Leeds, Dublin, & Belfast
On Wednesday September 19th we decided to leave Edinburgh and head to Leeds, England to visit our friend Tormi Kimsto. After getting a headache trying to figure out buses to get there, we finally set off. Tormi met us at the Leeds bus station and we droped our bags at her place. After we went out for some drinks and something to eat, which was difficult being freshers (aka frosh) week and most pubs were only serving booze. The next day we had a fairly lazy day sleeping in. We then meandered downtown in search of a cell phone store so we could top up our phone and for an internet cafe to print out our bus/ferry ticket to Dublin. That afternoon we ate cheese, crackers and wine at Tormi’s place with her and her mom. She had just flown in from Toronto to help Tormi move home at the end of the week.
Later that day we hopped on the overnight bus/ferry to Dublin. We got a really good deal on the fare, which was probably because it was a horrible trip. It could have easily been at few hours shorter if it didn’t stop every hour for a 1/2 an hour. It was also extremely pleasant how they kicked us off the bus to stand in line for an hour at the ferry ports of both Holyhea, Whales, AND Dublin, Ireland. I think we only got a couple hours of sleep combined on the whole 12 hour bus ride. So we arrived in Dublin tired and grumpy.
After wasting time in rainy Dublin all morning we met up with Susanne Bjerno, my mom’s friend from high school, who was in Ireland visiting a friend, Louise, and she took out out for a nice lunch and a pint of Guiness.
We had planned on staying in Dublin Friday night but since we couldn’t find accommodation in our price range we decided to head to Belfast first. So we got back on a bus at 1pm to Belfast. Saturday we took a day trip to the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, Giant’s Causeway and to Derry (aka Londonderry or Free Derry). It was a good day. We got in a few hikes and explored Derry and learned about it’s violent religious/political history. Derry is where Bloody Sunday occurred and we checked out all the murals that have been done in the Bogside of town. Once back in Belfast we went to check out the famous Crown Bar which is being restored so we couldn’t see the outside and to Fibber McGee’s with some live Irish music.
Today we went on a Belfast Black Taxi tour (except our taxi wasn’t black) through the Catholic and Protestant areas of the city and learned about some of the troubled histoy of these areas. The “Peace Line/wall” is a wall that is about 30 feet high between the main Catholic and Protestant areas…not much of a Peace line if you ask me. They still close some of the gates between these communities on weekends and at night as well. It’s very interesting how it is a peace time now, but segregation between the Protestants and Catholics in Belfast is still very prevalent. (85-90% of the schools are still segregated. There’s no line that divides the city into two differnt districts, its just pockets of Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods alll squished together. It even doesn’t matter if your atheist, you have to decide if you’re a Catholic atheist, or a Protestant atheist. We also drove past the leader of Sinn Fein (Gerry Adams) at an unveiling of another mural, one which was painted by children in a Catholic neighborhood. Its definitely an interesting place, and there is definitly more to it than you typically see in the papers.
Now we are on to Galway!
September 25th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
It´s so interesting to read about your trip.Every morning I just switch on my computer to check if there is something from you.Have a nice trip and all the best to you!Today I phoned to Ilme and I am glad she is so positive.