After Ireland literally had blown me down during my first night, I drove on the next day to the Titanic's birthplace: Belfast!
It was just a short trip but it gave me some first impressions about the city's culture.
In addition I had the opportunity to spend the pounds there which I still had from my trip to Scotland in 2013 (to be honest, I found them again when I moved out
from Muenster. I had no idea that I still had them...).
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| Works in all weather: Sightseeing tour by bus |
Apropos spending money: Belfast is not only the birthplace of the Titanic it's also the birthplace of the football player who made the famous quotation about what he did with all
his money... You'll get the clue later in this post :-).
In this post I would like to share some interesting facts about Belfast with you. The most of them were actually new for me.
In this post I would like to share some interesting facts about Belfast with you. The most of them were actually new for me.
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"No matter what's the weather always bring your own sunshine" Antony J. D'Angelo
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| Start from Dublin at O'Connell Street |
But I don't want to complain. Ireland is not famous for its great weather and should I know that pretty well...
In Belfast firstly I bought something against my sickness and secondly I bought a ticket for a sightseeing tour by
bus. The chatty guy who sold me it promised me it'll be great and their staff is quite good.
Ok, let's start the trip!
Ok, let's start the trip!
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So close and so far
My first impression was that even Belfast isn't that far from Dublin it's very different in every sense: Not only the architecture and their money, even the people.
The people I talked to told me all the same: "Belfast is more easy going than Dublin is! You have to come to here!". How could I reject such a nice invitation?
And again it proved how chatty the Irish people are. Good for me!
Divided city
In Belfast itself you can still see the division between English and Irish people and the commemoration of the Troubles. For
example you know immediately in which district you're due to their shown flags: either the English flag or the Irish flag.
They also express themselves by their famous murals.
»I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered«
Well, it actually came from George Best a former football player who was born in Belfast. He was rejected from his local club Glentoran when he was young: »Well son, you're too skinny...«.
Probably they still regret their decision. George Best signed after this at Manchester United and became one of the first celebrity football players.
Unfortunately, his
quotation didn't come from nothing... He suffered from alcoholism which was the main reason for his death in 2005.
His last message was: »Don't die like me.«.
The people I talked to told me all the same: "Belfast is more easy going than Dublin is! You have to come to here!". How could I reject such a nice invitation?
And again it proved how chatty the Irish people are. Good for me!
Divided city
They also express themselves by their famous murals.
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Mural of Bobby Sands. He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in prison and member of
IRA. He and 9 other prisoners starved themselves to dead during the strike. He died after 66 days. By the way: The movie "Hunger" is based on his story and played by great and also handsome :-) Michael Fassbender. |
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| One more mural which reminds about the troubles |
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Best from Belfast - »the beautiful boy with the beautiful game«
I think a lot of people know the following quotation but not only who said that:»I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered«
Well, it actually came from George Best a former football player who was born in Belfast. He was rejected from his local club Glentoran when he was young: »Well son, you're too skinny...«.
Probably they still regret their decision. George Best signed after this at Manchester United and became one of the first celebrity football players.
The Belfaster are still proud about him and even named their airport after
him.
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| Still in their hearts: George Best |
His last message was: »Don't die like me.«.
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What about the Titanic?
I almost forgot to mention that Belfast
is actually the birthplace of the Titanic.
The bus driver just put the sinking of
the Titanic simple: "That happens when you give a Belfast ship into the hands of an English captain, a Scottish coordinator and a Canadian iceberg...".
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Titanic Belfast - From above it looks like a huge white star and should remind about the White Star Line which was the owner of the Titanic |
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How to hide a Parliament Building? Of course by painting!
Belfast was actually pretty affected by the World war II. But the Parliament Building wasn't
affected at all. Why could that happened?
Well, they just painted the whole building with a special paint which contained asphalt and cow manure.
Apparently it seemed to work but it took them 7 years to remove the paint.
Well, I wonder how long it took to paint it...?
However, the Parliament Building is still the same as you can see in the picture below.
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| The Parliament Building - neither paint nor smell anymore... |
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A bit smarter than before
Even I got just an overview about Belfast my first impression was really great and I'm still impressed what I have learnt on the sightseeing tour.
That proved me that the chatty guy who sold me the ticket was absolutely right :-). Hopefully I'll have enough time and got the chance to come back.
Ah... I forget to mention it's also true the Belfaster are more easy going than the Dubliners.
Ah... I forget to mention it's also true the Belfaster are more easy going than the Dubliners.
Write a comment
f (Tuesday, 11 November 2014 21:11)
Insa 3 February 2014 11:34
I like, I like, I Like. It was very interesting. :*
f (Tuesday, 11 November 2014 21:12)
Jeanine 3 February 2014 12:44
:-) thank you cutie. Great to hear it's interesting.
f (Tuesday, 11 November 2014 21:12)
Mutter Pötter 6 February 2014 19:18
Sehr schön. Ich hoffe ich werde das mal in natura sehen. Bis dann liebe Jeanine.
f (Tuesday, 11 November 2014 21:13)
Jeanine 6 February 2014 19:24
Das wirst du! Bring dann bitte gutes Wetter mit :-). Alles Liebe und bis die Tage :-*