Travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Country / Town Visited: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date of Stay: June 2012
Tour or Pre-Planned: Tour – NI BLACK TAXI TOURS

Belfast, nestled in the heart of Northern Ireland but part of the United Kingdom and well known for its ship-making capabilities (Titanic), numerous pubs, and diverse political views. If you were to ask any of the locals when NOT to visit Northern Ireland, it would be the dates around the 11th/12th July when the Protestants and Catholics clash heads. This is the time of year that the Protestants parade to celebrate the coming of Northern Ireland into the British Colony. Every year these dates seem to heat up with the two sides going at it, and still to this day there are riots and people injured (plus occasionally some deaths) when the two sides cross paths on this historical subject dating way back to the early days.

Now, I did not have a clue about this subject when i booked my trip to Northern Ireland, but seemed to find myself in the mix somehow, at a safe distance albeit. To learn a little more about the culture here, we decided to get a 2 hour Belfast Taxi Tour, which we booked through NI Black Taxi Tours. Our tour guide was the lovely and informative Mark, who is the co-owner of the company.

Our tour started off in the city, and drove around many different political based murals which represented the dark history of the region. We went past the peace wall, which is the border of where the Protestants and Catholics live - to which Mark said, if this wall was taken down today, there would be much violence which would break out across the city. We drove through the gates of the wall, which close at various times in the evening. The gates allow access for public from one side of the wall to the other during the day, but as the sun goes down, crime is high, and these gates close to keep both parties separate.

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