Peace Walls

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I haven't done a whole lot of traveling yet (that is changing very soon) but one of the places I did get to go was the city of Belfast. The city was different than I expected given it reminded me so much of an American city. The city still had plenty of sites and history (which is almost more important to me) but it still came off as extremely modern and American. This trip was also the first time I stayed in a youth hostel. Now I wasn't expecting 1st class accomodations (there weren't any) but overall I enjoyed the experience. For 9 pounds ($18) a night you can't complain about too much. Although one of the girls who traveled with us is not used to those kind of accomodations and ended up being very entertaining the entire trip.

We saw many of the sites and went to the Belfast Giants hockey game which was great. The fans were pretty intense, especially considering all the players on the team were Canadian (just like home!). I do have to say though I was a little torn on whom to cheer for since the Giants were playing the Steelers. The Steelers ended up winning but either way we had a great time at the game.

One of the parts I loved about Belfast was when we went on the Black Taxi Tour. If any of you get a chance to go to Belfast I highly suggest doing this. The taxi's take you on a tour through Belfast focusing on "The Troubles". Most of the problems took place on two roads running parallel to each other Shank Hill Road (Protestant) and Falls Road (Catholic). We got to see more incredible murials especially on Shank Hill Road. The one I particularly liked was the murial with the man pointing the gun. Notice the gun follows you around based on where you are standing. Although the highlight for me of the entire trip was getting to sign the Peace Wall. This is the wall that separates Shank Hill Road from Falls Road. Not only getting to see it but getting to sign it was truly one of the most surreal moments of my life. It's amazing to think President Clinton signed the same wall 9 years earlier.

My traveling will definately pick up in the next few weeks. This weekend I'm going to London and meeting my friend Mike Belluomini who is coming to visit me from the states. We will likely go to Giant's Causeway sometime next week. I'll stay in Derry for St Patrick's Day then I'm off to see Western Europe on my Spring Break. I'll be going to Amsterdam , Geneva, Switzerland , Nice, France , Monte Carlo , and Barcelona, Spain. Should be a ton of fun. I'll post my next entry when I get back from London. Hope everyone is well.

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