Belfast, Northern Ireland

Each morning before breakfast we began with Morning Prayer, and each evening we spent time together sharing reflections of the day and for Evening Prayer.   This time together in our sacred circle really bonded the group together.  

The fighting in Belfast ended about 7 years ago and there are no longer marked borders along the highway.    There were subtle ways to tell we had crossed into Northern Ireland; such as differences in the road signs since it is ruled by the British.    They also use the British Pound instead of the Euro.   


We began our day at the Titanic Exhibition Centre.   The Titanic was built in Belfast at the shipyard there.   The exhibition is unbelievable in it's detail - giving information on how it was built, the people who worked on it, scaled models of the rooms aboard the ship, the maiden voyage, and the tremendous loss of life when it sank.  

 

 

After lunch, we split into smaller groups and had a Black Taxi Tour, driving on both sides of the Peace Wall, dividing east and west Belfast.     Even though the bombing has stopped, it is a very divided community.   Our driver lived through all the violence and is hopeful that in the next generation, the bitterness will fade away and there will truly be peace.   Murals line both sides of the peace wall.