Belfast, New Year's and Family

Next day was an early day. We woke at 9:30a.m. to find a Black Taxi Tour waiting for us. The Black Taxi Tour covers West Belfast, where the defining Protestant and Catholic blue-collar neighborhoods lie right next to each other. These areas, known as the Falls Road (Catholic) and Shankill Road (Protestant), are separated by a "peace" wall that rises 40 feet between the houses. In each section of town, the areas are defined by their artistic and sometimes aggressive murals that cover full walls of houses. These murals relate to the troubles experienced by the conflict between Catholic (Irish) and Protestant (English), which has spanned over centuries. We had both a Protestant and Catholic guide, which gave a very unique insight on the story behind the troubles. See pictures below for examples of murals… very interesting stuff.

After our tour, we had a quick lunch and headed off to Belfast's finest shopping malls to begin our shopping extravaganza. Belfast is an awesome place to look for goods… I was able to find a really cool sweatshirt at a place called "Primark," a Target-like store that sold European-styled clothes.

We spent quite some time walking around, and eventually we needed to head back and take a nap. After napping and grabbing a sandwich, Tom and John L. headed over to the Botanic Inn for a few drinks. We met a couple of Irish fellows that had a bit of the drink there, and they provided great entertainment for us. After Botanic, or "The Bot," we headed over for the second night at Rainnes, where I met a few more buddies. One guy in particular, Donol, invited me to his birthday party a few days later! Unfortunately I have since lost his phone number, otherwise I would have gladly joined his birthday bash. After hanging out with him and his friends at his posh house in Belfast, I caught a late night taxi ride back home to Jurys Inn.

The next morning, Lauren (Belfast exchange student from my college) and her boyfriend Stephen picked me up from Jury's Inn. After stopping and meeting Lauren's family at her house, we took the long trip down to Dublin from Belfast to meet up with John M. and the rest of the wedding party. Lauren and Stephen had been to Dublin only once, and it shocked me that they didn't travel to the South that much. Then again, it was much like the number of times I've been to Ely, MN. Sometimes I feel like I forget about all the travel opportunities that I have in my own state/country.

John, Stephen, Me

Lauren and Stephen dropped me off at my hostel, and I met up with John M. to exchange stories of the last few days. By this time, it was December 31st (NEW YEAR'S EVE!), and our plans were to hang out with the wedding party, Lauren and Stephen (who were visiting Stephen's aunt after they dropped me off).

New Year's Eve was very special. We spent a bit of our time at the hostel, where Stephen and Lauren met up with us again. After having a few drinks, we headed over to the Church Bar, where we met up with the wedding party and had some mighty craic (Irish for "good times") for New Year's Eve. I even got a good ole New Year's Eve smooch from a nice French girl (who, incidentally, thought I was Irish with my terrible feigning of an Irish brogue). Eventually, John M. and I made it back to the hostel and, after a friendly conversation with a few cute German girls in the lobby, decided to hit the hay.

My first day of 2011 was quite a good time. After packing up and leaving our Hostel, John M. and I headed over to the wedding party's hotel. After rousing Tom and John L, we took a "James Joyce" stroll around Dublin, just pa-rousing the shops, parks, streets, watching the street performers and taking pictures. Our sights included St. Stephen's Green, Trinity College, O'Connell Street, Graftin Street, and Molly Malone and James Joyce himself. I should have a slideshow of these photos up soon… I'll keep you posted!

Quick Stroll through Trinity College in Dublin

After our Dublin adventures, John M. and I headed up North to visit John's family from Rostrevor. The bus ride took about two hours, and by the time we arrived there it was quite dark. John M.'s uncle, John (I know… too many Johns in this blog), picked us up with James, his brother-in-law. Upon arriving at their house, Veronica (John's wife… or uncle, depending on which John), immediately went into action by serving up food and drink. After some refreshments, we headed down to the local pub in this small village.

The pub experience on this night at Rostrevor is one of the best times I've experienced here. The musicians were incredibly talented and welcoming, and they forced me to sing "Take Me Home, Country Roads" with them. I got to hear some Irish classics, and John's uncle and James bought us Guinness pints all night. What a way to spend the New Year!

Alright I'm only 2 days behind now… I'll blog a bit more later.

until then… slainte!