Beth had a very unique wake up call this morning.  She heard fluttering that sounded like a bird overhead. When she opened her eyes she saw something fluttering above her head in the curtains. It then flew across the room and perched on her backpack. When she put on her glasses she then realized it was a bird. Her bed was next to the window. Although she closed her window when she went to bed, we think it came in earlier in the evening and was behind the drapes and woke up with the sun. It finally flew out after she opened the window.

After a hearty breakfast, we headed east and south on A2 along the coast. Unfortunately, it was raining and the views were obscured by the low hanging clouds. There were gently rolling green hills that sloped to the water front. Peggy just used to imagine the sun sparkling on the water and geen fields under blue skies. We drove through some pretty fishing villages.

The wall between the Shankill and the Falls is one of the most visitied in Belfast, but it is only one among more than 80 “peace walls.”

With Beth’s navigation, we arrived at our lodging in East Belfast with time for a snack or as the Aussies would say “elevenses” before our Black Cab tour. Wayne decided to forgo the tour in favor of a couple of hours of down time. The tour that Beth and Peggy took focused on the “troubles”, that is, the fighting between the Catholics and Protestants in Belfast. According to our guide, Peacewalls were erected in 1969 as a way to separate the Catholic  Republicans from the Protestant Loyalists¹. The whole tour was very eye opening and our guide,  Stevie, presented a fairly unbiased view.

When the Peacewalls were built, the communities were told it would be there for about 6 months. It is still very much standing. The Belfast wall is 30 feet high and and about 3.5 miles long. It has 3 gates that open 12 hours/day. A fourth is permanently closed since the motorway was built near it. There are other ways to move between Protestant and Catholic sections, but through the gates is the most convenient. According to Stevie, the wall really did diminish the violence between the 2 communities.

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The tour included murals in both the Protestant  and Catholic sections about the “troubles” (Britain’s term) or fighting and also honoring those killed (or murdered depending on your perspective). The Catholic section also had murals addressing some of the political situations in other parts of the world. The Catholics (Republicans) consider themselves Irish and want an Irish nation free of England. The Protestants (Loyalists) consider themselves English, not Irish, and want to stay part of the UK. Our tour guide stated that there were equally wrong actions on both sides.  He referred to the 2 factions as “Us and Thems” and “Thems and us”. Today was the 21st anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday peace accords. There was one wonderful mural that he showed us featuring a poem written by school children. Near or away the end of the fighting, there was a contest for the children to write about living in Belfast in peace. The poem, entitled “No More” was half was written by a Catholic and the other half by a Protestant student.

Belfast is segregated with Catholics living on one side and Protestants living on the other. If Peggy were to immigrate to Belfast, she would need to live in the Catholic section. Protestants who marry Catholics can only live in the Catholic section. In addition, there are segregated schools for Protestant and Catholic children. (However, there are also grey zone schools financed by both Protestants and Catholics where the children attend school together.)   The tour guide agreed that the communities peacefully coexist rather than live together.  There’s are grey zones in Belfast where both groups live and socialize. Our tour guide was entertaining as well as informative. We recommend a Black Cab tour if you are in Belfast. His favorite expression was “You don’t have to be mad to live in Belfast but it helps!”

Beth’s dinner plans to eat on a converted barge fell through. There was a large group booked and reservations were needed for the remaining tables. We found another place that was quite good. We then had a leisurely walk home. We crossed the River Lagan with a beautiful view of the full moon.

¹ Many people refer to the Irish “Troubles” as a religious conflict.  It wasn’t about religion at all. It was about a land grab by the English who forced the Irish off their lands and wanted to remain under the protection of the crown, while the Irish wanted their land back. It’s only coincidence that the Irish are predominantly Catholic while the English are predominantly Protestant.

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