No Split Personalities, Please.
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2008
1
19
Trip End
Jun 10, 2008
Belfast, United Kingdom
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
I felt bad because I had to do some school work while he was here so I couldn't be a great tour guide. I had a paper due Thursday and classes I was supposed to attend. Craig went along to several of my classes, and if he is to be believed, had a great time. On Thursday he took a quick trip to Armagh while I had class. I was pretty jealous of this; Armagh is a small town on the border with the Republic that was once the capital of the Church of Ireland (the Anglican church in Ireland). Two things make this place interesting. One is its proximity to the border, rugged country side, and majority Catholic population made it a hot spot during the Troubles. The IRA used Armagh as a primary smuggling point, and it earned the charming moniker of "bandit country" by the British forces in the region. The other is Armagh is home to a massive Anglican cathedral, which I've been told is very pretty. Oh well. Some people have all the luck.
On Friday we took a quick trip to Dublin. From our discussions about my impressions of Dublin and his impressions of Dublin several years ago, we realized the city has changed significantly and thus warranted its own trip. We saw the Book of Kells (a 9th century book with a brilliant plot twist surprise ending) and St. Patrick's cathedral. We attempted, in vain, to take a tour of a 19th century famine ship. These ships, as the name implies, were used to take victims of the famine to the U.S. and Canada. When we got to the docks, we found out the ship had been sailed to Cork for the week. I believe this may be in preparation for an upcoming famine, so I'm planning on getting the hell out of here before the potatoes run out.
On Saturday we took a trip to Derry, or Londonderry if you prefer. Nationalists call it Derry, Unionists call it Londonderry. Like so many other pointless things here, these two groups can't agree. Derry (I call it Derry not because I'm a nationalist, but because I'm lazy and I don't want to type anymore than I have to) is the second largest city in Northern Ireland and was home to the worst of the Troubles. It is rare in that its a large city with a Catholic majority. In 1969, the shit hit the fan in Derry when the civil rights movement sparked rioting and the Catholics blockaded off their Bogside neighborhood and proclaimed it "Free Derry." Things got worse, and in 1972 British paratroopers shot and killed 13 unarmed protesters on Bloody Sunday. So in short, Derry makes Belfast look normal in comparison. It was a really interesting city; we split our time between walking the city walls (Derry is one of the few European cities with its original walls still in tact) and walking around the Bogside neighborhood looking at murals. We also went to a Bloody Sunday museum built on the sight of the massacre. The tour guide there was actually the sister of one of the victims, so it was clear that this was still a very contentious issue for many people. She and the rest of the community are anxiously awaiting the release of a report on the massacre conducted by an international panel. Part of me hopes the report is released soon to give people like her some closure on the issue. But the other part of me worries that something like this could just make community relations worse. Like everything else in Northern Ireland, it's complicated.
The train ride home from Derry was eventful. Craig and I were sitting at a table minding our own business when this guy named Allen came and sat by us. Allen was drunk off his ass. He told us he was 45, but he looked closer to 70, so I suspect he has spent a lot of time drunk. He sat next to us for roughly half an hour while drinking a beer he smuggled aboard. This guy was offensive; he was bigoted against Muslims, Gays, Catholics, and probably Blacks (thankfully he didn't finish his thought on that one). He insisted on telling us in great detail about the Crucifixion of Christ, and was positive that Craig was in the IRA because his middle name is Sean and his last name is McConnell. Alan in many ways encapsulates the worst of Northern Ireland: bigoted, drunk, and sticky. But wait, there's more! As we neared Belfast, someone alongside the tracks threw a rock at the train and shattered a window. No one was hurt (the window didn't break out), but it scared the crap out of the poor little girl that was sitting in that seat. It made Craig and I long for the safety of Belfast. However, it turns out that throwing rocks at trains is a national pastime in Ireland. It happened to us twice more over the course of the week.
We spent Sunday through Tuesday in Cork. Cork is the second largest city in the Republic and many Corkers (?) think it ought to be the real capital of Ireland. It is indeed a very pretty and charming city and is very different from Dublin. It was big enough to feel cosmopolitan, but small enough that we could easily walk around the whole city. Monday was a bank holiday (similar to Memorial Day) and everything was closed. We had guessed that many things would be closed, but had no idea that everything would be closed. It was difficult to find a restaurant or pub that was open. So we decided to walk around Cork for a while and take a train to nearby Cobh (pronounced "Cove"). Cobh is a small port city that was exceedingly pretty. All in all, the whole excursion was a lot of fun. And well worth the barrage of stones.
Craig left today and I'm back in student mode. I will be back in the states in a few weeks though, so my time here is running out quickly.
