After going to Belfast, our next stop was Derry!

Londonderry is the city’s official name, but most locals call it Derry, intentionally omitting the ‘London’ part of it.

To cover a little bit of history (adopts lecturer’s tone), Northern Ireland is virtually torn between two groups of people – the ‘republicans’ who want the country to join the Republic of Ireland (mainly Catholic), and the ‘loyalists’ who want the country to remain in the UK (mainly Protestant).

There were some military conflicts that happened in Derry between the republicans and loyalists several decades ago and it was a bloody, terrible time.

Even today, there’s still some tension between the two communities and the city still has a traditionally ‘loyalist’ and a ‘free’ (republican) side.

Obviously, there weren’t conflicts or anything on that day but our guide told us that it was still prudent for us to not say anything or wear clothes that suggest us taking sides. Makes it all the more exciting!

So naturally, republicans in Ireland prefer to strip ‘London’ off the name and call the city by its pre-1613 name ‘Derry’.

We had a nice tour along Derry’s city walls, which is the only remaining completely intact one in Ireland.

Derry is also the last walled city to be built in Europe and is certainly one of the finest!

The city within these walls are some of the rare few in Europe that have never been breached, ever. It even withstood the Siege of Derry in 1689 which lasted 105 days!

Derry’s history as the site of many significant political conflicts has also left some of the most famous political murals (wall artwork) in the world.

The one below, along with the ‘Free Derry’ photo above, are located in Bogside, which was the main place for many events during the Northern Irish conflicts, including the infamous ‘Bloody Sunday’ incident in 1972.

The Bogside area is a Catholic (nationalist) area and is very peaceful and beautiful. It is hard to imagine that this place was the focus point of such a bloody event four decades ago.

The mural above depicts the Battle of Bogside (1969).

Twenty years after the events of Bloody Sunday, a sculpture was erected at the heart of Derry that symbolises the spirit of reconciliation.

It depicts two men standing on walls separated by a divide, reaching out to the other.

But on closer inspection, you’d notice that the hands, while very close to each other…. do not touch.

It is a symbol of hope that both peoples are willing to reach out to the other. And that while there may be a huge divide between the two communities, perhaps one day the hands would touch, and Derry would be united in their differences.

**********

On a lighter note, we also headed out north towards the sea!

There were lots of beautiful spots along the coast of the Irish Sea that one could visit!

Check out this Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge at Antrim County!

It was apparently first constructed by salmon fishermen hundreds of years ago to cross over to fish on the small island of Carrick.

Today, this baby has (naturally) become a tourist attraction and has been modified many times to ensure safety. One of the previous versions was tested to withstand up to ten tonnes of weight!

But of course, it is still adrenaline pumping to step on a shabby piece of wood with nothing but ropes around you and sway your way across gushing sea water a hundred feet below..

The man in charge of the bridge told us that there’d been many cases where tourists had crossed the bridge but were too scared to walk back across so they had to send in special boats to bring them back!

There were even a couple of people in front of us who had purchased the ticket but dared not cross!

-

But anyways the view around the bridge was absolutely stunning.

On a fine day with absolutely no fog, you could see Scotland’s shores across the Irish Sea!

Next we visited the Giant’s Causeway.

This magnificently strange area of 40,000 interlocking basalt columns is Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site! It was created by an ancient volcanic eruption.

These rocks were so geometric and ‘neatly’ stacked that they looked almost man-made! You could even safely climb your way to the top of the mound.

The rocks were initially littered with tourists but after patiently waiting for 15 minutes, they all mysteriously disappeared! So up we went!

Legend has it that the Giant’s Causeway was built by an Irish Giant Fionn mac Cumhaill to cross over to Scotland and fight a giant who had provoked him.

Imagine how long the Scottish giant would’ve needed to wait for Fionn to build the bridge and bring on an epic fight if the legend was true?

Last we stopped by for a photo shoot of the ruins of Dunlace Castle – a five-century old fort built on crazy steep cliffs on all sides.

You’d need to cross a bridge to get to the castle so just one slip and you’re so dead.

In general I think really love coasts with huge cliffs and stuff. They somehow make me fantasize how great it would be if I were to be washed ashore from a wrecked ship or something and find a place as beautiful as this!

I would then start a civilization here and build a glorious empire!

Ahh, but of course… In order to start a civilization here I shall need to have at least some food and clothes from the wrecked ship until I start finding (or producing) them on the island.

And of course I don’t want to be the only person to have survived the shipwreck. I need some people too of course – to be friends.

And servants.

And ahhh… to reproduce.

-

Erm, so where was I? 

Read Other Posts:

• MMU Toastmasters Mid-term Progress Review
• No Deaf, New Phone!
• 4 Games in-a-row before Final Exams!
• Passionate Paris (P.1)
• Hiya! I’m James!

Why Belfast?

Because RMS Titanic was built here and this year (2012) is the 100th anniversary of the birth (and death) of Titanic.

… and because I haven’t been to Northern Ireland before.

Titanic is remembered in several ports – Liverpool where it was registered, Southampton where it departed for its maiden voyage, but it seems that Belfast – the place where it was designed and constructed, takes the greatest pride in the world-famous (and infamous) liner.

In fact, this year, Belfast is going to throw a great event to celebrate Titanic’s 100th birthday and the development of a new Titanic-themed area called Titanic Quarter.

This is the Titanic Belfast signature building:

Built on the land that was once part of the shipyard that constructed the Titanic, the Titanic Belfast is scheduled to open this month.

The building is supposed to look like three enormous ship bows pointing in different directions, presumably commemorating the three renowned sister-ships: Olympic, Britannic, and of course, Titanic – all built in this harbour.

Locals, however, feel that it looks like the white, sharp, deadly iceberg that sank the Titanic… so much for remembrance LOL.

A stroll along Belfast harbour was such a relaxing experience. We also went on a Titanic boat tour the first thing after our plane landed.

There were lots of ‘Titanic’-ish tours in Belfast – from walking tours to bus tours to dock tours. But we chose a boat tour because, well, this is a maritime city after all!

Our boat:

We sailed through Belfast harbour, visiting the many ships docked there. Our guide was very knowledgeable and told us lots of history about the Titanic… it’s conception, construction, completion and… destruction.

We were also told the ‘Belfast version’ of who was to blame for the Titanic’s disastrous end!

Some people said it was the builder’s fault for not including enough lifeboats etc but obviously the Belfast people thought otherwise.  

The gigantic yellow crane below is one of the two gantry cranes named ‘Samson’ and ‘Goliath’ that have become Belfast’s most famous landmarks!

The ‘H&W’ letters on the crane stands for Harland and Wolff, the ship-builder that built, among many other huge projects, the Olympic, Britannic and Titanic.

Speaking of the three ships, only the Olympic survived until the end of her career when she was dismantled. The Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912 and the Britannic struck a sea mine in 1916 and sank. Poor things!

We also visited the very slipway on which the Titanic had stood exactly one hundred years ago:

The waters in front were the very first waves that had smashed onto her hull on the day of her maiden journey to Southampton.

**********

At night, we heard that there was this Queen’s Film Theatre that’s rather famous (at least according to Tripadvisor and Wikitravel)… so we went!

The theatre was located within the precinct of Queen’s University Belfast, a reasonably good UK university that looks like a royal palace at night! 

It was a Saturday night and the campus was almost empty so we spent the evening roaming around the campus waiting for our show to start.

Speaking of the show, we were given a list of films to choose from whose titles we had never heard of. The synopses indicated that most of the films were, you know, of the artistic and abstract drama type…

But we were determined to watch a film in this theatre! So we simply chose the one whose title sounded most like Belfast – a film called Bel Ami. 

NO.

I swear I had not known that Robert Pattinson was to star in that movie and that it had a very disturbing, twisted, erotic-political plot involving your favourite Twilight star having sex with, welllll…. several slightly old women I shall say.

And the irony! Most of the audience in this very traditional theatre were silver-haired, well-dressed OLD ladies. You know, the kind wearing flowery hats and stuff.

Imagine how we three Asian students must have stood out!

Also found a statue of Galileo Galilei in the university, as a (former) physics student I cannot help but pose for a photo with one of the greatest physicists of all time… 

… only to realize that I’d been touching Galileo lap!! Bloody inappropriate.

On the third day we went into Belfast City Hall, a magnificent structure with beautiful monuments and statues around it.

We were brought on a short tour inside the building, which was huge!

The tour lady was a staff in the city council and she knew lots of people in it. There was this occasion when she was explaining to us one of the portraits of a former Lord Mayor of Belfast and an old man joined in and listened silently and at the end said: “well explained!”, chuckled and left.

I looked at his face. Then the portrait.

Holy shit.

A former Lord Mayor of Belfast was standing next to me and nobody noticed!

Anyway, we were later led into the grand council chamber and allowed to sit on the councillors’ seats as we listened to our guide tell us stories about the city’s history and stuff. Made us felt important for 20 minutes just by sitting on those seats!

But that was nothing. In the end, I was allowed to sit on the Lord Mayor’s official seat instead. Me Gusta!

I wish to mention one more place – Belfast Castle.

The name says it’s a castle, but I think it’s more like an extravagant mansion!

Located on top of a hill overlooking Belfast, I think this place is an ideal wedding venue!

Being a ‘castle’ with a large banqueting hall, rooms for accommodation, mountain view and most importantly – a very, very beautiful garden… which girl doesn’t fancy getting married here?  

This is the Cat Garden – yup that’s the real name. It has nine ‘cats’ (in the form of statues, drawings, trimmings etc.) inside and they are supposed to bring luck if you find them!

Check out this uber awesome spiral staircase that I presume is used for the grand entrance of the bride and groom during a garden wedding ceremony!

Apparently they do cater for weddings in this castle. A ten-hour rental of the place (excluding accommodation and food and stuff) costs just £815! Girls it’s time to send my blog’s link to your bf’s.

Yup, that’s right.  

**********

In my opinion Belfast is a great city but most people now know her only for her links with Titanic. I think the city is more than that. I say it’s James Cameron’s fault.

… or Jack and Rose’s.

Read Other Posts:

• Hiya! I’m James!
• My Pokémon Story
• Magical Hong Kong!
• No Deaf, New Phone!
• Passionate Paris (P.2)

Dropped by Liverpool with Tee!

Here’s me with the Royal Liver Building:

Tee has been to Liverpool once, having stayed so near to it. But I managed to convince him to make a 2nd trip! It’s a very wonderful city after all.

Personally, I think Liverpool is just like Bristol, with all the essentials of a very comfortable city – moderate temperature, a major river, harbour, gothic buildings, an ‘Eye’ (as in London Eye, Bristol Eye…) etc.

… only that Liverpool has things on a relatively bigger scale.

I’d say Liverpool is famous for A.B.C.D. Let me explain:

‘A’ stands for architecture.

When I said Liverpool has things on a grander scale I generally meant buildings. Its long history as an important English port gave it the wealth and motivation to build (and maintain) many of the finest buildings across many eras.

I don’t study architecture, so I won’t pretend to be an expert and tell stories about them… So just see the pictures and judge on your own.

By the way this is my friend Tee at St. George’s Hall:

Just found these superlative praises for St. George’s Hall by some famous people on Wikipedia:

“The finest building in the world” – Richard Norman Shaw
“The most perfect hall in the world” – Charles Dickens
“Worthy of ancient Athens” – Queen Victoria
“The finest neo-classical building in Europe” – Nikolaus Pevsner

Walker Art Gallery and County Sessions House:

Port of Liverpool Building:

Museum of Liverpool:

Aaaand… The Liverpool Cathedral:

I must say something about the Liverpool Cathedral…

… and that it’s HUGE, HUMONGOUS, and friggin’ GARGANTUAN.

Just look at it and you can almost see God standing on top of the tower amidst the clouds:

The Liverpool Cathedral is currently the second longest church building in the world, second only to St. Peter’s Basilica… and the latter is where the Pope has his ceremonies in the Vatican City!

Moving on, ‘B’ stands for The Beatles:

When a city’s international airport is named after John Lennon, you know that The Beatles is very important to it.

I am not a great fan of The Beatles, but I know that this Liverpool band is the best-selling band in the world (yes, I checked) and its members some of the most successful musicians.

Names like John Lennon and Paul McCartney claim legendary status in Liverpool (and indeed around the world). There are a number of museums and exhibits that tell the  story of The Beatles, and souvenir shops are stuffed with their merchandise.

Not excited about The Beatles? It definitely is to your parents! They were HUGE back in the sixties.

Next, Liverpool is famous for ‘C’, which obviously stands for… Club!

Their football CLUB – Liverpool F.C. baby!

Liverpool is home to Liverpool F.C. and Everton F.C. Since I am a fan of neither (my home ground is named after an airline ), I simply decided to visit the more famous of the two…

… Everton fans don’t shoot me.

Anfield Stadium is some distance away from the city centre and we had to board a bus to get there. It was quite a long journey but totally worth it.

I’ve already got an official Arsenal necktie from Emirates stadium, so for collection’s sake, I got an official Liverpool tie here as well!

I know nobody buys neckties as souvenirs at football club stadiums, they buy jerseys. But unfortunately, we Asians are generally too tiny and jersey manufacturers typically expect much larger, beefy-shouldered, beer-bellied customers.

So my jersey size – small (you don’t say?), is always out of stock whenever I visit, hence the necktie.

Moving on to the last letter, ‘D’ – stands for the Liverpool Docks!

As I’ve mentioned, Liverpool was one of the most important trading ports in the world. In fact, Liverpool was the port of registry of the great RMS Titanic, which err… sunk.

The most famous of the docks in Liverpool is indisputably Albert Dock, a part of Liverpool’s UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Many important museums scatter within the vicinity of Albert Dock, among them the Maritime Museum and the Tate Liverpool. There was also a small wartime house (styled after the World War II era) and the Liverpool Eye!

It was a rather gloomy day and the great River Mersey was clouded in fog. This is the river’s mouth and it empties directly into the Irish Sea further down.

This was definitely one of the most beautiful waterfronts that I’d ever seen, despite the fog. If anything, the fog gave it an element of mystery that simply added to its appeal.

Hmm… Perhaps I should have considered the University of Liverpool?

Haha perhaps not… I shall retain my loyalty towards Bristol.

-

Anyway, before I end – three random facts:

1) Liverpool’s is home to the oldest Chinese community in the entire Europe. It’s Chinatown is therefore one of the oldest:

2) A very popular and recognisable symbol of the city of Liverpool is the Superlambanana, yup I repeat, the Superlambanana. It is a fusion of a lamb and a banana:

3) Third and finally, as a finance student, simply can’t resist…

… I’ve found Wall Street!

… in England LOL.

Read Other Posts:

• Sleep Debt!
• So Many James Chow’s!!
• House on Fire…
• Is Breaking Records Good?
• The Nightmare Bus For Busy People.