the final country of four

my last jaunt inside of the UK was to belfast, the capital of northern ireland. katie and i giggled to ourselves while booking this trip, because going there means that we've been to every country in the united kingdom: england, wales, scotland and northern ireland. if that isn't proof of the incredible amount of travel i've already been able to do, i don't know what else is.

our decision to go to belfast was pretty much made on a whim, and so i had no idea what to expect from this northerly city. the pictures we glanced at boasted some lovely architecture, and the internet promised us the standard fare of galleries, cathedrals, shopping centers, etc. what i found in belfast was a friendly and accessible city full of markets, cafes, and turbulent history.

i knew it was going to be a good weekend from the moment that our ryan air plane cleared the grey gloom that had hung over nottingham all day, and we burst into a tangerine world. sunset on a cloud horizon, on our way to a new city on a new island, seemed to me to be an auspicious start. then, moments after landing in belfast city airport, katie and i had managed to find the bus stop for the route that would take us to the city center, and were chatting away with a middle aged woman who was also waiting for the bus. she, as people always are, was curious about what we (two americans, from opposite sides of the country) were doing in belfast, and tickled to see someone from so far away chosing her home city as a weekend adventure. she was returning from taking a course over in england, and her son was picking her up at the central bus station (where we would end up). she asked us if we knew how we were getting to our hostel, and when our reply was "oh, we're walking there," she offered us a ride. i replied almost too quickly with a "that would be wonderful!" i like belfast already...
not only did she and her son drop us off literally at the door of our hostel, but as we drove through town, pointed out at least a half-dozen places that we should try to visit while we were there. katie and i struggled to remember names as the conversation proceeded at top speed and with thick accents. we smiled and nodded a lot, and thanked them profusely for the ride. "enjoy belfast!" they said in parting. and we did.

reasons i loved my weekend in belfast:
1. our fantastic welcome to the city!
2. amazing hostel with fireplaces (!!!)
3. really interesting history
4. variety markets and christmas markets
5. solo adventures up the coast
6. friendly locals and hostel guests
7. real down time (i read two books while i was there)
8. choral service in st. anne's cathedral
9. i got to cook dinner!
10. interesting conversations with total strangers
11. the free exchange book shelf in our hostel
12. making fun of corn-ball UK television shows
13. cafes were to be found literally around every corner

city hall in the daytime. it's a beautiful building.

inside st. anne's cathedral. katie and i attended a choral service on sunday, and it was lovely.

this photo was taken during our black cab tour of the city. much of our tour was dedicated to the war between the protestants and catholics in this country, and the history lesson was sobering. the ceasefire in this conflict was only negotiated in the mid 1990s: there is still a wall between the catholic and protestant sides of the city, and the gates are still shut every night because the two sides still don't trust each other. this picture was taken on the protestant side. it was one of the coldest, loneliest, heaviest places i have ever been.

st. george's variety market. you could buy almost anything here, from granny underwear, to olives and quail eggs. i bought vintage postcards from a lady whose accent was so thick that i could hardly understand the price she said, and a book on life in the irish countryside.

the christmas market at night. there was fudge, mulled wine, crepes, candy, lots of lights, and crowds.

there is really something about the northerly parts of this country. i don't know if it is because it's colder, darker, wilder there... but the people there come together more than i've seen elsewhere. the draw of a coal fire on a freezing cold night is too much to resist, and seems to encourage conversation. i hope to come back to these northern places (ireland and scotland both) again someday, because they have made me feel at home in a way nowhere else here has.

b