Trinity college. The Headmaster didn’t want to admit women and said “over my dead body!”  Eventually they let women attend but they had to enter via the side entrance. When he died they buried him at the side entrance so now all the women literally walk over his dead body when entering the college. haha 

After we left Dublin our first stop was at Monasterboice ruins and graveyard. The church here was founded by St Buite prior to AD 521 (that’s when he died) so it’s a rather old site!  Oldest buildings existing now are “only” from the 10th century. 

St Buite is known for taking the pagan symbol of the sun and incorporating it into the cross so that the pagans could be encouraged into the church.  And here I thought they were just like that to look pretty. 

On the bus again and Bailey continued to entertain us with random facts such as that Ireland is the largest producer of Viagra in the world. When everyone laughed he was quick to point out it’s for export only as Irish men don’t need it ... they have Guinness and whisky instead!

He also liked saying “the island of Ireland”. Trying saying that 5 times fast without tripping over your tongue. 

Once we arrived in Belfast I took the optional Black Taxi tour to see the murals and hear about the “troubles” as they call them here. 

First stop was a Protestant / Unionist area. Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK hence there being a lot of union jacks draped from the houses here. The murals painted by the political (terrorist) groups are essentially illegal but police turn a blind eye as it would cause more issues to stop them being painted than letting it happen. And if you don’t like a mural being painted on the end of your row of houses?  Too bad and don’t live there! 

The murals these days are shifting more towards community and less about war however, as our driver said - you can change the wall easier than you can change people, and there is still a mural here that is of two guns which always point at you no matter where you are standing in the square.

Next we visited the 3km Peace wall.  This was erected to basically stop neighbours killing each other! Top of the wall was extended in the last 10 years too so while things are better it’s still not 100% ok. People here still want to keep the peace wall. Not like the Berlin Wall where everyone wanted it gone. 

Next we visited the Catholic / Republican section to see some more murals. The main road here into the Catholic section has gates which are closed each night to stop the young Catholic and Protestant kids fighting. They hate each other even though they’ve never met. Hatred is taught by their parents. Pretty sad really and how do you break the cycle?

Even though the “troubles” are over since the Good Friday peace agreement in 1999, there is still plenty of shite happening and the tension still exists. There are three new IRA groups right now which are still being disruptive and targeting police. There was a bomb in Belfast scare this morning!  And one week ago there was a bomb placed under a policeman’s car in Belfast.  

As our taxi driver said at the start of our tour ... if you’re not scared now then you will be by the end.  Flaming hell!

After this we were taken back to the center of Belfast and had some free time to look around and have lunch.  While half my group poured into the nearby Tim Hortons... I found a more local place a few streets back and had some nice vegetable soup with homemade soda bread. Guys working there were a delight too and liked my accent a lot!

Back to the bus and off to the Titanic exhibition. The Titanic was built in Belfast and now there is an entire massive museum devoted to it. The shape of the building reflects the shape of the bow of the ship. The facets in the outer covering of the building represent the number of workmen who built the ship and the benches and seats outside represent the morse code distress signals which were sent. 

This exhibit was pretty interesting though in general, I’m not a huge fan of reading endless exhibit notes in museums.  Probably the most interesting for me were the replica staterooms and the deep sea footage of the wreck.  

Had my first cup of teaaa for the day while sitting outside waiting for the group.  Nice to be outside in the cool air as it was slightly boiling inside!

A few of us who are staying on in Belfast tonight were then dropped off at the Paddy’s Palace hostel. The hostel then called a taxi to take us to the B&B and gave us money to pay the driver for today and tomorrow’s pickup. Interesting process ...

So the B&B was pretty basic but that’s kinda what I expected despite the  blurb labeling it as  a "charming B&B. The room was a good size and the bed was comfy which was a bonus and I had a private bathroom.  Disturbingly though the shower drain gurgled when I heard a loo flush in a nearby room. Tried not to think about that too much. 

After dumping my stuff I headed out again to first have a look at the nearby botanic gardens. Nowhere near as nice or as extensive as the ones in Dublin though did have a very large rose garden which was quite pretty and very fragrant to walk around. Saw some more of their gigantic bees but sadly no squirrels. 

After the gardens I walked back the other way towards Belfast city center to take some photos of the beautiful City Hall and other random but ornate buildings. Managed to find the chocolate shop I’d stepped into during the tour and purchased some choc as presents for the peeps back home. 

Decided to have an earlier dinner at a restaurant that had been recommended - Flame. Had a yummy chicken dish with lentils plus a glass of wine. I was good and resisted having dessert, though perchance a UK Cadbury chocolate bar may have been consumed on the stroll back to the B&B (whoops).  

Feeling a bit tired today. Back in the room by 9:30pm and wrote up my notes for today’s activities. Will try for an earlier night.