So, last Friday I had my 'practice' adventure to Northern Ireland with my intrepid flatmates, Em and Hannah.
The first thing you notice about Ireland is how green it is. It's not a stereotype -- it is actually even greener than England. Belfast itself feels a relatively small, quiet city after the bustle of, say, Nottingham but it very definately feels like a modern European city. It seems like it's starting to rejuvinate and find it's feet after all the years of Troubles. I think it'll be interesting to go back in a few years and see how it's changed.
Out hostel turned out to be a gem. It was called the Linnen House and was right near the City centre, down a quiet side road by the Central Library. Once we'd settled in, we went to explore the city on foot for a while and see the sights. Then, we got a 'black cab tour' to see the murals from both the Protestant and Catholic areas. It was a little strange going round these run-down housing estates looking at the huge paintings on their walls. I wonder what the locals thought of us. While we were in the Protestant area, we saw HUGE piles of pallets and furniture, taking up the space of at least a couple of houses. It turns out they'll be turned into giant bonfires during the Marching Season. We saw the 'Peace Wall': a huge construction covered in barbed wire and graffetti designed to keep people apart. We also saw one of the Catholic memorial gardens. The tour guide pointed out a name from one of the plaques, and then a few more names either side. "You remember that mural of Steve 'Top Gun' McKeag we saw in the Protestant estate?" he asked. "Well, he shot those people." It was all very humbling.
On Saturday, we headed out of Belfast to Newcastle and the Mourne Mountains. It was about an hour and a half on the bus, but it was worth it. We wandered past the beach and the edge of town, winding ever upwards through the woods by the river and up onto the open hillside. The river itself was very impressive (you can see it in the background of the Icehouse picture. Incidently, the icehouse belonged to some big house that was in the area in the 1800s). Sometimes it crashed through the ravine, sometimes it created pools made for paddling in around rocks made for scrambling over. As we got higher and out of the trees, we could start to appreciate the stunning scenery, but the climb got tougher. Towards the top of Slieve Donard (the highest peak in N Ireland) it's a steep plod along a stone wall and it just keeps on going. But it's worth it once you get to the top. In the picture of me blowing bubbles, I have my back against the wall with the trig point on. We got quite seriously rained on walking back down so we stopped for a hot chocolate in a cafe that overlooked the sea, to dry out a bit before getting the bus back.
In the evening, we somehow found the energy to head to the John Hewitt pub for folk music and chocolately stout (that I can't remember the name of, but it was very tasty). The music was great too. You couldn't help but tap your toe along.
We visited Belfast 'Castle', which is about as castle-y as the one in Nottingham. Behind it is Cave Hill, which was fun to scramble over. There was even a zoo over the other side. The Crown Liquor Salon is worth a visit too. It's a glorious Victorian creation with your own private booths to drink in. There's a giant fish statue down by the River Lagan, and jellyfish in the river itself. There's plenty of churchs around to look at, even if St Anne's new spire just looks like a big spike. Albert's clock tower is still leaning slightly due to the foundations rotting, but it's now been seen to by the engineers that look after the Leaning Tower of Piza so it shouldn't get any worse now. Belfast has lots of old alleyways too, although they've been modernised and therefore spoiled a bit. They've got the potential to be great twitchells/snickels though. However, down one of them is the Duke of York, which is definately worth a visit for it's great interior decor even if you're not interested in the largest selection of whiskeys in Ireland. There are free tours of the City Hall, which is your standard, turn of the century council buildings. Grandious classical renaissoince architecture, lots of portraits and good thick carpets.
On the last day, we pootled over to the University and the Botanical Gradens. The University has some beautiful old buildings, and opposite one of them is a row of houses noticably further back than all the others. One of them has a big old Hawthorne tree in the front garden. The story goes that the workmen were so superstitious about the Little People that they absolutely refused to cut the tree down, so instead they had to move the houses back.
Lots more stuff but I'm running out of time. I'll try and finish up another time. Just to let y'all know, I'm now safe and sound in Prague.
