Belfast was by far one of the most interesting cities I've visited.
The downtown is beautiful, with more masonry and late-victorian buildings that are taller in general than those found in 'georgian dublin' to the south. I went up in their Ferris Wheel located next to the city hall.
The attractions and the buildings aside, Belfast is fascinating because of its interesting history and delicate existance. The Troubles between 1968-1998 left over 3,500 dead. I can't think of any other conflict, sectarian or otherwise, that occured soley within the Western First-World that comes close to that figure. One part of the population is very proud of being a part of the United Kingdom and 'British' and another would be loath to be described as 'British' and would like for there to be only one nation on the Emerald Island. Belfast's Taxi's are mostly the British-style Black Cabs such as the FX4, the LTI TX1/TXII or the Metrocab, whereas in Dublin most Taxis are mid-sized sedans. It's understandable that Black Cabs are not used in Dublin as a matter or national pride, but the seating arrangement in them is much more spacious and more comfortable than typical sedan-taxi cabs, fortunately, they may be coming to Philadelphia soon.
The downtown is beautiful, with more masonry and late-victorian buildings that are taller in general than those found in 'georgian dublin' to the south. I went up in their Ferris Wheel located next to the city hall.
The attractions and the buildings aside, Belfast is fascinating because of its interesting history and delicate existance. The Troubles between 1968-1998 left over 3,500 dead. I can't think of any other conflict, sectarian or otherwise, that occured soley within the Western First-World that comes close to that figure. One part of the population is very proud of being a part of the United Kingdom and 'British' and another would be loath to be described as 'British' and would like for there to be only one nation on the Emerald Island. Belfast's Taxi's are mostly the British-style Black Cabs such as the FX4, the LTI TX1/TXII or the Metrocab, whereas in Dublin most Taxis are mid-sized sedans. It's understandable that Black Cabs are not used in Dublin as a matter or national pride, but the seating arrangement in them is much more spacious and more comfortable than typical sedan-taxi cabs, fortunately, they may be coming to Philadelphia soon.
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