Belfast - City of History

The second we hit Belfast, Northern Ireland, the very dedicated Sorlandet workout club, Captained by Clio the Mighty, hit the gangway and went for an hour and a half run through the city. The feeling of freedom as we broke out of our 180-foot microcosm of a sailing ship was unbelievable. A good cardio workout on the ship is difficult to come by and we try to take advantage of the liberty of being on land. 

We soon discovered that Belfast closes at six. That’s right, just like Stornoway everyone likes to pack it in early and it was difficult to find food at dinnertime. Our solution? Sadly, McDonalds. Funnily enough, it turned out to be an interesting cultural experience. I sat down beside a girl around my age and we began chatting about Belfast. After a minute or so, her friends who were spread around the restaurant all congregated at my table and we talked about their lives in Belfast and mine on the ship. I ran into a couple of them later on in the week and it made me look quite popular in Northern Ireland!

September 18^th … Happy Birthday Mom! I hope you had a great day J

Like Stornoway, we were unlucky in terms of weather. It was quite rainy. Fortunately though, it cleared up for our lovely coastline bus tour. There is a beautiful winding road that hugs the coast of Northern Ireland. It passes by startling cliffs, long sandy beaches and a sea of turquoise blue water. On our bus tour day we visited two National Trust sites. The first was a suspension bridge to a small island that is surrounded by bluffs. The colour of the crashing waves is indescribable - the picture cannot even begin to capture it.

The second site that we visited is called Giant’s Causeway. It is an amazing rock formation site with some neat Northern Irish legends linked to its creation.

Our bus ride continued through miles of farmland and sheep until we arrived in the town of Coleraine. After high tea with the town's Mayor, we had our first Class Afloat Student Council meeting in the Mayor’s council hall.

 

Belfast city center itself is a blend of modern and Victorian style architecture. Many office and residential buildings are virtually empty with “To Let” signs hung all over the city. To this day, Belfast is not the safest city of all time. It has an ongoing bloody history over political differences between Catholics and Protestants. Kids are separated into Protestant and Catholic schools, the neighborhoods are divided by walls and some pubs do not allow Protestant or Catholic soccer jerseys for fear of stirring up unwanted political rifts. We had a very fascinating and enthusiastic university professor lecture us about Irish history. Driving through the city, there is so much evidence of the history and beliefs of the people. On every street corner there are representational flags and huge painted murals illustrating the different points of view. Every summer, riots break out in the street and flags are burned to illustrate that the conflicts are very real and still present.

All in all, Belfast was a fascinating and exciting city to visit. Next stop: Falmouth, England!