Chasing the ghosts of Belfast's past

Before I begin about Belfast, I just wanted to mention one other impression of the Guinness Brewery. The oddest thing was, it really reminded me of the Wonka Chocolate Factory from the movie with Gene Wilder! Seven floors of sights and sounds and smells, with a touch of magic (or just madness) if you believed in it. It even had a glass elevator!! I would have much prefered chocolate fountains to the beer, however, as the smell of barley roasting or hops being mashed or whatever is less than appetizing. Also sadly there was no Willy Wonka or oompa loompas to be found.

But on to Belfast. I took the bus up there early in the morning, and arrived with little to do as the City Hall, which I had planned to tour, was closed for renovations. After wandering around a bit, I found a buffet lunch in a bar and toured a number of dishes instead. Three cheers for meat and potatoes in all of their various tasty forms!! In Northern Ireland they use the pound system, not the Euro, which took some adjusting to. For instance, I thought the exchange rate was more favorable up there, not less. Wrong. It is more like 2 to 1 dollar instead of 1.5 to 1 dollar. Oh well.

In the afternoon I had booked a "Titanic tour"- a tour by boat of the ship yards where the Titanic and her sisters were built. The guidebooks said that it often sells out, but I was the only person on the tour! No matter, they took the boat out all the same. The captain and the guide were both surprised to hear that I was from Iowa. One said, "Oh you get a lot of tornados, don't you?" and the other later remarked, " Ohio, eh? The summers get pretty hot there in Ohio, don't they?" Haha, so it goes.

Well the tour was informative but there wasn't much to see. All of the old buildings in the shipyards have been torn down, so the guide supplemented his stories with large black and white photographs from during the construction of the ships. Soon the whole area will be developed into expensive bayside apartments, so I don't know what will happen to his tours. Anyway, I learned a lot about the Titanic from the tour and it was nice to spend an hour out on the water. As he frequently reminded me, locals like to say "well, she was alright when she left here."

After that I had scheduled a tour of the political murals from the Troubles. They are generally referred to as "black taxi tours" but my old-fashioned taxi was fire engine red! With crystal blue eyes, white tufty hair, fading red goatee, a round belly, a firm handshake and an easy smile, my driver-guide introduced himself as Paddy and I knew we were going to have a good time.

Again it was just me on the tour, and it was great fun as it felt like Paddy and I were just hanging out. His knowledge of the Troubles and their symbolism and history was touching and deep. But at the same time he balanced his explanation with a healthy dose of humor and wit, never getting too too serious for the very serious subject. He gave me a lot of good natured ribbing and I tried to josh him right back, but he was definitely a practiced champ. We toured both the Catholic and Protestand murals, as well as the Peace Wall. Our short hour together went by much too quickly, I could have asked him another hour's worth of questions! It was well worth the day trip up to Belfast.

Overall, I got the impression that Belfast doesn't know what to think of itself. The city center is surprisingly prosperous, with high end shops and well-dressed business men and women, while the area outside of it is work-a-day plain. As the city settles down, more and more money will be coming in, and for example the high end apartments will replace the Titanic ghosts on the coast. Some say the murals might even disappear. It felt like I had snuck in on a moment in time which will soon be no more.