Aicha. Belfast and beyond.
She's a thinker, and she thought through what she wanted us to do.
1) FRIDAY: Dinner at a good restaurant.
We'd walk around the university area
Elms Village, where all the international
students stay. Aicha has a little room on an
upper floor with her own bathroom.
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There's beautiful girls here, Oh never you mind
Beautiful shapes nature never designed
lovely complexions of roses and cream
But let me remark with regard to the same
That if at that those roses you venture to sip
The colours might all come away on your lips
So I'll wait for the wild rose that's waitin' for me
In the place where the dark Mourne sweep down to the sea.
2) SATURDAY, The Mountains of Mourne
I'd googled the site, and found a good place to start from, and entered it into my phone and on a sheet of paper. Being the car navigator when the driver is nervous and insists on checking in with the left curb every hundred feet just to be sure he isn't running headlong into oncoming cars isn't easy. I considered asking for combat pay. But Aicha was a soothing and confident presence. You'll do it grandpa! And he did.
Past the villages, past the lovely farmlands and over the hills (Yikes! a two-lane road, one-lane wide, up and around a little walled bridge where the oncoming traffic can't possibly see us? "It's ok Grandma. Chill." It was.)
Miracle of miracles we landed at the exact parking lot we aimed for. It had room for 16 cars, and the 16th car was about to move. We waited while a couple, mean, lean walking machines, were changing from their lycra and hiking boots to their nike's and woolies. Aicha and I had on hiking boots. Rock just had nike's. But it was all well marked, and there, down the road by a sheep rail, was the start of our trail. A woman just coming back said we didn't have to go far to see good views. It would get challenging well on, but no need to go for hours. We'd play it by ear. Or foot.
Glad to be in the country. Glad to be in the beautiful quiet, the
lovely green of it all.
Glad to be alive.
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Autumn berries, autumn blooms. Have to be tough to escape the sheep's grazing, maybe. |
The path rises. It rains a little, then stops. |
Sheep. He wanted me to take his picture with him looking all noble like this. His friends & relatives are out of the picture to the right. I named them Sofia, Sonya, Ethel, Ricardo and Twinkle-dee. |
And there it was, with a lovely view. The food was diner food, but fine. And just as we were finishing, the sun came out for the first time that day. |
And we made our way home, and on to the pub. |
https://youtu.be/xR4-zYE0jqQ
(the link to the song about the Mourne Mountains, in case you want to hear it. I was hoping they'd sing it in the pub, but they didn't. The singers started out with "She'll be comin' round the mountain. . ." A hearty sing-along. Go figure.)
3) IRISH PUB
Aicha had said it was the highlight of her orientation -- to be in a pub with all the singing. There are many pubs, some massive, but her favorite is Five Points. "At Five Points you feel the people," she texted.
Indeed. There was barely 8 feet in front of the little stage for the dancers to dance in, but I snatched a stool by a high bar ledge where people put their drinks while they chatted. Aicha sat -- or kneeled -- or stood on the stool behind me so she could see the musicians and the dancers -- slender graceful couple whose feet went like lightening while their arms hung loose by their sides -- think riverdance -- and everyone loved them, and sometimes joined them. Rock bought a Guiness, so he could tell people what it tasted like in Ireland, and we all enjoyed the show.
Here's a ballad. It's not much to see because it was dark and crowded -- and the band was in the path between the front door and the wash room -- so not exactly concert accoustics. But I loved the song, and the voice of the singer. "And I miss him, my old dad."
SUNDAY: A tour of Belfast
Breakfast at coffee shop around corner from AirB&(cereal&toast). We loved this place, which had very very tasty croissants. |
5.. BELFAST TOWN HALL: illuminated windows of peace
Of course we wondered about Belfast, shadowed by the "troubles" in the not-so-distant past.
I found it a place of tangible hope. If all the world's war-torn places could recover like this, consciously holding an ideal of tolerance and forbearance, we'll not only survive, but thrive.
I sensed, in our host, in taxi drivers, in stores, and passers-by, that people love their city, love the peace, love their progress.
I asked Aicha, who's been there for weeks, her own impression.
"It's complicated," she wrote. "There are less tensions socially and more tensions politically. Most people are very proud that there are no longer such fights, but neighborhoods and schools are still divided. Right now, the parliament is shut down because of tensions, but everyone thinks its stupid.
Most young people will tell me 'Oh I want us to move' but then will get into a very ardent discussion about why they think it's better for Northern Ireland to be part of Ireland or UK.
"South Belfast, where I live, is normally considered to be neutral. I do not feel a lot of tensions, but then I am an outsider. . . "
Ardent discussions . . . wrestling with visions of the future, not with each other. Inside the town hall, some visions are made tangible in glass, stained glass windows all created after the peace.
Dear Aicha under Queen Victoria by the Belfast Town Hall |
This 2007 window says, "NOT AS CATHOLICS OR PROTESTENTS, NOT AS NATIONALISTS OR UNIONISTS, BUT AS BELFAST WORKERS, STANDING TOGETHER. |
N. IRELAND'S COMMERCE AND BOUNTY |
A 1999 window memorialiaing the potato famine |
A 2005 window celebrating peace. |
Main caption in the Belfast recent history exhibit. "Belfast,after thirty years of darkness, turned its face towards the light again." |
WOMAN WORKERS UNITE! |
6. DOWNTOWN BELFAST
with business streets very much like any large American city. But we were very taken with this elegant outdoor/indoor mall, with a glass elevator leading to a view of the whole city, including their own leaning clock tower, the Albert Memorial Clock, built on mud, but restored and surviving thanks to a 2002 restoration.
Hard to photograph, with all the intersecting structure, but I find any elevated view is, well, an elevated view. Here, a city and the sea beyond.
Everyone needs perspective.
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