A Birthday in Belfast

The big 3-0.

Ugh.

I was not very excited for my birthday this year. And honestly, I was feeling a bit emotional about it all. About getting old, about letting go of my 20's (which were fabulous), about celebrating this milestone so far from home. But whether I wanted the day to come or not, it did. And on November 29, I turned 30.

Ugh.

I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it a few dozen more times. I have amazing colleagues and work friends here in London. To make me feel special on the big day, my friends got me a cute cake (with candles to blow out at lunch), some lovely cards and even some gifts! My year 12 English students even got me a little cake, and other students brought me cards and wrote nice messages on my whiteboard.  I was definitely spoiled!

Birthday love from my students. I wasn't able to use the board all day!

November 30 is Frances' birthday (Frances is a fabulous English teacher and friend) so we made it a double dinner celebration and invited some work friends out. We had such a nice time, with a quite stop at one of our favorite pubs and then dinner at a tasty Japanese restaurant. Lot's of laughs, lots of stories, lots of fun.

Then after school Friday, it was off to Belfast for a weekend away with some Fulbright girls! My flight landed around 9:15 p.m. Friday night. I was happily surprised to not only find Jessica at the airport (we had planned to meet there) but also Rebecca and her exchange partner's parents (who live in Belfast). They met us at the airport to greet us and give us a lift to our hostel. Not only that, they also gave us some tasty treats to snack on and each of us got a beautiful Belfast tea towel. It really was just the kindest welcome into the country and a true reflection of how warm and friendly the Irish really are.

We met up with Natalie and Bridget at the hostel (which was slightly creepy and FREEZING cold!), but our room was neat because it was just for us. No stranger danger! And I was really surprised to see that Natalie and Bridget had decorated the room for my birthday! I even got a nifty badge (aka button) with a big 30 on it. :)  

We then decided to head out to a pub. Frances (who’s also from Belfast) recommended we go to the Crown, which is the oldest pub in Belfast. So that’s where we went. It’s a great little pub with gorgeous detailed and ornamented walls and windows and furniture. We even made our way into a little booth seat, which was way more fun than standing around.

Pub beers at the Crown in our little booth.

The next day we got up and took a nice walk over to the Belfast Titanic museum. The Titanic is among several famous ships built in the Belfast harbor, and the city has reclaimed its history and takes great pride in building such amazing ships, despite the Titanic’s tragic fate. The walk to the museum was lovely with lots of photo opps along the way, which we always love.

This famous clock tower used to lean.

The hills behind Belfast remind me of the hills of eastern Washington. 

The Titanic Museum 

One of the two famous cranes used by the Harland and Wolff company to build the Titanic. The cranes are called Sampson and Goliath. 

The museum itself was pretty impressive. It just opened in 2012, and it mostly tells the story of how the massive ship was built. I enjoyed reading about the lives of the different people involved in the ship. It also had some interesting exhibits that showed what the inside of the ship looked like, which I thought was fascinating. It really did look just like the movie! 

Natalie and I looking rather chilly as we pose in front of a picture of the Titanic's launch.

Waiting for Jack to come meet me for dinner! :) Actually, it's the virtual tour of the inside of the ship.

One of the last photographs of the ship as it sailed away. Haunting image.

Jack and Rose's outfits! :) So exciting to think Leo and Kate wore those costumes!

After the museum, we headed over to the Belfast Christmas Market. It seems all European towns have Christmas markets, which are like lovely, outdoor craft and goods fairs where people set up booths and sell all sorts of goodies, presents and edible treats.

Belfast Christmas Market in front of City Hall.

Tasty lunch!

Then it was time for our black cab tour of the city. The black cab tours are a popular way to see parts of Belfast that aren’t as easily accessible for tourists, and the focus of the tour is to teach about the Troubles, the violent struggle in Belfast between the Catholics and the Protestants. Although much of Belfast is integrated now and the vast majority of the violence has ended, there are still parts of Belfast that are deeply divided. I’ve heard people of Belfast describe the troubles as “our history, not our future,” so it does feel a little weird taking a tour around and learning about such a tragic past.  It makes you feel a bit like a voyeur, examining real-life horrors as if it were some kind of museum. But it’s not. Belfast is a real living city with people all around who lived through this history. Still, there’s something to be learned about the world by studying conflicts like the Troubles. I spent some time studying the Troubles in college and also learned about it last summer on my People to People trip through Northern Ireland, but every person I talk to from Belfast has such a unique story that I never get tired of learning about this history. It’s tragic and fascinating and oh so sad.

Our driver Tom was brilliant. He was very honest and open about things, which is how I’ve found most people from Northern Ireland to be. He first took us through Shankill Road, the Protestant Unionist part of Belfast. The Unionists are also called Loyalists, and they want Northern Ireland to remain a part of the United Kingdom. Belfast is famous for its political murals. Often violent and usually quite striking, these murals are painted all over the city and tell the story of struggle that the people of Belfast have fought.

The mural memorializes Stevie McKeag, a famous sniper with the Unionist paramilitary.

This sniper mural is particularly haunting because no matter where you stand, he is pointing the gun at you.

This tells the famous legend of the Red Hand of Ulster.

Gate dividing east and west Belfast.

One of the many peace walls built in Belfast. There are also peace walls in other parts of N.I. People from all over the world stop at peace walls like this to sign their names or write a message of peace and hope.

Our tour guide Tom said he saw Rihanna actually sign the wall when she was in Belfast to perform.
"We found love in a hopeless place."

Then we visited a neighborhood in a Catholic Nationalist part of town off Falls Road. The Nationalists have fought for a free and independent Ireland, and the IRA is associated with the Nationalists. We visited a neighborhood where a whole block of houses had been burnt down during the troubles. The houses have been rebuilt and to commemorate the event, they have also built a remembrance garden.

Although we drove past other murals, including the famous one of Bobby Sands, this was the only stop we made on our tour through the Catholic Nationalist side of Belfast. 

A peace wall on the left. A series of cages built to protect the houses and yards of the homes that line the wall from whatever rocks, bricks or Molotov cocktails people might through over the wall.

Our guide Tom explaining the remembrance garden.

Gate to the garden. The phoenix is a symbol of the IRA.

At the end of the black cab tour (our cab was white). Those are the international murals behind us. These murals tell stories of conflicts around the world that are similar to those in Belfast and N.I.

Saying goodbye to our new friend Tom. 

We all felt quite somber at the end of our tour. But that was ok. Sometimes it’s important to take some time out of your own busy bubble of life and walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I guess that’s what we were trying to do. I think for now I’ll hold onto that idea that the Troubles are Belfast’s past and not its future, and I'll pray that remembrance and respect do lead to a resolution.

Art in the Unionist side of town, ironically placed right near those frightening murals of the snipers.

After our tour, we decided to hit the town again, this time checking out another neat old pub, McHughs. We got so lucky because there was even a two-man Irish band playing, and we were able to enjoy some beautiful Irish guitar and fiddle music all night. And the best part was that the band also played tons of American songs and even took requests! We had a ball listening to the music, chatting with some new local friends and singing along to every song we could.

Partners in Crime: Natalie, Bridget, Me, Jessica and Rebecca

I'm their No. 1 Fan!!!! This is the band! :) I have some cool videos, but they're taking way too long to post. 

We came home to our freezing cold room at the hostel and needed on last group pic for the weekend!

Unfortunately, I had to catch an early, early, early flight out of Belfast Sunday morning. So while the rest of my girls slept off the night before, I was up and outta there at 6:30 a.m. and headed back to London. Feeling a bit like a zombie, I managed to make my way back home to the flat.

I hung my keys on the back of my door, dropped by bag in the entry hall and plopped down on the couch. It had been another epic weekend.

Maybe being 30 isn’t going to be so bad.

Thanks, Natalie, for the cute key chain!