A Weekend in Northern Ireland

This weekend my roommates and I got crazy and decided to take a trip up toNorthern Ireland. We planned it completely last minute and even stayed in a hostel . . . yes, you heard me correctly . . . Trisha Ruf stayed in a hostel, in a room with 14 other people, in a somewhat sketchy part of Belfast, with a COMMUNAL SHOWER! Talk about taking a step outside your comfort zone! But, I had a fantastic time, we saw some amazing sites, and I lived to tell the tale!

Saturday . . .

We caught a train from Dublin to Belfast at 7am in the morning and travelled north for about 2 and a half hours. We arrived in Belfast and hopped on a tour bus that would take us to some of the most scenic places in northern Ireland. Our first stop was a bridge called the Carrick-a-Reade bridge - which is a wooden and rope bridge suspended over 150 feet above the Irish Sea between a cliff and an island. I will not lie, I was terrified - it was windy and no one else seemed to be as concerned as I was about the fact that people didn't seem to be obeying the "No more than 8 people at a time on the bridge" sign. Oh well, I couldn't pass it up, so I crossed the bridge (and crossed) back, and took about 30 pictures to commemorate the moment. Don't worry, I only posted a few!

After the bridge we drove to some white rock cliffs and a sea side village. We also passed the ruins of an ancient castle built on the sea. The name of the castle was called Dunluce Castle . . . this site was definitely the kind of Ireland scenes you see on postcards and in movies. It was absolutely breathtaking. We ended the day on Saturday at a famous coastal landmark called the Giant's Causeway. There are these amazing rock formations that extend out into the sea, and to get to them you have to brave these steep, narrow cliff walks . . . along which there are signs that say "Danger, high winds, people fall" - seriously, it seems like if you really want to see it in northern Ireland you have to be willing to risk life and limb! But once again, Ireland did not disappoint and we were treated to yet another set of amazing views.

Sunday . . .

We took a "black taxi tour" through some of the hot spots in Belfast where, what they call "The Troubles", have been happening throughout the years. For those who are unsure, "the troubles" are the problems between the Protestants and Catholics in northern Ireland. The picture I posted is of the "Peace Wall" - a huge wall that has been built throughout the city of Belfast - designed to keep the two sides from shooting at each other and burning each others homes. While the troubles have calmed down considerably and a ceasefire was called in the late 90's, everyone we talked to was quick to tell us that there is still a lot of violence. In fact the day before we got there, one of the Protestant terror groups were commemorating the death of their "military commander" - which sparked a violent reaction from some of the Catholic terror groups. It was front page news, along with several other related accounts of attacks and vandalism. It was definitely a bit tense, but our tour was amazing. It was completely overwhelming to see these memorials, walls, and scenes of recent vandalism and violence in these totally normal looking, residential areas with kids playing in the street. Very sad. So . . .

Sorry to end on kind of "downer" note. Our entire weekend was absolutely fascinating and full of amazing Irish history. It was definitely worth a stay in a bunk bed in an inner-city hostel! I believe that next weekend however, I will take it a little easier and definitely sleep in my own cozy bed - no strangers allowed!