No we did not have
any trouble in Belfast but rather the title refers to the area that
we chose to visit. We had a number of things that we would have
liked to do including the botanical gardens and the new Titanic
museum. This cruise replicates the Titanic voyage with the Belfast
Cove and New York itinerary but we decided to visit the area that the
locals call the “troubles”.
This ship needs to
dock in areas that large ships such as container ships use. As a
result there are free shuttles available to get us to the centre of
the city. That was very convenient because it gave us a change to
eat in the dining room rather than going to the Horizon Court Buffet.
At breakfast we had 4 countries represented. A real United Nations.
Ashore we chose
to visit the area where the Catholics and Protestants were in such
turmoil only a few years ago. Locally they call it the troubles. It
took us about 3 hours to walk the whole circuit but that was at a
very relaxed pace.
From City Hall Square where the shuttle dropped us
off, we made our way towards Falls Road. We did have a local Belfast
resident stop and help us get on the right track. What a friendly
person. Away we went. We did stop a group of college girls a bit
later and 3 out of 4 did not know anything. Fortunately one did and
kept us on the right path.
Catholic Sector |
We walked up Falls
Road which is the Catholic
neighborhood, stopping at St Peter's
Cathedral along the way. It was obviously the centre of life for
this side of the wall. It was also the start of some of the barbed
wire walls that we encountered. There were a few murals on the wall.
Through A Gate |
The Peace Wall |
murals were covered by
“graffiti” left by people who had visited the place. However it
was not graffiti in the normal
sense of the word; more like thought
people had visiting the area and leaving their thoughts. No tagging
here.
At The Murals |
The wall itself
looked like it was built on top of a 1 story building. Corrugated
steel panels was topped by a high wire fence with barbed wire on it.
I can't estimate the height. This side of the conflict (Protestant)
was much more downtrodden. The Catholic sections that we saw looked
relatively new. This side did not!
We walked all the way to Lanark
Way and turned into the heart of the Protestant
district and followed
Shankill Road back to the centre of Belfast.
A Protestant Mural |
This section was in
sharp contrast to the Catholic sector. There were murals on every
open building wall depicting scenes and memorials from World War 1,II
as well as from the “troubles”. There were poppy reefs on the
wall with plaques stating when a bombing had taken place and the
number of people killed along with their names. Many of the
“terrorist” bombing took place in and around pubs. It was not
just one or two, but it seemed like 1 every block. It was quite an
eye opener. The Union Jack was everywhere. I think it was one of more
amazing places that we have visited, certainly in a modern city like
Belfast.
We made our way
back downtown, stopping at the Titanic memorial in city hall square and then back to the ship. For lunch we discovered
Alfredo's Pizzeria. It is in the Atrium area and is
a sit down
restaurant. We had a wonderful antipasto and pizza lunch. Full
waiter service. It is a much cozier venue than a dinning room and so
much better than the buffet. It is a specialty restaurant but no
charge as you might expect. We enjoyed some wine on our wine package
that we purchased earlier in the cruise.
Titanic Memorial |
The only downer
to the entire day is that Judy is coming down with a sore throat and
spend the afternoon in bed. I was up watching the sail away as she
had an extended nap. We did attend a show called production show
called Bravo that received a standing ovation. Mostly show hits,
some opera, etc. No a lot of 'wild' singing and dancing that is the
norm for Princess. Others that we talked to thought it was the best
show they had ever seen on Princess and we agree.
Cove tomorrow. It
should be a leisurely day as we stopped there last year.
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