Belfast

I'm up in Northern Ireland now and did the tour of Belfast today. Took the bus tour because it was raining a bit, but it ended up clearing up so I could sit outside and enjoy it!! I learned a lot of interesting things about Belfast, Northern Ireland, and the conflict that affected this area. Belfast is where the Titannic was built!!! C.S. Lewis is from here. So is a famous soccer player George Best (but I don't know who that is really). Belfast is also the 2nd safest city for tourists in the world, behind Tokyo.




The most interesting thing for me was seeing the murals depicting the conflict here between the Loyalists (people who wished to stay part of the UK -predominantly Protestant) and the Nationalists (people who wanted a united, separate Ireland - predominantly Catholic). There are peace walls throughout the city separating the Catholic communities from Protestant communities, and several memorials for all the people who died in the conflict. We also passed the most bombed building in the world - the Europa Hotel. It's all quite sobering.



Belfast also has a fish made of tile that supposedly brings you good luck if you kiss it...so I did!!!