Northern Ireland a Gentle beauty

Arrived last night in Belfast. It's a lovely little city. We did a 90 min open top bus tour. So freakin cold but really interesting. Went through Falls Rd and Shankhill were so close togethor. The proddys in Shankhill show great love of the royal family with large billboards of the Queen and King in all their glory.
came away just so sad at the memorial to another stupid conflict. There is a huge amount of murals and street art all over the city. Much sympathy is shown for the Palestinians, too.
The couthouse was a huge old building with a 10 foot thick wall around it. During the troubles the preferred means of attack were car bombs and this prevented too much damage to the court building.
The prison is across the road and there is an underground tunnell connecting them.
The economy here is pretty good. There is a lot of construction going on and a vibrant central city area. I just loved it. There are not many cities I like either .
Wethen went inland and had lunch at the village Bellymena where our ggg grandfather was born, and we found the church at Ahogill where they were married just a few miles down the road .
Headed out to the Atlantic coast, and Scotland seems so close.Lovely drive up to the giants causeway. The riads are so much better naintained than jn England and Scotland
The Giants' causeway was amazing and really strange. The rocks were so uniform.
Now, at Londonderry for the night. You will all be pleased to know I went around the roundabout 3 times and needlessly over the Foyle bridge in the search for our accomodation. This happens nearky every night. See ya tomorrow. 😊Read more