The Troubles, the Titanic, & the Old Irish men

This was definitely my best night's sleep yet as I got 8 solid hours and was up right at my 7am alarm to get in a run before our only full day in Belfast.
I headed out for my run with some great soggy mist conditions and ran an easy 4 miles down the River Lagan into a beautiful nature preserve before turning around. The greenery was just magnificent! I got back and got Ruth up so that we could make the most of the day. We decided to do a highly recommended Black Taxi tour of the city's murals. We were so lucky that we did this as we received an insiders perspective of Belfast's Troubles from 1967 to 2001 when the peace treaty was signed. Our driver, Shamus, had lived through the entirety of this time and, despite being a Republican Catholic, exposed us to and explained murals on both Republican and Loyalist sides of the Peace Wall. The most powerful moment came when he began pointing to people on a memorial wall that he had known and worked with (6/8 taxi drivers and others including his wife's father). He even shared that his wife had been shot but luckily survived. When I asked him how he lived through this fear of death on a daily basis he responded that he didn't live in fear since it was "just normal for him" until it really ended in 2001. I left the tour with a sense of just how much bloodshed politics and religion, especially when they are linked, can cause even in a relatively small city like Belfast.

Shamus was nice enough to drop us off at our next destination, the Titanic museum, for just a few extra pounds. This museum had just been redone to the nth degree with, clearly, tons of financial backing. The exhibits walked through the beginnings of Belfast industry to the intricate details of building the Titanic, to its eventual collapse and discovery deep underwater. I really enjoyed the stunning use of technology as a learning tool throughout, including surfaces and touch screen visuals (I know...I'm a geek ;)

After spending a solid 3 hours at the Titanic Belfast, Ruth and I meandered back towards the hostel to rest before going out. While back, we finished watching Finding Nemo on the iPad (cute movie) and got recommendations from our main man Greg about good Pubs in the area, which he was more than happy to talk my ear off about. We set off to check out the closer pubs that he recommended.

The first pub was in a back alley and already filled to the brim with what looked like older Irish locals getting hammered at 7pm on a Friday. We took a walk through the pub but saw no tables and felt quite unwelcome/out of place here. Thus, we headed to the next pub, one that was not even on the tourist map but had been highly recommended by Greg. Maddan's didn't look like much from the outside as it sat quietly in a back alley with just one smoking man out front. At first, we couldn't even get in but the smoking man helped us by ringing the buzzer on the door (wow quite a secret place we have here!). Upon entering we found a few locals, a big screen showing the Russia vs Czech Republic Eurocup game, and a really nice atmosphere. We sat down on some stools to have a HARP ale and watch the game but before long we had struck up an animated conversation with two experienced street performers, Mike (from Wales) and Thomas (from Ireland). They were a "real kick in the pants" as they spoke with us about dogs, American sports, and even a bit of American politics. Mike aided us in bashing the Seahawks and their horrific track record while Thomas told a fairly tasteless joke about Obama and Palestinians (we definitely sensed his British loyalist political views). Two drinks down and 2 hours later, Ruth and I were getting tired and hungry despite the entertaining conversation. We bid "Cherrio" to our new friends and head out in search of some food. Unfortunately, none of the pubs or restaurants were open at 9pm (we found they eat and party much earlier here than in Spain or other parts of Europe) so we ended up in the large Americanized mall called Victoria Square. Here we found the good ole TGI Fridays on the top level. We chowed on mozzarella sticks and beef wraps while surfing Facebook on the free WiFi. After dinner we were both tired and, despite the urge to hit more pubs on our last night in Belfast, we elected to go back to sleep. We knew we had a long day of bus & ferry travel to Scotland tomorrow.

Overall, our time in Belfast had been short but we got to do basically all the things we wanted, from the murals to titanic to pubs, and were still able to rest up for raging in Edinburgh.

We wanted to meet Irish locals...of course, we met the rowdiest of the bunch

This was our first travel day while on the trip and it was definitely well-timed: we were hungover after last nights epicness, the weather was crap, and it was time to leave Dublin for Belfast to the North. Our initial plan was to hit the Jameson Distillery and the Chester Beaty library before departing but on this particular morning though either Whiskey or books made Ruth and I both shutter. So we trudged through the rain to the bus station, boarding the noon bus. The ride was uneventful as Ruth slept in typical "Mouth Open fashion" while I read about Belfast on my Kindle. The three hour ride passed quickly and before long we found ourselves in an equally rainy Belfast with no British pounds and no idea where our hostel might be. Of course, a friendly Irishman in the station coffee shop again came to our rescue when he drew us an excellent map of directions.

Upon arrival at the hostel (in a shady back alley off of a nice main street), we were greeted by Greg, a friendly South African who would end up coming to our rescue later on...

Feeling adventurous, we had elected for the 8 bed option after going with 4 bed at the last hostel. We figured we would just meet more awesome people like Sean and David at the last hostel...we were wrong. Let me preface this with two things:
1. Every Irish person we had met to this point was both kind and respectful.
2. Because of this, I had stated on the bus that I hoped we could really meet and befriend more Irish locals.

With these things fresh in our minds, Ruth and I arrived at our Linnen House Hostel room to find two Irish friends, Rebecca (21) and Carmichael (17), downing mixed drinks happily (which should have been an immediate red flag for me since the hostel had clearly posted signs stating how drinking in rooms would end in being expelled from the hostel). Anyways, they cheerily sparked conversation with us even though it was sometimes hard to hear with their thick Irish accents and vocabulary. Aside from finding out about how Irish despise American politics and gluttony, we discovered that the other people in the room that night were friends of theirs going to a Deathmau5 concert that night. RED FLAG: Ruth and I are dead tired and looking to rest up and plan travel to Scotland and these Irish kids are throwing a full on rager pregame (and likely postgame/drunkin' antics after the concert)! We knew this could be our first adversity on the trip. Pretty soon our worst fears were realized as 12 Irish teenagers of the worst kind ( spiked hair, tight jeans, lack of respect) showed up all at once and began smoking and drinking inside the room. I attempted to tune it out and book the hostel in Edinburgh on the iPad but before long I was ready to just peace out for a different hostel. Then came our man Greg from before walking in! My initial hope was that he would see the alcohol and kick all of the hooligans out leaving Ruth and I with a huge room to ourselves. However, we got the second best option of him moving us to a quieter room away from this craziness. We ended up being moved to a huge and cheaper 21 person room but it was just fine because we got our good, restful night sleep :)