Northern Ireland in one quick swoop.

Well, I have explored as much of N. Ireland as I can in a day and a half, and I feel like I rather successfully hit quite a bit. and fairly effectively too! I took the train up from Dublin on Saturday morning and arrived in Belfast at around 2 in the afternoon. At first I thought rather unfortunately that my hostel was on the other side of town, but the walk turned out to be lovely. I wasn't really sure what to expect here, because I feel I have only heard of the rougher aspects of N. Ireland.
When I got to my hostel, I was a little concerned at first. It didn't seem especially clean and there didn't appear to be much in the near by area. But the workers there were especially nice and helpful, and I figured it was just a place to sleep really. One of the girls on staff recommended a couple of places to go to. Turns out this was the middle of the University district, I had just taken the wrong street in to notice this. So on the other block were tons of pubs, parks, and museums. I quickly headed out to explore.
I went to the botanic gardens first. While not the most impressive ones I have ever been to, they were an enjoyable walk. There was also a free museum in the middle of the park, which was a fun quick exploration. After this, I headed in towards the city center to see what there was. It was recommended that I do a black taxi tour, but the cost was only worth it if you did it in a group, and there was nobody around the hostel when I arrived to make a group with. Instead, I figured I'd see the safer areas of the city on foot.
There is not a lot to see in Belfast, so I was not too worried about walking a little further to see the things that were there. I saw their clock tower, the large ceramic fish on the waterway, and then headed into the Titanic Quarter. This is the city where the Titanic had been built, and it's slipway still exists on the northern end of the city. I had a fun little walk through the shipbuilding yards, before I decided to head back because the sky was looking a little iffy, and I didn't plan to get caught in a storm while a 30 min. walk away from the hostel.
The one thing I really love about Ireland, is how friendly everyone is. Talking to people on the street corners is totally normal, and everyone is willing to help a person out. Once I had crossed the waterway, I sat down on a bench and looked in my local guide trying to find somewhere good for dinner. I man stopped by me, just to make sure I wasn't lost and to see if he could help me in any manner. This just isn't something you see in other countries! You're always worried about ulterior motives and tend to be suspicious when a stranger singles you out, but here, they just honestly want to socialize. Even the guide books say to expect it and go with it! So I told the man I was just looking for good food and he waved me down the street with him and spent the next block pointing out restaurants and interesting places to eat for different types of food. It was very pleasant.
Eventually I ended up in a pub and had a rather nice meal before calling it a night. And when I got to the hostel I had an even nicer surprise. I must have turned up just in that point of cleaning where everything looks worse, because it was like a different place. Still not the nicest I've ever stayed in, but my concern was gone. I was also able to sign up for a free Causeway Tour because I had booked the hostel for two nights.
In the morning, I got ready to take my tour. The free breakfast was pretty insubstantial so I headed to Starbucks around the corner for some coffee first. When I came back I was mildly concerned at first. I met the tour guide, but overheard him saying something about overbooked and three of the freebies were going to have to get off. I was definitely a freebie, and if I didn't go on this tour, I wouldn't be able to go at all. But there was a group of three girls together, who since they were a group, were the ones not going. I was very relieved. I was hanging out with Erin, a girl from Australia and we stuck together for most of the tour.
Troy, or as he called himself Troooooooy, was our tour guide, and a fabulous one he was. He was telling stories the entire time and we were constantly amused and laughing. He quickly told his motto that what happens on tour, stays on tour. So there is no tattling on him about anything he says once you're off the bus.
Our first stop was Larrybane and Carrick-a-rede, the old rope bridge where the locals used to fish for salmon off the coast line. The bridge was a newer one, for safety reasons, but it was essentially the same concept, and we all enjoyed walking across to the island where a local explained what we were seeing and it's history. We were informed that the large island we were seeing way out in the water, was in fact Scotland. That this was the closest point between the two and it was only twelve miles away. I thought that was very cool.
Once we had boarded the bus again, we headed for Giant's Causeway, which is what I was really excited to see. I have been fascinated with it since the first time I saw "Where the Hell is Matt." It was just as good as I had hoped. The basalt columns were huge, and there was free reign to go climb all over them. Erin and I took pictures of each other, before we went to find the giant's boot, left when the Scottish giant ran away so quickly and turned to stone over the years, the organ, and then a local guide showed us the Old Lady, which really does look like an old lady climbing up the hillside. The colors were fascinating too, as parts of the soil were red from all the iron, and really showed against the green of the grass around it. It was a fascinating place, and I am so glad to have made it.
We had lunch here too. I had steak and Guinness pie, and is was delicious. We also had Irish coffee on Troy's recommendation, as apparently this hotel won an award for best Irish coffee in N. Ireland this last year. It was made with Bushmill's whiskey, which is the town the Causeway is right beside, and was delicious. Once we were all filled up, we loaded back into the bus and headed for Derry. Here we were taken on a one hour walking tour of the city. Our guide, Roy, has lived in the bogsite for almost his entire life, and was able to tell us the whole history of the battles with first hand experience. It was a fascinating, though very sombre walk. It felt strange to be walking through this city, knowing and hearing that all these tensions were simmering just below the surface still. The sidewalks and streetlights were all painted either the colors of the British or the Irish flag, depending on which political section of the city you were in at the moment, and there were Free Derry signs and IRA tags all over. Most of the tour was taken from the Derry Wall, built to subdivide the city, which is still part of the boundary of the two different segments.
Roy told us there were still political extremists and that the city was currently building the "peace" bridge to link the two parts of the city in hopes of making a statement to these people not to start anything again. The tour ended at the site of Bloody Sunday, where a memorial now stands. It was sad to see that most of the people killed were about 17 years old. There is always the issue of what to call the city as well. Depending on if your talking to a Catholic or a Protestant, you have to call it either Derry or Londonderry, and you really have no way of knowing which until it's too late.
On a less sad note though, Roy had the most interesting accent. It was unlike any other Irish accent I have heard before, with more of a roll to the r's and a bit of a trill to some of the words. When we asked about this, we learned that Irish is taught from birth in Derry. That children were expected to speak it in school and at home, and only spoke English to each other on the streets. So Roy's accent was not English Irish, it was Gaelic Irish, and it was beautiful. He read us a couple of political signs which were written entirely in Gaelic, and it was incredible to hear. Definitely a beautiful language, and it's good that it's not going to die out any time soon.
I feel as though I learned a lot in the last 24 hours, and it was a unique and fascinating experience. I have quite enjoyed Northern Ireland, and it will be interesting to see what happens to it in the years to come. There is still so much unrest there. For now though, I am heading south again. I am on the train to Cork right now, which I have heard good things about. I am excited to see Blarney castle, though sad because it is essentially my last stop for this trip. I am not ready to go home at all, though I could definitely stand to go to work and earn some money, and it will be good to see my friends again.