Monday, June 24, 2013

My visit to Northern Ireland

There is so much to talk about in regards to this past weekend. To start off, for those of you who don't know, The Republic of Ireland (where Dublin is located) and Northern Ireland are two different countries. Northern Ireland is a UK country.

We did a two day trip to Northern Ireland this past weekend, starting on Saturday. We took the bus up north to Belfast. At Belfast we went to the Titanic Exhibition. At the exhibition I learned more about the Titanic than I thought I would ever know. First off, I had no idea the Titanic was built in Belfast. The exhibition went through the whole reason why Belfast and HW was granted the duty of building the Titanic as well as how it was built. I then learned about how the send off was celebrated as well as the events leading up to the sink of the ship. I got to read the exact messages that were sent between different boats at the time of the iceberg as well as messages from the Titanic captain to these boats and the shore. It tugged at my heart a lot to see actual words from the captain of the ship that said they were sinking... I've only seen such in the movie. Also, hearing the voices of some of the survivors was an incredible feeling. It was sad to think about but also incredible to think what they had survived and lived to tell.

After the Titanic exhibition our group took a "black cab" tour. This tour took us around a part of Belfast that was considered Extreme Protestant. Mind you, the reason for the violence and segregation in Northern Ireland is due to religion, there is tension still today between the Protestants and Catholics. Throughout this part of Belfast there were memorial murals everywhere honoring the assassins and extremists that have passed away. Our cab driver told us there are so many murals in the part of town that it would take over two months to actually show them.

I learned so much while being on the "black cab" tour. They call it a "black cab" tour because large tour buses would not be respected in these areas. I learned that the schools are still segregated by religion and that only 7% of them are integrated in any way. People believe that that is where the island of Ireland needs to start to be able to integrate the land into one country. Also learned that less than 20  years ago we would not have been able to take this tour on account that anyone who came to Northern Ireland had the fear of getting shot or bombed in this part of the city. The thing that baffled me the most about this part of town is the "peace wall" that was built between the extremist Protestant part and the Catholic/Protestant part of town. This peach wall is built between these two sections and is closed off at midnight so that anybody who wants through the wall can only make it through two gates that have security. I had no idea there was still such violence and segregation in this country to be in need of a peace wall. This astonished me. BUT! I did get to sign the peace wall. I wrote "Everybody love everybody."


Later that night we went to the oldest bar in Belfast called "The Crown." This bar was really cool because it had booths with their own doors. We got one of the booths in front and were able to close the door to the rest of the bar and have a more quite visit with the rest of our friends.

On Sunday we got to adventure even further up north. We first visited the Carrik-a-Rede rope bridge. This bridge connects Ireland with a smaller sized island off the coast. There were 37 mph winds when we crossed this bridge, which were kind of strong and blew the bridge as I walked it. I know a rope bridge sounds dangerous and all, because when I heard about it I pictured the scene in Shrek when donkey and Shrek had to cross the bridge to the castle as it was falling apart. But this bridge was much more stable than this and not as high. It still wasn't easy to do, I had to build up the courage. But once I got over I got to take in beautiful (and windy) scenery on an Island in the middle of the ocean. It was a great experience.






































Lastly, we visited the spot on the coast called The Giant's Causeway. This is known (in Ireland) as the 8th wonder of the world. It is due to a volcanic eruption over 50 million years ago. There are approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns throughout this piece of land that gradually fall beneath the ocean. It was a beautiful sight of mother nature. These columns are mainly four, five, six, and seven sided. There are a few two, three, eight and nine sided ones. It reminded me of a patio that someone had put in professionally, that is why I think it is so magnificent that mother nature developed these shapes.






































All in all it was a fantastic weekend exploring Northern Ireland. I think I learned more about the island of Ireland this past weekend than I have the entire time I've been here. I had no idea there was still conflict going on and I do hope that they find true peace and are able to make this divided island into one.

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