Today is Sunday, and I may actually get caught up! I somehow made it to breakfast, though I threw my alarm clock this morning when it went off. After that I went back to sleep for an hour and then met Anna to go on the hop-on hop off sightseeing bus. It was really worth doing. Today was a beautiful day to do it, sunny and warm. We rode it around once and then went to Whites for lunch. After that we got on it again and went up to Shankill Road. Prior to that though we learned that they're filming a Tom Hanks movie in the Titanic Quarter in downtown Belfast.
So we get off the bus at the top of Shankill with the intention of walking down Shankill, up Falls Road and over to Lisburn and back to campus. The bus dropped us off right in front of the Rangers (protestant) club. There were men drinking in the outside area that were like "come have a pint with us!" We (wisely in my mind) didn't choose to do that. We just said no thank and have a good day. Now I should mention that we went to do this walk because we were tired of trying to take pictures of things from the bus. They tell you it is safe to walk these roads, but I wouldn't do it after dark unless you were with a local. There s a certain tension you feel a part of, but outside of because you're a tourist and they can see that. Anna isn't catholic but we both agreed that if we had been asked in for a pint on Falls road we probably would where as on Shankill there's no way we'd be in that position. In my mind I was sure I would've offended someone. It had nothing to do with a fear for my safety, but eventually I suppose that's what it comes down to.
So as we're walking we get asked again for a pint at the bottom of the street. Apparently we looked interesting, or they don't often get 2 girls wandering around, either way. We found a little pocket of murals near the July 12th bonfire site in an area called Shankill Parade. The bonfires are traditional and were so hot that they melted the traffic lights and a lamppost (see photos). I also have a picture of the gates between Shankill and Falls Roads. They still keep them closed during the weekends.
So we get off the bus at the top of Shankill with the intention of walking down Shankill, up Falls Road and over to Lisburn and back to campus. The bus dropped us off right in front of the Rangers (protestant) club. There were men drinking in the outside area that were like "come have a pint with us!" We (wisely in my mind) didn't choose to do that. We just said no thank and have a good day. Now I should mention that we went to do this walk because we were tired of trying to take pictures of things from the bus. They tell you it is safe to walk these roads, but I wouldn't do it after dark unless you were with a local. There s a certain tension you feel a part of, but outside of because you're a tourist and they can see that. Anna isn't catholic but we both agreed that if we had been asked in for a pint on Falls road we probably would where as on Shankill there's no way we'd be in that position. In my mind I was sure I would've offended someone. It had nothing to do with a fear for my safety, but eventually I suppose that's what it comes down to.
So as we're walking we get asked again for a pint at the bottom of the street. Apparently we looked interesting, or they don't often get 2 girls wandering around, either way. We found a little pocket of murals near the July 12th bonfire site in an area called Shankill Parade. The bonfires are traditional and were so hot that they melted the traffic lights and a lamppost (see photos). I also have a picture of the gates between Shankill and Falls Roads. They still keep them closed during the weekends.
From there we headed over to Falls Road and didn't find any new (to us anyway) murals nor did we get asked in for a pint, but Falls Road had much more life on it than Shankill. I did take a picture of the Divis towers. These were some of the Catholic public housing and the British army was stationed on top of them. They had the upper 2 floors and the location was ideal for them being as it was at the bottom of Falls Road. So enjoy the photos!
Oh and in case you were wondering. I got a call from Gerard today and we didn't miss much at Ollie's. Apparently it was over crowded so they left anyway. But don't worry too much we'll catch up later this week. Cheers!
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