Northern Exposure pt. 1: Belfast

Maleaha and I, realizing that our stay in Ireland was almost at an end and having visited three of Ireland's four provinces (Leinster, Munster and Connacht) decided to tackle the final one: Ulster.

For those of you playing the home game, that means Northern Ireland. A land of ire, or so we've learned from our history books. Up until about 1998, the region was racked with violence between British loyalist Protestants and Irish republican Catholics - a time now known rather quaintly as the "Troubles".

Thankfully, a cautious calm has descended over Northern Ireland and sectarian violence is rare and much less overt (save for marching season). This means that the North is now open for tourism, although it probably has a ways to go until it sheds its image as one of Europe's last warzones.

We began our two-day trip by taking the evening bus to Belfast. I can remember my first few hours there feeling like I was being secretly watched by Protestant or Catholic paramilitary groups, trying to find out what some kids were doing waltzing around town at night. (which just proves that even I can be naive and prejudiced) And I'll be the first to say that I was very suprised and impressed. The people are friendly and the downtown is vibrant. I couldn't imagine this being a place of tension and violence. It seemed like a smaller and less touristy version of Dublin. Belfast, for its checkered history, has become a lovely modern city.

Maleaha and I, only having a day to spend in town, spent most of it walking around and taking the standard double-decker bus tour. It was actually a wise choice, because we got to see most of the major landmarks around town: the shipyards where the Titanic was built, City Hall, Queen's University (yes, they have one there too), churches and cathedrals... I still find it strange how proud Belfast is about building one of maritime history's greatest disasters. Is there a town in Germany that advertises itself as the home of the Hindenburg?

And of course, we saw the darker side of the city: bombed-out buildings, former military checkpoints, a giant 70-foot "Peace Wall" designed to split the warring neighbourhoods from fighting and even stores that sold factional memorabilia (because your home isn't complete without a giant picture of the Queen and an Ulster flag). On the brighter side, there are also wall murals promoting peace among the ones of hatred and graffiti. Next time, I'll take one of the politcal "black taxi" tours, which are apparently very insightful.

While Belfast has shown the world that even Europeans can be terrorists, (suprisingly, there are a number of pro-Palestinian murals painted by Catholics) it also has shown how hate can be dulled, disarmed and overcome. The divide between the two sides is still deep and will take much time to sort out, but for the moment Belfast is a place to be beheld and a gem in the rough. If the peace process continues unhindered, I know I'll be back.

And thus concludes part one of this adventures. Stay tuned for part two, in which I fumble towards discovering my roots... same bat time, same bat blog!