I took a stroll on a clear, bright day just as I promised months ago that I would do, in order to take photographs and give a glimpse of what my surroundings are like here in Belfast.
The Botanic Gardens are right next to Queen's University, open early in the morning until it begins to get dark.
Garden signpost on my way to the Palm House. I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I have not yet been in the Ulster Museum.
Lord Kelvin. Absolute zero, anyone?
Queen's University brand new library, the largest in Ireland I believe, stands next to one corner of the Gardens.
The Palm House
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Glorious sunshine!
A little wilderness in the middle of the Gardens.
Shrubbery in bloom (lower right).
True sign of spring arriving: daffodils!
Trees and (look closely) flowers.
You can barely see it in the upper lefthand corner, but there was a red ice cream truck driving around the Gardens.
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On University Road, outside the Botanic Gardens. Here is the Lyric Theatre, a once-upon-a-time church that now sports a rooster on its steeple.
The enormous Student Union, complete with shops, pubs, cafes, a club, and all sorts of offices. My Politics Final Exam was in here somewhere; the only way I found the room was by getting lost.
Across from the SU, Queen's University main building.
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As I continued on my walk down University Road and then onto Donegall Pass, I encountered this police station. Policing has been and continues to be a hugely divisive issue in Northern Ireland. It is not uncommon to have police stations that look like forts, especially in interface areas (where two opposing groups share space). You can almost always tell the kind of neighborhood you're in by the murals, grafitti, painted kerbstones (curbs), flags and/or bunting displayed. Donegall Pass is a Protestant/unionists/Loyalist neighborhood:
Mural depicting William of Orange, who defeated Catholic King James in Ireland in the late 17th century.
Memorial for the original UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force), which fought for Britain in the first World War. During the Troubles, a paramilitary group was formed under this same name, and so memorials to the original UVF are often linked to the current group. The Director for the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen's, Dominic Bryan, has done a great deal of research on flags in Northern Ireland and has said that many flags, murals, and memorials have paramilitary connections; even if the symbols themselves don't display this connection, paramilitaries are more likely to use them than the rest of the community. From what I understand, it is through the appropriation of legitimate historical ties and traditions that paramilitaries are able to maintain the visibility of their own symbols and memorabilia. At any rate, this is my attempt to summarise an exceedingly complex situation, one which academics have written hundreds of books about.
The Lagan River towpath. I often walk here.
Looking towards the shipyards, you can see Samson and Goliath--as the two giant yellow cranes have been christened.
Viewed from the towpath, a question I am glad does not appear on any of my exam papers.
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Maggie Mays! Relatively inexpensive, with huge food portions, this little cafe serves real food: giant lashings of potatoes, steamed vegetables, meat-packed stews, wheaten bread with butter, whole pots of tea. It's my favourite place to go out!
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My new abode.
My house is somewhere in the middle.
Only slightly bigger than my old room in Elms. Map of the world. Map of the UK. Map of Ireland, because the UK map has only barely included Northern Ireland and can't be bothered with the rest of the island.
Map of Belfast. Some of my books.
My alley view. Lovely barbed wire everywhere. I should also add, I have seen our alleyway grafitti artists at work. It must be legal here. They showed up wearing fancy face-masks for the fumes and took their time painting, referring to sketches they'd made in advance.
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So, this is Belfast. It's a small-ish city, described to me recently as "parochial." I would describe it as very much alive, full of character... Just as the tiny island of Ireland crams in a multitude of accents (in English) and dialects (in Irish), so too does Belfast cram in a variety of people with differing political views, religious persuasions, historical narratives, social statuses, artistic and linguistic abilities... Moreover, everyone always seems to be wanting to do something about the differences. It isn't a passive society, although perhaps that is stating the obvious.
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