After this we packed up and set out on foot for the day. Our plans were fluid and dependent on the weather. There was an annoying light drizzle that stayed with us all of the way on the decent stroll to the City Hall. This was a grand building befitting a City Centre. As the clouds still looked dark we decided to take the Hop on Hop Off bus tour as it had been highly recommended by Glenn. It was jolly interesting and we saw parts of Belfast that we would never have got to on foot. It also orientated us to where everything was in the City as well as much of the history.
We then headed to a ubiquitous Caffe Nero which seemed to on every street of Belfast and had some we felt well earned hot drinks. After resting a while Karen realised we were located next to a large M&S and thought it would be rude not to visit. She emerged with a Cocktail Dress (don’t ask) and some sandwiches.
Some of the facts are still whirling through my mind. Essentially the partition was put in place to protect the protestants. At the time out of the population of 1.5 million the division within the partition was 1 million Protestants and 0.5 million Catholics. The Catholics in Northern Ireland were not allowed to be in any position of power and only allowed poorly paid manual jobs. How wrong this was but I suppose no more so than women's rights or racial bias at the times (not that two or more wrongs make a right). They were however creating a powder keg for the future. The horrific stories he told of living in Belfast during the 70 & 80’s begged belief. One of only 3 hotels that were in the centre at that time was bombed 43 times. No wonder there was no tourism. To get into the City Centre you had to go through turnstiles and then were searched before you went into each shop. Even that was not enough and on average 2 bombs went off each day. According to Dave there is now peace but the underlying threat of violence is never far away in certain areas.
Northern Ireland now makes up only 2.9% of the whole UK population. Yet through the Barnett formula for distributing funds they receive a much larger proportion of funds per head than any other part of the UK. In short we are subsidising them to remain part of the UK. Yet for what purpose now? The split between Catholics and Protestants is now 50/50 and will soon tip in favour of the Catholics. In my quite uninformed opinion there is a real need of leadership from somewhere to create a United Island of Ireland. I’m sure it will come and that the sum of the parts will be greater than the indivdual components.
For instance it makes no sense that in all sports rather than Football there is a single Ireland team that everyone gets behind. Yet in Football there are two. If there was just one the combined team might actually be properly competitive and also it would be very unifying. I know it is easy for me to say and there would have to be compromises made but the sooner the better that this happens for everyone in the long term.
Anyhow the walking tour wasn’t just about the troubles and it took us off the main streets and explained things like why most pubs are down alley ways and also showed us the ‘Line of Duty’ subway. We both thoroughly enjoyed the walk and tour and felt as though we had been educated and entertained for most of the day. We took another break in another Caffe Nero using more of the free vouchers we had saved up, before walking to The Crown Saloon & Liquor Store where we hoped to get a table for a meal.
This is a remarkable place. For a start it is owned and run by the National Trust. It has been preserved to the exact state from when it was built in about 1830. We couldn’t believe our luck when we not only got in but were allocated to one of their famous booths. It was like having our own room with a door giving complete privacy and a bell we could ring when we wanted service. The decor was amazing and it was still lit by Gas lamps. Karen had the homemade Chicken Leek and Ham Pie whilst I had Irish Mussels and chips. They were both very good although the mussels were rather small not like the large ones we get from Brancaster.