Up the North

Happy Springtime Everyone!

Two weekends ago was the first of our two school sponsored field trips. This one was to Northern Ireland, which is actually a different country, part of the UK due to over 200 years of British/Protestant occupation. We left on Friday morning just as the sun was rising. With our overnight bags and lunches packed we started out driving through Dublin suburbia, which does exist on the north side of the River Liffey. We took this route to bypass commuter traffic and were soon off and rolling down the highway.

Only recently (in the last 20 years or so) has the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland become easy to pass. In the past there was a checkpoint where cars, luggage and people were subject to be searched for any reason. Now the only notable difference is the change over from a broken yellow stripe on the highway to a solid white line. I doubt any of our group would have noticed unless our director, Stephen, had pointed it out.

Just outside of Belfast, our first stop we had a restroom break at a McDonalds were everyone scurried to buy breakfast and coffee. We met up with our tour guide Nigel, a native of Northern Ireland and headed into the city.

Our first stop was Falls Road, which is famous for murals depicting the victims of various atrocities around the world, calls for peaceful living and trade etc. Behind these cool old-school cars is a painting that is a call to Obama to reopen trade with Cuba. Interesting connections in these paintings from an American/ foreign point of view.

After looking at these murals we hoped back on the bus and headed off to see this mural:

This mural of Bobby Sands is just around the corner from the headquarters of Sinn Féin, which is the political party of Irish Republicanism but it is considered very "left wing". This mural was painted after Bobby Sands died during the hunger strikes in the 1980s. He was elected to Parliament while serving time in Long Kesh jail (which is why the letters MP are written after his name) and was the first member of the strikes to die. The men were striking for political prisoner status, which British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher denied at the encouragement of US President, Ronald Reagan.

Our next stop was the Bombay Street memorial which commemorates the tragic burning of all the Catholic homes on Bombay Street in 1969 during a three day period of rioting. One side of this street lines the peace wall which segregates the Catholic and Protestant communities which is where this banner and other memorials to the events are.

Once all the homes were rebuilt on Bombay Street the previous owners were told they would not need to pay a mortgage on their homes for over 100 years as long as the homes remained in possession of a blood relative.

Following the visit to the Catholic side of the "peace wall" we drove by the opposite side, where the Protestant majority lives. There is a gate that closes at sundown that separates the two sides to try to prevent unnecessary violence. However, the current generation of adults in Belfast, those who primarily grew up during the Troubles have decided that in the next 20 years they intend to take the wall down, in hopes that people my age and younger will be ready to interact non-violently and will have grown up in a peaceful time. On the Protestant side of the wall there is an area that people from all over the world can sign and leave messages of peace. Now there is a small sculpture that has immortalized the messages left by people like the Dali Lama and Bill Clinton. I also signed the wall, a simple message but one that I think the young adults of Belfast are embracing and applying in their lives.

Here is a picture of Nigel, our guide for the tour of Belfast. He had a great accent and was very knowledgeable of everything he showed us. So knowledgeable in fact, that our 2 hour tour became a 3 and a half hour tour. Nonetheless it was extremely interesting and I really enjoyed it because he put everything into perspective, using examples that we could relate to our lives.

The last set of murals Nigel showed us were painted on the side of several apartments. The one below was painted by a man who lives in the complex and it won an award because no matter where you stand the sniper's rifle is pointing right at you. Near, far, left or right the sniper has an eye on you.

After our mural tour of Belfast we drove by city hall which has a statue of Queen Victoria in front and a statue of Thomas Andrew, the man who designed the Titanic.

We had a brief trip to a shopping mall for a bathroom break and a chance to use an ATM since pounds, not euros, is the currency there. Once we were back on the bus, on the way to Ballintoy, where we were spending the night, everyone took a little nap. Since the bus seats were pretty small we all cuddled up wherever we could find a spot. Here is Katherine and Aaron, passed out on our bus. So cute!

Having had a large coffee from McDonalds that morning I was not very sleepy so I was awake for the beautiful drive to Ballintoy. I am not sure where exactly this was but the wind turbines were beautiful on the mountainside.

After arriving in Ballintoy, which was a very small town near Bushmills (the makers of the famous whiskey). In fact, this town is so small that you can stand on the main road and see both ends. It's a lovely place with one hostel and two pubs. Dinner was provided by our hostel and was very Irish: beef stew, two types of potatoes, sweet corn and for dessert, strawberry cheesecake. We ate much more than our fill and headed down to the pub. Our friends Tom and April got a chance to sing while we had a few pints.

In the morning we awoke to see a beautiful view of Scotland! Yep, that's right, we could see Scotland from our hostel in Ireland. We could also see Rathlin Island, which has cliffs of chalk and less than 200 inhabitants.

Our group walked down to Ballintoy harbor and walked around on the rocks while we waited for our bus. We then headed to Giant's Causeway. It was a short drive from where we stayed so we had plenty of time to explore. The causeway is made up of basalt columns that cooled after a volcanic eruption 60 million years ago, when Ireland was closer to Eygpt's current location. The rocks cracked into these formations and there are thousands of them in the area. Some are smaller, 3-7 feet tall. Others are over 20 feet tall but they are all relatively perfect. Legend has it that a giant named Finn McCool built this causeway to Scotland to battle a giant living there. In fact, these rocks, slightly more eroded, are indeed present all the way to Scotland.

Here I am standing next to one of the smaller columns.

Here is another picture of the Giant's Causeway with all the formations stretching out into the water. They are like stepping stones, though several of them are shaky.

The next stop on our trip was Dunluce Castle, Catherine Manners lived here when she remarried to Randal MacDonnell. Catherine supposedly hate the sea (crazy) and was horrified when one night the kitchen broke of the back of the house and fell into the sea. Since then no one has lived at Dunluce Castle. It has remained in pretty good shape, only really losing it's roof and second floor since the 1600's.

Here I am taking in the beautiful view of the castle and the ocean. It was lovely and sunny all day and nice to sit in the grass, since, in Ireland, spring starts the 1st of February!

-I have effectively bypassed the cold winter months! Hooray!

One very cool aspect of Dunluce Castle was that underneath was a secret tunnel that led to the ocean. I am not entirely sure what it was used for but it's huge! We all climbed down the slippy stairs and then the slippy, shaky rocks all the way to the edge of the water. Being the Harry Potter nerd that I am I was really excited that it looked like something out of one of the novels! It was a very damp and cold cavern and even the ceiling, which held the castle above, was leaking water so I didn't spend too much time inside, you know, just in case.

Our last stop on our trip was the Carrick-a-Rede bridge. This bridge is made of really thick rope and two planks of wood all the way across. It connects the piece of land in the shadow in the picture below to the first piece of land in the sun.

Originally the bridge helped salmon fisherman get out to the end of the islands so they could catch the fish who returned to the rivers nearby to spawn every year. Since the coast has so many high cliffs this was one area where the fisherman could get out into the water with their nets and catch as many as 300 salmon a day during the right season.

This is a picture of the bridge from above, you can see how one might be frightened to cross it but Aaron and Lori were brave and went first. We were reassured by our bus driver that it's only 100 or so feet to the rocks below so you would hardly have time to freak out if you fell...yea...very reassuring.

Here is one last picture of me, on the rope bridge. I'll admit, it was absolutely terrifying but knowing that no one has ever fallen off the bridge made me feel better. Plus it's not very long and only a few people are allowed to cross at a time. As you can see, I am holding on very tightly, with both hands!

After the rope bridge and the hike back to our bus we were sufficiently exhausted. We started our drive back to Dublin but took the scenic route along the coast. As tired as I was I tried very hard to stay awake to see it since I may not have the chance again for a long time. It was beautiful and there was a very pretty sunset. As soon as it was dark and we hit Belfast I went right to sleep and slept most of the way home.

That's about all I had energy for in one weekend but I will soon share with you the adventure I had in Howth most recently. A little preview though...it involved olives, fudge and some very funny seals!

Until next time, stay well, keep laughing and remember that I love you!

Annie