Day six 18/6/2023

Day six 18/6/2023

Woke to discover we’d made through the fog and were now moored in Belfast. I first noticed the Harland and Wolfe cranes so I snapped them. Not the most picturesque photo scene but  totally symbolic with Belfast. We were going to be in port for some time so there was no rushing about. We had breakfast and left the ship. Shuttle buses were laid on at a cost but it proved cheaper to go by taxi. We arrived at the city centre right where the city guide buses commence their route so we bought our tickets and climbed aboard. The tour took us all around passing major sites such as City Hall, Queen Victoria’s statue and the Titanic exhibition. We then drove along the two infamous roads , Falls and Shanklin. The former predominately nationalist, the latter loyalist, though the violence has gone there is still evidence of “The Troubles “ as there are many murals, both loyalist and republican, on house ends glorifying the fighting and those who participated. We also saw the Crumlin Road gaol where many of the members of both factions were imprisoned. We finished the tour and went inside the city hall. It was lovely in there. There was one particular room with white walls and written upon them were quotes from people from both sides who had had loved ones murdered. It was heart wrenching, it choked me up. We then walked down to St George’s market where we had lunch. We then walked back towards the centre when I met a lady constable of the PSNI. We had a lovely conversation, we even discussed the recent TV programme Blue Lights and she informed me that on the whole it was quite accurate. Back in the city centre we took a taxi back to the ship and prepared for dinner and entertainment.


















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