Black Cab tour of Belfast and first night in Dublin!

After a nice fancy breakfast, we went on a black cab ‘political’ tour of Belfast.  Our driver was Charlie who grew up in Belfast and was born in 1972 making him only a few years older than me.  He gave an unbiased tour and insight into ‘Troubles'.  First we went to the Protestant or ‘British’ areas and were shown different murals and were told how bonfires are still lit each year in July in a yearly Protestant celebration.  I later read that the flag of Ireland is burnt on many bonfires. We then headed to the 'Peace wall' and you just can’t believe how high it is and even that is it still there today.  You can see rusty parts that are the result of petrol bombs and we were told the history of the wall and why it was built.  I really hoped the kids would be interested and they were – you couldn’t not be listening to Charlie describe what it was like to grow up during this time.  Charlie told us when he was a young boy, 2 bombs a day would go off in his town and there were tanks in the streets.  We then passed by the gates that are still locked each night.  At the Peace wall Charlie produced a pen and asked if we would like to leave a message on the wall.  We then drove into the Catholic or Irish areas and to a memorial for the Catholic or ‘Irish’ that have been killed during this period.  We all learnt so much and even though it was confronting – and even depressing – we all agreed it was the most interesting moment of our trip. 

With the tour over, we left Belfast and started our drive to Dublin.  The day was sunny and 26 degrees and unusually hot for September.  I can't believe our luck.  We were dropping our car off in Dublin and stopped at a petrol station to fill up - $105 and we had driven around half of Ireland!   There were hundreds of crows on the grass - I've never seen so many in one place.  Just before we arrived at Europcar Terry asked how many kilometres we had driven.  I reached for the paperwork in the glove box and the first thing i noticed was the 'Damage Out' comments - rear bumper 7" and rear boot 4".   OMG - the car was already damaged when we picked it up!!  YES!! Relieved, we both agreed we'd learnt a valuable lesson - thoroughly check the car before you take it. It had been so cold and rainy when we originally picked up the car that we just jumped in.  We dropped off the car and headed to our Airbnb apartment - light, airy and spacious (woo hoo) and even better than the pictures. Located in Smithmarket, the apartment is a ten minute walk to the Temple Bar area.  We have two nights in Dublin so no packing up after one night!

After a quick rest - we are happily tired as we race around Ireland - we headed to the Brazen Hotel for a night of 'Food, Folklore and Fairies'  The Brazen Hotel is Ireland's oldest pub dating back to 1198 and we were in a cosy little room at the top of the pub.  We heard many stories - more about the potato - and stories about the fairies.  We were seated with a table of Americans and had a great night eating stew and of course drinking Guinness!

Fancy breakfast

Woo Hoo - no excess for us!

King William III, the Dutch prince victorious over the English King James II in the Battle of the Boyn and ultimately aided in ensuring the continued Protestant ascendancy in Ireland. 

The Women's wall mural

A mural depicting a Catholic boy and a Protestant boy

One of the gates that is still locked each night

The Peace wall

Memorial on the Catholic side

On the Catholic side looking into backyards on the wall - cages are in place for protection as bricks and golf balls are thrown over the wall

The mural of Bobby Sands, a member of the provisional IRA who died on a hunger strike in 1981 whilst in jail.  I was only 6 then but Terry remembered seeing Bobby in the news.

Windy in Dublin 

The Brazen Hotel

Beef and Guinness Stew with a Guinness of course!