Belfast, Northern Ireland - grand and gritty

[paul62]

Fantastic. Thanks for posting.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Quite an experience I'm sure. Great to see the city in a more positive light than I recall from all the news on the conflicts. Glad you got around to different parts of the city. And a special thanks for including the drydocks. Great tour LSyd.

[LSyd]

thanks for the replies

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

^^ maybe they can send some guys to Philly for lessons on more brotherly murals hehe.

they're getting better, slowly but surely several are getting replaced by more positive ones, albeit often with smaller recreations of the prior murals.

Originally Posted by IMBY

I'm super-careful in choosing a destination to travel to so I don't end up colliding with lots of clouds when I'm going to be there, as I'd end up being a very miserable, cranky tourist!

glad you had a good time, although i think i'm on the other end of the spectrum from you. give me some good clouds with a little bit of sunshine.

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[The Dear Leader]

Really nice shots. The city looks deserted though. Was that just down to the G8 summit?

[East72nd]

Those dry docks look awfully familiar. I wonder if they were the ones used in Les Miserables, the movie of last year?

[KCtoBrooklyn]

Great set. Love the Ulster Museum shot. Thanks!

[toyota74]

The last walled city in Europe...those barriers are part the 22 kilometres of peace lines that run through N.I helping keep the peace between the two communities who live back to back.People living near the peace lines want them to remain and given the rioting over the weekend they do help especially during marching season.I was on Achill island at the weekend and the place was full of Northerners mostly Catholic who holiday down south in their droves while the parades are going on in Belfast.

[LSyd]

thanks for the replies.

Originally Posted by The Dear Leader

Really nice shots. The city looks deserted though. Was that just down to the G8 summit?

sunday+bad weather+G8 security->empty streets

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[Austinlee]

WOW, simply surreal. Great brick architecture and grand urban fabric; Yet the quietness and deadness is stunning compared to other European cities, I'm thinking compared to like, Madrid, Prague, Milan cities with those sweet corner building round windows... Whatever the word is for those.


And how cute is this old church in the background with that colorful open air kid friendly BUTT PLUG museum up front.

[muppet]

Fantastic thread.

There's a crazy story behind the 25 years mural.



On the left are the pictures of 3 unarmed IRA terrorists shot to death in a Gibraltar gas station (executed more like, after trying to plant a bomb). On the right are 4 mourners at their funeral killed after a lone UDA gunman threw grenades and fired into the crowd of 10,000, injuring 60. Riots quickly took over the city.

What isn't on the mural are 2 policemen executed by the IRA after they took a wrong turn and found themselves in the funeral cortege of one of the victims a few days later. Surrounded by the crowd one of the policemen fired into the air - the IRA claimed they believed them UDA members: the men beaten severely by the mob, then into a taxi to be shot shortly after. Makes for harrowing viewing but both incidents were recorded by BBC newsmen. A microcosm insight into the whole bloody saga of The Troubles that Belfast has had to bear the brunt of. You can see how politicised every aspect of daily life had become and how it divided people for decades, ultimately taking so many thousands of lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9tyEa6QWHY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhfgQOLSrTQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIP-aVfw13w

[volguus zildrohar]

Mural, grit, grime, overcast skies - feels like home.

This is too gnarly.