Belfast Times

I arrived in Belfast on Thursday and was rather tired from having spent a minimum of 3 hours per day in transit over the previous 3 days, so I stayed in for the most part. My hostel was right near Belfast's Queens University, which meant lots of people (read: girls) around my age in the area, which was fun. On my first night there, I decided to check to see if there happened to be any rugby happening in the area in the weekend, and sure enough, there was a match the following night, Friday. So I booked a ticket. As I was clicking “confirm” I happened to hear another guest at the hostel say they were in town for the hockey game. Saying “hockey game” in earshot of a Canadian abroad is kind of like shaking a box of dog treats in earshot of a dog. I went to find this angelic voice and enquire what she was talking about. Turns out that the Boston Bruins are in town for an exhibition match tonight. (I'm writing this on Saturday, but won't get the chance to post it until Sunday, when I get WiFi access again, so if my times and tenses seem off, that's why). I went online to check it out, but unfortunately the tickets are very pricey (remember that taxi ride I freaked out about in the last post? A single nosebleed seat costs more than that). I figure I can go see the bruins play the Sens any time in Ottawa, when it actually counts for something, for cheaper, and when I actually have an income. Besides, I had rugby to keep my sports appetite sated!

So on Friday I spent most of the day exploring Belfast by foot. It's a beautiful city, and in my opinion, much cleaner and better looking than Dublin. In the evening I made my way over to Ravenhill Stadium to check out the Ulster Vs Glasgow match. Ulster is northern province in which Belfast resides, so Ulster is basically the Belfast team. It was a lot of fun! The stadium was smaller than I was expecting...maybe a 12000 seat capacity tops. But it was a great time, and the small size gave it a bit more of an intimate feel. It reminded more of a roughrider/renegade game at Lansdowne than say a Bills game. Having received a crash course in the rules of rugby the week previous, I had a general understanding of how the game went, but I'd be lying if I said I understood all of it. That didn't take away from my enjoyment though, since I had a blast watching the game and experiencing the crowd. I even learned the official team song: something something something something...something Ulstermen! A couple other quirks I noticed, for those interested in the cultural differences in sports: the first is that despite the rough nature of the game, rugby is very much a gentlemen's sport. The crowd goes completely silent (you'll get shushed) when either team is lining up for a field goal (I don't know what it's actually called, but it's field goal-like). And then the crowd will clap for both teams after every attempt, whether they make it or not. That's a far cry from american football, where the entire stadium does its best to make as much noise as possible to distract the other team. The other quirk was the crowd here chants for the home team much in the same way do to taunt the opposing team...slowly drawing it out (daaaarrrelllll). I know about 80% of my readers won't care about that last bit, but those sorts of differences are what interest me when I watch foreign sports.

The game was over by 9:30 so I made my way back to the hostel to grab a beer and possibly head back out to a pub. I ended up staying in the common room, having a couple drinks with some of the other guests. There was a Nova Scotian couple (believe it or not, but the first canadians I've met that I know of on this trip) who had biked across the states and then flew over here to visit family. There was also a German girl, and an American. We had a great time chatting and swapping travel stories and comparing our home country's customs (I always wondered what Nova Scotians ate). All in all a good time.

The whole point in talking about that little gathering was that I learned from the German girl that she and a couple other guests at the hostel were going to be doing a black taxi tour the following morning. The tours are given by taxi drivers who have been in the area a long time and know the history of “the troubles”. It costs a flat rate, so the more people you can get in the car, the more it's split up. I jumped on the opportunity and agreed to go with them. So the following morning 4 of us (me, the German, an Aussie, and a Brit) took the tour. If ever you are in Belfast, it is well worth the time and money...one of the best “touristy” things I've ever done. Our driver, George, was extremely knowledgeable, accommodating, and friendly. He took us all through the neighbourhoods on both the Protestant and the Catholic sides. It's been 12 years since the peace agreement was signed, but the signs of divide are still very much present. There's a giant fence/wall that goes through the middle of the town (I thought it was ironic that it was called the peace wall) that separates them. What makes the tour so interesting is that there are all sorts of murals along the walls on both sides and much of the tour is spent explaining the meaning behind the murals, which gives you a great history on all of the conflict that took place for over 30 years (the short of it...the protestant side wanted to be part of the UK, the Catholic/Republican side wanted to be independent of English rule and be part of the republic of Ireland). The tour lasted about 80 minutes. At the end he dropped us off in front of a library that had a great display of the political posters that had been created over the years. The German girl didn't have much interest in that so she took off.

On our way back to the hostel, the Aussie mentioned that he wanted to go to a pub to catch a game of Aussie Rules Football. Apparently it was the equivalent of the super bowl game, so of course I told him I'd join him. The Brit came too. Again, believe it or not, we had a great time. Rugby on Friday night, then Aussie Rules Football Saturday afternoon, and if I wasn't so cheap, I'd be going to a hockey game tonight! I'm gonna try my best to catch an NFL game tomorrow night too to see if I can press my luck ;)

So that's all I've got to say for now. I'm planning on staying in Belfast until Monday, when I'll do a tour of the Giant's Causeway (my hostel does it for free) and probably hop off the bus in Derry for a couple nights. Thanks for reading. Here are some blurry pictures of rugby and some better pictures of the Black Taxi Tour and political posters. Later!

*Editor's note from Sunday morning...met a couple fun guys at the hostel last night...one, Arden, a Canadian who has been living in Ireland for the last 8 years and his Irish friend Mike from high school. They were in Belfast for the hockey game, and we ended up going out after it. Really funny guys and we had some fun over a few pints. They actually got Shawn Thornton's autograph the next morning cause we were in a cafe that was right next to the Bruins' hotel. Thanks for the good night out fellas!