Field Trip! Today was our second official field trip across Ireland. Today we were visiting the North and the capital of Northern, Ireland, Belfast. Belfast is more rich in history than I think any other city I have visited. We started our visit by visiting the Titanic Quarter where we got to go into a small museum to read some facts about the Titanic. Belfast is where the Titanic was built by Harland and Wolff Shipyard and is home to the famous titanic museum. In the museum we learned some information on how the ship was built, the different classes that were in the ship during this time and why people were traveling on it across the sea.
We then stopped by lunch at St George’s Market which I truly wish we got to spend more time at. This market had loads of food and craft stands where locals could sell their work and food. I ended up getting the loaded Irish breakfast sandwich called a Bap. The had to hav been the biggest sandwich I have ever gotten in my life, stacked 7 inches high with bacon, pudding, harsh browns, bangers and egg.
We headed to our tour of the city which was not for the weak of heart. Northern Ireland is divided into two sections: the Protestant/Unionist half of the city and the Catholic/Nationalist side of the city. These two separate sides are separated by a wall that opens at 6:00 everyday and closes at 22:30 every night. As we got to walk through and see the different memorials and the neighborhoods on both sides of the city, it was easy to tell what the side of the city stood for. The Unionist side proudly flew United Kingdom flags and had morals of The British monarchy on the side of the buildings. They had memorials to commemorate all the places the IRA attacked them and all the lives lost from these attacks. The nationalist side on the other hand, proudly flew Irish flags and had essentially the opposite, remembering all the people lost during The Troubles time period.
Something that really touched me on the nationalists’ side is that they believe in sticking up for global issues in other countries. Here they have a long wall to raise awareness for what is happening in the current time. During the time we visited they had a long memorial in honor of what is happening right now in Gaza and was so touching to look at and recognize, especially coming from a country that is shutting down the support people are trying to give to Palestine.