Belfast Highlights

Hey all! C junior here. 

We left the Republic of Ireland on Monday and entered Northern Ireland which is still part of the United Kingdom. We spent 5 days in Belfast as a sort of quiet before the storm (our itinerary really speeds up once we get to Scotland - yikes!).

On Tuesday, we took the Black Taxi Tour of West Belfast where the "Troubles" happened. The Troubles was the time in the 20th century when Belfast was in a civil war between the Catholics and the Protestants. It was very sad to hear about how each side massacred the other just for being Catholic or Protestant, and that a wall, called the Peace Wall and was established before the Berlin Wall, still separates the two sections of West Belfast today. Yet, our cab driver, who had three family members killed during this struggle and was arrested five times at gun point, is hopeful that the wall will come down in 18 years time. The really sad thing is that nobody ever hears about this situation or the history behind it.

Wednesday we took a tour to the Giant's Causeway. This natural wonder is located on the NE coast of Ireland and situated so one can look off to the East and, on a clear day, see Scotland. The amazing rock structures were created by the ancient Irish giant Finn McCool who wanted to pick a fight with the Scottish giant, Benandonner, who he could see across the water. 

True story. And here are the remnants of that encounter:

We also walk up the mountain to see Finn's pipe organ which he only plays at 6am on Christmas day. 

And on up the mountain we strolled for fantastic views of the Causeway area. 

The tour also took us to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge which was used by fisherman to get to Carrick-a-Rede Island for salmon fishing (that really is a true story). Learning the history if the bridge was very interesting - and the views were pretty cool too. 

Our last day was a very relaxed one touring the Titanic museum (Belfast was where the ship was built).

On Friday we will be taking a 2 hour ferry ride over to Scotland!