Boston to Belfast

We decided to leave a bit early for Ireland and explore the country on our own before John’s Club Trip. We landed at Shannon Airport, got our rental car and headed to Northern Ireland. The border check was a bit stressful, but not as difficult as we expected. We made our way into Belfast and found a gorgeous B&B in a row of brick row houses.

We had a wonderful walking tour of the city with a lovely Protestant woman who assured us that “The Troubles” were over. There was something nagging at us, so we took a drive to Belfast Castle.

The gardens were so lovely and as we enjoyed a glass of wine, we talked about what we had seen and heard that day. On one hand, this middle aged woman had given us the most wonderful view of her city- but we had been told that we needed to retrieve our car from the car park before 6 PM and saw a number of armored vehicles driving through the downtown streets. Asking a few more questions of the locals, we were directed to the Black Taxi parking area where we were told we might be able to get a tour of the Catholic part of town. (After experiencing our “white walking tour” in Charleston, SC – and then taking the “black bus” tour – we knew that this could be enlightening).
We found a charming taxi driver who gladly offered his services and we began our drive through the Catholic section of town on Falls Road.

The buildings were covered in murals with slogans like “Irish Soldiers of Freedom”. As we drove on, we saw the burnt remnants of a city bus—still smoldering. And, we heard the other side of the Belfast story.