Ireland 29th of December: Belfast

The morning begins:
The three of us go down to breakfast in this beautiful (Steven swears it is haunted) B&B, we are enjoying our food, looking out at the wind blowing in from across Belfast harbor, when another couple come in and are seated at the next table. Greetings are exchanged and the conversation turns to our plans for the day. The man asks, “Where are you going while here?” I reply, “we plan to spend two days discovering Belfast, and the we will head up to Derry.” The man’s demeanor and body language visibly changes and he corrects me, “it is Londonderry, not Derry and we are very proud of that!” A little Irish history for everyone; Derry is the name used by the Irish for this town, and Londonderry is the name used by the Northern Irish paramilitary. Come to find out, the town we are staying in is a hot bed for British loyalists, Carrickfergus. We soon find out that he and his wife are from Manchester and they are adamantly against a free Ireland. He went on to criticize, American, the EU, France and generally everyone other than the British, lovely guy. Lol Awkward.
Steven and I head into Belfast to spend the day and mom stays at the B&B to read and watch the ships coming in and out of the harbor. Steven and I decide we will take the quick 30 minute tour the main spots and then after we get our bearings we will walk around a bit. The bus tour begins and the tour guide begins his speech.
The tour begins: “This building was built in 1980, giving the IRA a new shiny target to bomb.” Ok, perhaps, the tour was not a good idea.  We jump off the bus and have a great lunch in a basement pub of soup and munchies, beer and tea and then head out on foot. We get lost, in the best possible way near the wall murals (see photos) that are painted in the Irish part of town proclaiming pride for their cause. The rain was cold and near constant, but it did not matter, the city was alive and vibrant. The tensions between the two factions are very much alive, in spite of the picture painted to the world.
The Irish and North Irish neighborhoods are separated by “Peace Walls,” there are fourteen in all and the stark contrast between the two is shocking. The Irish sides of the walls are lined with burned out buildings and run down homes, the other side well maintained homes with gardens. There remains in effect, even today, post cease fire, a 10:00pm curfew. The gates are locked and not opened until 6:00am.
Some facts I was not aware of: Northern Ireland was bombed constantly throughout the blitz. The Germans did not bomb the republic of Ireland because they remained a neutral nation. There are only a few pre- war buildings standing in Belfast, a sad fact. The North Irish adhered to the blackout rules of lights as in London, however, the Irish did not, and this made it very easy for the Germans, from the air, to determine where the border of Northern Ireland lay for bombings.
The last stop of our day was to a cemetery, where Giuseppe Conlon is buried. Some history: “the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven (Conlon was one) were two sets of people whose convictions in English courts for the Guildford pub bombings in the 1970s were eventually quashed. The Guildford Four were convicted of bombings carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), and the Maguire Seven were convicted of handling explosives found during the investigation into the bombings. Both groups' convictions were declared "unsafe and unsatisfactory" and reversed after they had served time in prison,” the most famous being Giuseppe Conlon, (The father in the movie, “In the Name of the Father”). This was the one site Steven had to see before leaving Ireland. Well calling it a day. Tomorrow we head up the farthest northern point of Ireland, “can you say COLD?”
Night everyone