Belfast is a city with a troubled past. Looking back just 20 years, one would see the city as still frequented with terror attacks by the Irish Republican Army. Armored vehicles of British soldiers patrolled the streets. Belfast was simply not a safe place to be. While the division within the city is still present, Belfast is now considered safe for tourists. I visited Belfast last summer. During my day in the city, I visited the Titanic Museum and toured the various landmarks of Belfast. I also was able to enjoy a delicious dish of Irish stew.
Our first stop for the day was the Titanic Museum. The museum, which was only opened in 2012 (for the 100th Anniversary of the sinking), is built on the site on which the Titanic was built. The people of Belfast were very proud of the ship they had built and were possibly more devastated than anyone when news of her sinking arrived. The museum tells the story of the Titanic, from its construction to the sinking, while also filling in the background of the city of Belfast and the various passengers aboard the ship. I was really impressed with the ingenuity of the museum. The exhibits were very interactive, with one part even consisting of a slow rollercoaster ride that explained the process of building the ship. Special effects added the sensation of heat and various smells to the experience, really making me feel like I was present as the ship was built a century ago. The museum was both amazing and somber, with the realization that all of these incredible things aboard the ship, along with about 1,500, slipped beneath the waves of the North Atlantic, not to be rediscovered until 1985.
Moving on from the Titanic Museum, we next toured the city of Belfast, seeing both the beautiful and ugly parts of the city’s troubled past. As we drove along, signs of Belfast’s past division remained evident. Thirty-foot-high “peace walls” divide Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods. These were crucial to preserving the peace during the “Troubles”—the period from 1968-1998 that saw the highest level of violence and terrorism between Nationalist and Unionist groups in Northern Ireland. These same walls are now covered in murals promoting various civic causes, peace being chief among them. Yet, while the violence of the Troubles is gone, tangible signs of division in Northern Ireland still remain. Other than the thirty-foot walls that still divide the city, maybe nothing makes this more evident than a drive through the Unionist part of the city. The Union Jack (the flag of the United Kingdom) literally flew from every flagpole and Union Jack bunting stretched across the street. This kind of patriotism is rarely seen outside of the United States and is certainly very foreign to Europe, making it a very odd sight.
Belfast has some nice features, however. Queen’s University sits on a gorgeous campus right in the middle of Belfast and is one of the best universities in the UK. Nearby are the Belfast Botanic Gardens. A stroll through the gardens revealed hundreds of beautiful, different types of flowers and plants. The smell wafting through the air and the amazing color variety served as a stark contrast to the gray, bleak areas of the city near the peace walls.
We also stopped for lunch at a local restaurant towards the middle of the day to enjoy a wonderful bowl of Irish stew. Irish stew consists of lamb, potatoes, carrots, and onions. Now I must say I am biased towards anything with lamb, but this Irish stew was incredible. The lamb was so tender and the potatoes and carrots were very fresh. Irish cuisine may be plain compared to that of other countries, but it does make for very good comfort food.
Belfast is definitely not a city where most people would choose to vacation. Belfast is not a scenic or beautiful city. It is a city with a painful and troubled past. It is a city still divided. The opportunity to learn about the city and its past is worth the trip though and will leave any visitor with a better understanding of the Irish people, no matter which part of the Emerald Isle they live in.