Belfast

We took a day trip to Belfast during our stay in County Antrim.  I had heard of Belfast, of course, before coming to Ireland.  I had vague notions of unrest there during my growing up years, but I didn't really start paying attention to international issues until I had kids, and even then, I only did so at a very surface level.  I pay a little more attention now because of our travels, but often feel incredibly ignorant when it comes to this world of ours.  I had heard the terms "IRA" and "Sinn Fein" but really didn't know what they meant. I didn't know who were the good guys and who were the bad guys; I just knew that in the past there had been divisions based on religion/politics that had been pretty violent.  Though I was pretty sure our day in Derry had opened my eyes a bit, I really wasn't sure what to expect as we drove into Belfast.

We were meeting our tour guide, Ken Harper, at City Hall (the building pictured above) so we headed right to the heart of Belfast.  What first caught my eye was the interesting mix of old world and modern ~ we found beautiful old buildings, funky sculptures and Starbucks all on the same block.  The downtown area had an upbeat, active feel, and when we needed to ask someone for directions, the gentlemen who helped us out couldn't have been friendlier.

This is Ken ~ born and raised in Belfast.  Another great tour guide who had endured much in the city he loved.  He was very knowledgeable, rather soft spoken, very nice to the boys, and as he toured Belfast with us, you could sense his pride for his city.  However, you could also sense an underlying emotion that I am not even sure how to label (embarrassment....sadness....disappointment???) that surfaced as he showed us the peace wall and told us of the continuing tension and division....BUT I am getting ahead of myself. :)

Belfast was once an important ship-building port with it's most famous (or maybe I should say infamous) product being the Titanic.  While there are no more ships being built in Belfast, all things Titanic do add to their tourist trade.  This was a recently dedicated memorial garden near City Hall.

After getting a tour of the area surrounding City Hall we jumped into Ken's taxi and hit the streets.  Ken told us that the area outside of that downtown "neutral zone" was, like Derry, divided by a "peace wall".  Only this peace wall was 45 ft. high, and 13 miles long.  There are numerous gates in the wall, but I think Ken said only 2 of them stay open 24 hours a day.   The rest are closed at night and some are closed on weekends.  It was hard to fathom that this was how the city went about life....divided.

We started out on the Protestant side.   Like Derry, Belfast has lots of murals.  This was one of the first ones we saw, telling the story of Shankill Road, the main drag on the Protestant side.

There are many U.S. Presidents who have been of Irish descent ~ County Antrim alone boasts 6, including Andrew Jackson, who is pictured here.  Ben and Chris liked this one ~ not because they love Andrew Jackson, but because they love flags.

This is William of Orange, an English king/Protestant hero, who seized the power from the Catholic King James in, yes, you guessed it ~ 1690.   So......wouldn't you think that if people were trying to heal after such massive conflict and violence, the landscape would not be dominated by murals that celebrate one sides victory over the other no matter how long ago this particular battle was?  And this was a subtle mural....not far from it there was also one of a man wearing a balaclava holding a machine gun.  It has been referred to as "The Mona Lisa of Belfast" because wherever you walk, it looks like he is looking at you.  Ken pointed out that children have to walk past these murals everyday on their way to school (and I will add that the schools we saw were themselves surrounded by fences topped with razor wire.....he said they didn't really need these fences anymore, but left them in place for the children's safety)....I guess I can see how this division just becomes a way of life.

This is one of the gates in the wall which happened to be closed (though it was the middle of the day).

This is a section of the wall called Cupar Way.  It is highly decorated by both professional and amateur graffiti artists from all over the world, including Ben and Chris.  Ken gave them crayons so they could add to the wall.

My photos of the boys and this wall are my favorites from this tour.  Part of it is simply the splashes of color in a city of mostly gray, but I realized later they are the only photos from the tour that I took from outside the car.  It was the only time we got out.  The rest of the tour was experienced from behind the windows of a car....a buffer, a distance....from the reality, from the conflict, from any potential danger.  I hope it does not sound like I am judging this city and its people ~ I am not.  This buffer means that I can't know what it is like to grow up in this culture, to lose loved ones in the violence that has gone with it, so I don't even feel entitled to an opinion about it.  I can only observe, listen, and learn, and pass it on to others in the hope that it can soften my heart and the hearts of others toward the people of this world of ours.

Jeff really enjoyed talking with Ken.  Those of you who know Jeff might have noticed that he has a wee bit of an interest in politics. :)

This piece of artwork was my favorite part of the wall.  I keep meaning to look up the artist (Chad Lyttle) but haven't found time yet.

We headed over to the Catholic side of the wall.  Falls Road is the name of the main street.  One difference we noted was that street signs were back to being written in English AND Irish, which is what we have seen all over Ireland.  There is no written Irish seen anywhere on the Protestant side.

This is a mural of Bobby Sands, an activist and member of the IRA ~ a group that fought for Irish independence from Great Britain.  He died in prison, the result of a hunger strike in 1981.  There is SO much more to the story, but I think I will just leave it at that or I will NEVER get this post done.

This wall has murals supporting various political prisoners all over the world.  While some seemed legit, some just seemed to be rather random....supporting political prisoners simply because they were imprisoned, regardless of what they had done.

OK, on to the less emotional, less controversial part of town!  Next we headed down to the shipyards....well, what used to be shipyards, home of Samson and Goliath, two huge cranes that are symbols of the city.

We did not tour the newly opened Titanic exhibit, but we did see the dry dock (above) where the Titanic was built.  It was really interesting ~ I guess I have never given any thought to how they actually build ships that big.  Wish we could have gotten closer and explored it a little more.


And that was the end of our tour.  Ken drove us back to City Hall.  I had mixed feelings about this tour...I am grateful to have learned more about Belfast and its history, but who truly likes to have their head pulled out of the sand?  I feel like a new door has been opened ~ I am forced to look at the world in a different way.  While it is a little discomfiting, I am grateful for it.  I am also grateful that I was blessed to grow up in a peaceful country in a time of relative peace and did not have to walk past murals of men with machine guns as I walked to school.  Okay....enough said.

And now, onto other important things.....as we walked the downtown streets, we went into a sporting goods store to get new shoelaces for Ben and what did I see to brighten my day but a PACKERS hat!!
I moved the Steelers hat that was right next to it to the shelf below it. :)

We then split up for a "lunch date" ~ Ben and I ate at a noodle restaurant called Wagamama.  It was delicious!  Now THAT is a real smile. :)  It was in a very modern shopping mall called Victoria Square.

Next we decided to do something very mundane (maybe in response to the foreignness of what we had experienced that morning) ~ we went to a movie!  We saw Oz, the Great and Powerful and enjoyed it thoroughly.

The boys wish this concept would catch on in America ~ "pick-a-mix" candy at the movie theater.  I rather enjoyed it myself....I have developed a bit of an addiction to bon-bons (rhubarb and custard is my favorite).  That cliche about sitting around eating bon-bons could finally apply to me!

Last picture from Belfast taken from  a dome at the top of Victoria Square from which you get an excellent view of the city.  Needless to say, I will never forget our time in Belfast.

Fast forward a couple of weeks....we are moving today from County Cork to County Kerry, our last stop on this wonderful tour of Ireland.  I am not sure if there is internet in our cottage in Kerry.  If there is NOT, I may not be posting anymore, though hopefully I will do another couple of posts from home. Hopefully there will be more posts, but if not, thanks for following our journey!

County Antrim

County Antrim was one of my favorite counties so far.  We had a wonderful (WARM) cottage, lots of space for the boys to play and burn off energy, and short drives to the sites we wanted to see.  The nearest village was Bushmills, home of the famous whiskey distillery.  The next village was Portrush, home of a world-famous golf course that Chris was interested in seeing ~ unfortunately he and Jeff did not get time to play.

This was our cozy little cottage.  There were walking trails through the forest in the background and an area where the boys could kick Chris' new soccer ball around.  It was a really nice home base.  

We had two major attractions on the docket for Antrim ~ this was the first, the Carrick-A-Rede Bridge. It is a rope bridge between two outcroppings of rock that leads to what used to be a busy fishery, and it is placed in what felt like a wind tunnel.  If you have read any previous posts, you might guess that a certain member of our family was NOT looking forward to crossing this bridge.  The whole drive there, Ben repeatedly said, "I'm NOT doing it.  I am NOT doing it."    He did it. :)

He pretty much ran and would not turn around for a picture....but he did it!

The wind got even more gusty just as Chris was crossing (hence the blurry picture ~ it was actually hard to keep my camera steady!).  It was the wind, more than the height, that made this bridge a challenge.  I love his look of concentration.

Another photo that gives an idea of how windy it was.  Ben looked like a big green marshmallow.  Have you come to recognize that fake grin of his that always shows itself when we are up high?  

I just posted this one because I thought it was cute. :)

On the way back, Ben did stop for a photo.  So proud of you Ben!

I loved it! (I might have been the only one.)

Next stop.....the Giant's Causeway.  It is a series of incredible, mostly hexagonal-shaped basalt columns that some say were formed millions of years ago as lava from volcanic eruptions cooled.  But the locals know that it was actually built by a giant named Finn MacCool who was challenged to a fight by a Scottish giant named Benandonner.  Finn built a bridge (or "causeway" as they say here in Ireland) to Scotland to go after him.  He went, but saw how big the giant was and came scurrying back home, asking his wife to hide him from this giant.  She dressed him as a baby and put him in bed.  Benandonner came looking for Finn, and when seeing what he thought was Finn's baby led to images of how big Finn must be, he ran back to Scotland, breaking up the causeway as he went.  There is a similar rock formation on a Scottish island, which is only about 20km away.   Silly scientists!

These columns covered a huge area....I think they estimate the number at about 40,000 columns.  The boys had a blast climbing and running around.  This was just one of a couple of great days in Antrim.

Derry ~ aka Londonderry, The Walled City, City of Two Churches, or My Favorite....Legenderry

As many of you may know, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.  A simple enough statement, at first read, but in reality, oh-so-complicated.  We had spent a little bit of time reading about the history of Ireland before our trip, but mostly we were learning on-the-road.  Our lessons were about to get a lot more intense.  We left Donegal and headed for Londonderry/Derry in Northern Ireland.  It was an unassuming change of country...no need for passports, no government building, not even a sign posting the change!  The only glitch was figuring out how to change countries on our GPS.  We arrived in Derry and met up with our tour guide, Garvin, and our lessons began.

Garvin was an exceptional tour guide.  He had it all....he was funny, energetic, entertaining and put special effort into keeping the boys interested.  Even more importantly, he was passionate about Derry and its history, both distant and recent.  

He began with the distant past.  Derry, an important seaport on the tidal River Foyle, is a walled city.  The walls were built by the English way back in the days of Queen Elizabeth in the early 1600's.  Those same walls were instrumental in 1689, during a 105 day siege on Derry by Catholic James II, who was trying to regain the English throne from the Protestant William III.  This conflict between Catholic and Protestant is a very old one.

You can walk on the city wall, which gives you wonderful views of the city.  This picture, taken from the city wall, is of another wall....called the "peace wall", built to separate the lives of the Catholics and Protestants.  Today, the blur between politics and religion in Ireland sways more toward being politics-focused vs. religion-focused, but the two are so intertwined that they cannot be separated.  We were amazed that this segregating wall still stands today and that the areas on either side of it were clearly of one side or the other.

There is an area just outside the city walls, called Bogside, that draws you into more recent raw history and a time referred to as "The Troubles".  On the heels of the civil rights movement in America, issues of unemployment, inequality, and housing shortages were reaching a head.  This wall was painted in 1969 by activists and has, over the years, become a place where people come to voice their grievances or political views.  This area has been the site of much violence between activists and particularly British Forces over the years.   You can see the new political graffiti on the wall ~ we were there the day after Margaret Thatcher died.  They are not fans of Margaret Thatcher in Derry, but that is another story.

The Bogside tells its history through murals.  I found this one to be the most striking ~  it is entitled "Death of Innocence".  The girl depicted, Annette McGavigan, was caught in the cross-fire between the IRA and British soldiers in 1971.  It originally looked a little different, but has been re-painted to reflect recent peace seeking efforts.

These other murals were painted later by The Bogside Artists to tell the tales of the times, particularly the story of an infamous day referred to as Bloody Sunday ~ January 30th, 1972.  You may recall the U2 song "Sunday Bloody Sunday" about that day ~ I always liked that song, but had NO clue what it meant. On Bloody Sunday, the British army opened fire on a civil rights march.  Thirteen people died and 14 were injured.  As Garvin told us this story, he was very emotional ~ he had lost a good family friend that day.  Recent years have brought efforts toward peace (the Good Friday Agreement of 1994, aided by Bill Clinton who is given hero-status here, and the Saville Report, 2010 ~ look them up if you want to know more!), and though the emotions of this town are raw, there is a feel of healing, as demonstrated by this more recent mural of a dove below (not a great photo ~ it is kind of hard to see because of the trees).

When Jeff proofread this post for me, he pointed out the light pole in the foreground which I hadn't noticed because I was focused on the mural.  It is painted in the colors of the Irish flag.  This is actually symbolic of the Catholic side/those who want Northern Ireland to be part of Ireland.  So while there ARE efforts toward peace, there are still such blatant alignment with "a side".  

This is a memorial for the people who died on Bloody Sunday.  I do want to add that despite the intensity of the history, I thought Derry was charming.  Garvin was so sweet, with a heart that prays continually for peace for his people and I plan to join him in that prayer of Peace for the people of Derry and all of Northern Ireland.

County Donegal

WARNING:  This post has more photos than any reasonable blog post should have.  Consider yourself warned. 

While it was hard to leave County Galway, we were eager to see more of Ireland.  We headed north through several beautiful counties on our way to County Donegal, the northernmost county in Ireland. 

We made one brief stop in County Sligo ~ partly because we like the name, and partly because we happened upon a sign pointing to the grave of W.B. Yeats ~ the poet we have been studying this term.  He was born in Dublin, but his childhood home was Sligo.  Interestingly, his brother, Jack, was a famous Irish painter whose work we have since seen at the National Gallery in Dublin.  That Yeats family was pretty talented!

Up motorways, around narrow roadway curves, over many a bridge, and ever-appreciative of our GPS, we finally arrived at our thatch-roofed cottage in Donegal.   Some might call it "quaint", or "peaceful", or "remote"....I would call it "FREEZING!"  Never have I been so cold as I was INSIDE this cottage.  It WAS all those other things as well ~ quaint, peaceful, and pleasantly remote. :) 

 

Our view of the Atlantic Ocean out our back windows was breathtaking.

We took a wonderful tour of Donegal with a guide named Derek....I thought I got a picture of him with the boys, but I must not have.  He was an interesting guy with many interests and lots of education, especially in history and archaeology.  He was also a great photographer and an ornithology enthusiast, which I loved because I love birds too.  Most importantly, he LOVES the area he toured with us, which always enhances the tour.  Above is a photo of what might be called a "mussel farm".  Mussels are cultivated on "beds" in this tidal area.  Derek said he didn't know there were so many because when he drives by the tide is never this low so these beds are usually covered in water.

We saw a couple of stones like this with a hole through them that day.  He said wherever we saw one, we could know it was the site of a very early Christian settlement.  

Next we saw the Assnaranka Waterfall...beautiful.

This is Maghera Beach.  Again, low tide paid off.  Derek had prepped us for this site saying there were 5 or 6 sea caves we could explore.  He had never been here with the tide so low (despite his many years of giving tours), and we realized that there are actually 11 sea caves!   

Ben and Chris absolutely LOVED exploring these caves.  Derek said that several ships from the Spanish Armada were known to have sunk in the immediate vicinity of these caves and local lore says that treasure from these ships was buried deep in these sea caves and could still be there.  You could see the gleam in Ben's eyes as he thought about searching for this treasure.  

Chris discovered this tunnel while he was exploring.  Derek didn't know it existed so he was excited about it.  I suppose he normally shows adults around, who don't explore as much as the boys did.  It was exciting for Chris to discover something even the guide didn't know about. :)

This is called Gransha Pass...the photo does not do it justice.

We saw so many newly born sheep that day.  These twins were real cuties....but too fast for the boys.  They were desperate to pet a sheep.  Derek was very accommodating, stopping the car several times throughout the day to let them try.

This is a portal tomb in an area called Glencomcille.  This area has many ancient tombs ~ fascinating stuff!  One thing I have loved about so many of the places we have visited in Europe is that they are so accessible.  I feel like if this were an American landmark, it would be cordoned off and you would have to look at it from a distance.  This treasure of an ancient tomb was just out in a farmer's field.  The boys could go inside and climb all over it.  It is such an incredible way to not just SEE these sights but to EXPERIENCE them.

A court tomb in the same area

The Mitchell family in the middle of a field of court tombs....kind of like getting a family picture taken in a cemetery.  Strange yet cool.....kind of.

Chris spotted this little guy by the side of the road as we were driving.  Derek stopped and the boys finally got to pet a lamb!

This picture was taken at the top of Slieve League, a huge rock cliff in Donegal.  There are three levels.  You are at the first level in the car park.  You can hike up to the second level, which we did.  You can see the third level in the background of this picture.  You CAN hike up there, but we settled for the second level on this VERY windy day.  The views were amazing!

This is from the very top of the second level.  There was a steep drop on the other side of these rocks.  

Slieve League

I love this one!

And now, for a little celebrity gossip, Derek pointed out a house which belongs to Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.  Apparently they spend time here each year and are seen about town.

Fintra Beach....another of Ireland's fine beaches.

Feeding some donkeys on the side of the road.  These needed their hooves clipped ~ they looked like they had little shoes on.

Before winding up our tour, we went to see the docks in Killybegs, Derek's hometown and a huge commercial fishing port.  I loved this sign we saw as we drove on the dock.  I will have to make a post at the end of the trip of all the funny signs I have seen.

There were several huge fishing boats at the dock.  Derek said one like this can cost between 10 and 20 million dollars.  Derek returned us to our car after Killybegs....it was a great tour.

I saw this sign at a restaurant in Dungloe, the town nearest our cottage.  I would love it for my house. :)

Another highlight of Donegal was a round of golf for Chris and Jeff.  There was a beautiful course on Cruit Island with amazing rocky views.  I decided to get some laundry done that afternoon (I love golf, but I love WARM golf) and Ben started the round with them, but returned, shivering, to the clubhouse after the 3rd hole, spending his afternoon drinking Cokes and watching Law and Order (might be one of his favorite afternoons of the trip).  The diehards completed the round and loved every minute of it!!  I am sure it was a Top 3 (as we like to call it) for Chris.

The view from the Clubhouse

Chris was very excited that it only took him two tries to get out of this pot bunker.  This may be one of the only photos I have taken in which Chris is wearing long pants.  He needed them that day.

This photo is from my exciting afternoon of doing laundry.  It dries pretty quickly in this kind of wind.

Just thought I would include this photo of the inside of our cottage.  We tried very hard to get a turf fire going in this fireplace to warm the place up, but were not very successful.  Still it was a very charming cottage in an amazing location.  Many thanks to Jeff, who has done such a great job in planning our trip.  Donegal is definitely a place we will never forget.