DAY-38: On To Belfast (Fri, Sep 29, 2017)

DAY-38: On To Belfast

Day – 38: Friday, September 29, 2017

Starting Location: Portrush, Northern Ireland

Ending Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland

A store sign across the street from our hotel attracted Sheila's attention. Could it be possible that a Wolfenden (SP) family member settled in Portrush?

On our way out of Portrush we stopped by a local golf club, The Royal Portrush Golf Club to be specific, an oceanside links course. Apparently Portrush is to be the host of the 2019 British Open (okay, The Open). We picked up a few trinkets in the pro shop before moving on toward the town of Bushmill.

En-route we made a stop at a viewing point for Dunluce Castle, a structure perched on the edge of the seaside cliffs.

Our next point of interest was the town of Bushmill where Bushmills Irish Whiskey is produced. 

Like everything else in Ireland and amongst the Irish people around the world, there has to be a competition, in this case it's the North's Bushmills vs. the Republic's Jamesons.

vs.

                                 

                       You pick!

Even Bushmill meets Jack's requirement to be an official town, the local Chinese restaurant.

Just when you think the partisan issues are at rest we pass by what was described as the "Royal Dartboard".

We continued along the coast ...

arriving at the Giant's Causeway, a geologic formation resulting from a volcanic uplift and cooling leaving behind a field of hexagonal stone columns. The causeway according to lore bridged the pre-historic gap between Ireland and Scotland.

Me and my shadow!

We continued along the coast passing other attractions but with a desire to get into Belfast in the early afternoon we couldn't stop at every awesome view.

For Game of Thrones fans there are many areas of Ireland that were used for filming. Tourists like ourselves actually come to the area to search out actual filming sites. Here a group with their own "Game of Thrones" expert view and discuss a filming location.

In the town of Carnlough along the eastern shore we stopped for coffee at the The Coach House. The town has a small harbor and their very own Hungry Jack's.

Mike was keeping us tight to our schedule today so our stop was limited to 30 minutes but as we had been throughout the entire journey we were on time.

At last we began to see Belfast signs.

By about 3:15 we arrived at our hotel, The Fitzwilliam in the heart of Belfast. We had arranged for a Black Taxi tour to begin at 4 so we had time to check-in and get settled into our rooms.

Our "Black Taxi" driver, Jim, was there for us promptly at 4:00. Actually he was driving a silver 7-seater Mercedes but the mission was the same, tour the boundary between the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods of Belfast and learn a bit more about the reason for the divide and the distant and recent history that continues to separate the people of Northern Ireland. 

Our first stop was in Jim's childhood neighborhood, the Catholic side and just a stone's throw from the "wall". Jim was about our age, with children and grandchildren living in Belfast.

Consistently we have been told that the divide is not about religion, it's about civil rights but the origins of the issues date back to times when Catholics experienced years and generations of repression including issues like the "Catholics need not apply" signs at Protestant run manufacturers in the area.

I thought this was an interesting lock. Apparently when the walls were erected beginning in 1969 the gate was locked and as far as anyone knows, the key is lost forever, symbolic I guess.

Jim brought us to a series of mural-walls that today depict rights issues around the world. The walls are apparently repainted annually with issues relevant to the times and relevant to the world at large not just Ireland.

The gates are closed each evening at about 6:30 reopening the next morning, since it was only 5 PM we were able to pass through into the Protestant side, the side aligned with Great Britain, the side flying the Union Jack and posting banners and wall paintings of the royals.

One thing is the same, both sides have their Chinese restaurants. 

This "shadow" memorial was interesting with the actual monument casting its image upon the adjacent building, at least when the sun was shining. 

Much of the Irish conflict stems from the emergence of William III (William of Orange) and his Protestant victory over the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne. The present day "Orange Order" parade each year on July 12th celebrates William's victory and is clearly a thorn in the side of Catholics to this day. 

As an aside, there really are black taxis, but they just don't have room for seven passengers.

The dream for both sides as generations pass ...

Jim had us back at the hotel around six. 

For our final dinner together we crossed the street to The Crown Liquor Saloon for lamb stew and humongous orders of fish & chips.

To close out the evening we headed back across the street to the Hotel Europa for a nightcap, finishing in the hotel's Piano Bar. The story goes that this is the most bombed hotel in the world, reportedly being bombed 36 times during the active conflict years between its construction in 1971 and 1993 when it suffered major damage.

That closed out our evening, we returned to our hotel and settled in for the final SMART night.