called the “Peace Fence,” which separated the Catholics and the Protestants. We could see many remnants of this difficult time all over the city. I think Beverly will have more to say about this.
Beverly:
Ireland has a lot of history, historical sites, and all the other “stuff” to see and do. But Ireland, both the Republic and North, have the people. Unlike most of the other places we have visited, this island’s people are the heart and soul of their countries, and this is what I have brought away with me. I had the best time today on my tour because of our guide and driver. I find the Irish to be friendly, funny, homey, unassuming and just plain nice. I introduced myself to the guide, Billy, and the driver Brian, and asked them if they would let me on the bus even if I didn’t have one drop of Irish blood in me. How could that be with a name like Walker, which is a very common name here. Well, they just loved that and we were off and running to have a great time. Billy sang Irish songs and told jokes in between giving us the history and pointing out sights.
We visited the usual sights: Queens University and Botanical Gardens, Belfast City Hall, and saw lots of statues and buildings. We stopped at Belfast Castle and I had a fun time wandering through the gardens trying to find the nine hidden cats; topiary, statues, iron bench seat shaped like a cat, and more. That was just delightful. See, I told you the Irish have a great sense of humor. The inside of the castle was pretty neat too.
The most important and interesting part of the day was learning and seeing about where and why “the Troubles” took place. It started around 1969 when the loyalists and separatists started fighting. Loyalists wanted to remain linked to Britain and the separatists wanted independence. Somehow this all morphed into a Protestant/Catholic crisis and the fighting was on. A peace was brokered in 1997, but there is still a lot of animosity and separation between the two. The Orange Order (Protestants against Catholics) has a parade every year and has recently been forbidden to go down streets in Catholic sections. Neighborhoods are still segregated along these lines. Today, the city is about half Protestant and half Catholic.
We also saw many, many murals painted on the sides of buildings and homes depicting political strife. Today, they are starting to be replaced with murals depicting historical and cultural images. These were incredible.
Much of central Belfast was destroyed by bombs during WWII because ships and planes were made here. I found the city to be a lot newer than I imagined it would be. New housing has replaced slums. Old warehouses have been torn down and replaced with modern office buildings. There are ornate Victorian homes, row houses with brightly painted doors, suburban subdivisions, old stone churches and buildings, modern office buildings – a little bit of everything. There are pubs everywhere (I think this is one of the largest industries in Belfast!?!) with colorful flower filled window boxes. Many of the older ones are like museums. One terrific bit of trivia is that the language most spoken in Northern Ireland (after English), is Mandarin! Yep, tons of Chinese came when Hong Kong went back to China and they stayed. The economic mainstay in Northern Ireland today is small business, and is the largest producer of cigarettes in the world.
Michael:
I had no idea what to expect today, and so there was no way I could be disappointed. On balance though, I rather enjoyed this (my second) visit to Belfast. The tour I escorted this morning began at Hillsborough Castle. This is a large, rambling two-story late Georgian mansion which dates back to 1760. It is home to the British Secretary of State, a vacation residence for the British Royal Family, and accommodates visitors to all State functions in Northern Ireland. George Bush and Bill Clinton have both stayed here. When we entered the reception area, our guide pointed to me and asked me to sit down in a rather ornate chair, and pull it up to an even more ornate table. I was instructed to open the book laid out on that table. It turns out this is where all visitors must sit to sign the guest book upon arrival, and I got to turn to the pages signed by Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne. I asked where I should sign, and I think she got a little cross with me! By the way, they sign in using only their first name. We toured the rest of the Castle, except for the Royal bed chambers, and it was beautiful.
From here we proceeded to Belfast for a quick tour of the city. Highlights included Queens University, and an immense city hall building. We toured some very interesting sections of the City. The national pastime in Belfast is drinking, and we saw the main roads where, when the bars close at 1:30 AM, the streets are literally gridlocked with traffic. They do deal harshly with these people though. Our guide told us that “anti-social behavior is quickly sorted out with two warning shots to the back of the head.” This is Belfast after all! We also saw the “Titanic Quarter,” where the city is investing heavily in recreational activities and high tech industry to try to speed up much needed city revitalization.
By far the most interesting part of our tour was a look at the areas that were at the heart of the “Troubles,” (as they call them), which began in 1969. As everyone knows, the city was divided by religion, and there was literally a fence (it’s still here), called the “Peace Fence,” which separated the Catholics and the Protestants. We could see many remnants of this difficult time all over the city. I think Beverly will have more to say about this.Beverly:
Ireland has a lot of history, historical sites, and all the other “stuff” to see and do. But Ireland, both the Republic and North, have the people. Unlike most of the other places we have visited, this island’s people are the heart and soul of their countries, and this is what I have brought away with me. I had the best time today on my tour because of our guide and driver. I find the Irish to be friendly, funny, homey, unassuming and just plain nice. I introduced myself to the guide, Billy, and the driver Brian, and asked them if they would let me on the bus even if I didn’t have one drop of Irish blood in me. How could that be with a name like Walker, which is a very common name here. Well, they just loved that and we were off and running to have a great time. Billy sang Irish songs and told jokes in between giving us the history and pointing out sights. 
We visited the usual sights: Queens University and Botanical Gardens, Belfast City Hall, and saw lots of statues and buildings. We stopped at Belfast Castle and I had a fun time wandering through the gardens trying to find the nine hidden cats; topiary, statues, iron bench seat shaped like a cat, and more. That was just delightful. See, I told you the Irish have a great sense of humor. The inside of the castle was pretty neat too.The most important and interesting part of the day was learning and seeing about where and why “the Troubles” took place. It started around 1969 when the loyalists and separatists started fighting. Loyalists wanted to remain linked to Britain and the separatists wanted independence. Somehow this all morphed into a Protestant/Catholic crisis and the fighting was on. A peace was brokered in 1997, but there is still a lot of animosity and separation between the two. The Orange Order (Protestants against Catholics) has a parade every year and has recently been forbidden to go down streets in Catholic sections. Neighborhoods are still segregated along these lines. Today, the city is about half Protestant and half Catholic.
We also saw many, many murals painted on the sides of buildings and homes depicting political strife. Today, they are starting to be replaced with murals depicting historical and cultural images. These were incredible.
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