(McNeil) Belfast

You would have thought we'd taken a puddle jumper and landed in Great Britain once we crossed the border from the Republic into Northern Ireland which is under the rule of the UK.  Literally the streets were lined with British Flags, granted most of the nationalism was because the Queen herself had just recently visited Northern Ireland and so the place was decked out from head to toe.  The smaller towns outside of Belfast reminded me much of the rolling hill scenery we saw in and around Sligo.  We visited Giants Causeway and other landmarks just as we had done on our Sligo trip.  Though on our first night in Belfast we really didn't see much you could still tell that their was a different feeling towards the city than was Dublin was like, much to our surprise we had a lot in store for our tour the following morning.  As we rode around different areas of the city it was shocking to see how much the Protestant/Catholic segregation was still prominent in parts of the city.  As one student mentioned it was about how a reader would have pictured it while reading about the cities past.  The industrialized cities claim to fame as many would say would be the Titanic.  The famous Titanic was built here in the city and it was were it made it's final voyage to New York, though it never made it.  The city has much to offer when it comes to history of the Protestant/Catholic tension throughout Ireland and much to see regarding the Queen and her landmarks that lay throughout the city. I must say though my favorite part of the entire trip was the Market in the center of Belfast.  The food was fabulous and and the hand made crafts and nicknacks, not to mention the band playing it was like taking me back home to New Orleans.  There I had the most amazing red velvet cupcake, one that would be worth making the trip all the way back to Belfast just for that tasty treat.