I am staying at the Europa Hotel in the heart of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The hotel was used heavily by the media covering the “Troubles” and other uprisings in the city. I understand why–there are numerous pubs about, it is next door to the train and bus terminal and in the center of Belfast. I don’t know if it looks the same as then because it was heavily bombed, closed for a year, and then reopened.
Dinner was at the famous Crown Liquor Saloon right across the street from the hotel. The pub is so famous with its Victorian exterior and interior, that is is now run by the National Trust of the UK.
I also saw a performance at the famous Lyric Theater (Liam Neeson) acted here. A Scottish singer, Christine Bovill, performed the works of Edith Piaf. Bovill’s narration between songs told the tragic life story of Piaf; but the songs were beautifully performed in French (there were a couple of numbers where she sang a verse of two in English). She received a standing ovation and as an encore sang the last song Piaf ever performed: “Non, Je ne Regrette Rien.”
The Irish are talkative and friendly. The town is bustling with tourists, families, elderly and young people. One cab driver remarked that having tourists in Belfast was still a novelty–that no one had come to Belfast for so long because of the “Troubles” that people here were still looking about and asking “Do you know where these people are from?” Everyone wants to know. There have been young people involved in the Ulster youth camps in America, students who went to Canada but got homesick and came home, Belfast is now the number one destination for a holiday for people in the UK.
I saw the fences today and the murals. I must think about them before I try to describe how I feel.
Leara Rhodes 