NORTHERN IRELAND, BELFAST CITY TOUR PART II

 July 11, 2024

We had one more day and one more city tour planned for Belfast. Bob had booked a street art tour, not realizing that a lot of the street art would be covered in the political "two sides" tour we had already gone on. Oh well, we didn't mind some overlap.

Unfortunately, on our way out of B&B, I stumbled on the door sill and went *SPLAT* onto that concrete block patch to the right of the door. As I was wearing a full backpack, I went down hard and awkwardly and had to call for Bob to help me get up.

Yeah, I'm a klutz.

Initially, I was more concerned about my elbow and hip, which seemed to take the most impact, but gradually, my ribs began to hurt, and while I did okay during the day, trying to lie down on a bed at night was excruciating, which made sleep difficult. A few days after I got home, and after the pain seemed to be increasing rather than decreasing, I finally went in for an x-ray and learned I had broken three ribs. As if that wasn't bad enough, I got Covid five days after visiting urgent care, and I'm pretty sure that's where I got it.

But I digress.

We met a new guide for the second tour near a small shopping mall that included a store with this window display:

I was, of course, looking for medicinal relief for my aching body. These helped.

Outside the mall is this bronze statue by Louise Walsh entitled Monument to the Unknown Woman Worker. The women are carrying symbols of what is traditionally women's work--a colander, a typewriter, a phone, a shopping basket, etc.

NORTHERN IRELAND: BELFAST CITY TOUR - TWO SIDES

 July 10, 2024

Friends who visited Northern Ireland a year or two ago recommended a tour they took in Belfast that was split into two parts. Half was led by an Irish Nationalist on the Catholic side of Belfast, and the other half was led by a British Loyalist on the Protestant side of the city. There are several of these tours offered by different companies, and Bob reserved a spot in one that looked good.

We started on the Catholic/Nationalist side near this sign commemorating the 1969 riots that mark the beginning of the 30-year conflict known as "The Troubles."  The conflict began with the three-day Battle of the Bogside in Derry, and it wasn't long before riots and violence broke out in Belfast. The British Army intervened on August 14, and official Catholic and Protestant districts were subsequently outlined.

Our guide on the Catholic side had been part of the IRA and had spent many years in prison for his role in the fighting. It was crazy because he looked at sounded like a sweet grandpa. Note that he is wearing an Irish-green version of the keffiyeh, which has become a symbol of Palestinian resistance.  We learned that the Irish Nationalists identify with the Palestinians as a repressed people and are very anti-Israel.

We walked down one of the main streets, passing this series of large murals that links the Irish and Palestinian struggles.

A script runs through the paintings that reads, "If I must die, you must live to tell my story, to sell my things, to buy a piece of cloth and some strings (make it white with a long tail) so that a child somewhere, while looking heaven in the eye . . .

. . . awaiting his dad who was left in a blaze--and bid no one farewell, not even to his flesh, not even to himself--sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above, and thinks for a moment an angel is there bringing back love. If I must die, let it bring hope, let it be a tale."

This poem was written by Palestinian Refaat Alareer before he was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli military. 

PORTUGAL: COIMBRA

 June 27, 2022

From Batalha we drove about an hour north-northeast to the university city of Coimbra, where we had a private tour scheduled. We had about an hour before we were supposed to meet our guide and were starving, so we found a parking place within walking distance of our meet-up point and conveniently located near the Café Santa Cruz. We lucked out because this café has been open since 1923 (although the building itself dates back to 1530) and is a Coimbra landmark. 

Photo from here

We arrived at lunchtime and the place was packed. They had a buffet-style set-up, and they couldn't keep the dishes stocked, so the line was moving pretty slowly. We paid 18€ for both of us, and that included drinks, and when we finally got through the line, we discovered that the food was quite good. The tables were full of what looked like university professors and students, and it was fun to be in that atmosphere.

Photo from here

Just outside and perpendicular to the restaurant was a wonderful "trash art" mural of a baby owl by the Portuguese artist Bordalo II. The left side is more or less traditional, its claws digging into an old wall, and the right sight is much more futuristic.