Belfast

well, i think i under estimated the distance between Glasgow and Belfast. I caught the bus at 4:00pm and i didn't get to my hostel until 11:00pm. but the boat ride across was a bit of fun, though quite rocky at times.

Belfast is in full christmas swing. the city centre is packed with food stalls, Christmas lights and action with George Micheal's 'Last Christmas' being played wherever you roam. i dunno if its a tourism fad at the moment but i've noticed a hell of a lot of ferris wheels on my travels (even in Australia too, theres one in brisvegas and just before i left Melbourne they were completing the eye sore which is a poor attempt to liven up the dockland... it won't by the way) and Belfast is no exception though i'm told its temporary, even though it doesn't look like it is. its right next to the City Hall which is a beautiful old building. Belfast is a pretty place, its kind of hard to believe what happened here with all the IRA and stuff, there are still some things that remind you of it. for instance theres a cage on some of the door of a pub in back streets. i was told it was because there was a few murders in that pub and to stop it they installed a cage. if you wanted to get in you would have to ring a bell, the owner would check you out, and if they knew you were ok, they would let you in, if not, no entry. theres a swanky hotel here called the Europa hotel that has the rather unlucky title of the second most bombed building in the world, also, some of the Peace lines that divided the city are still standing. in some parts of town the curbs on the side of the road are painted in either red, white and blue (english flag) or green, white and orange, (irish flag) depending on where you are. having said that, it is still a really pretty city, the people here are really friendly (EVERYONE says 'hello') and there are some really cute little lane ways around town that you can duck down, half the time you you totally forget and don't even realize what happened here in the past.

famous soccer player George Best came from Belfast, he was considered one of the greats of the game, but by the sounds of it, he played hard but it sounds like he partied a little too hard, he we was a bit of a playboy in his day but ended up an alcoholic and died of liver troubles. While i was here i came across a book of his quotes and it was GOLD! heres a few of them:
- 'I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.'
- 'I used to go missing a lot...Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss World.'
- 'I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep.'
- 'In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life.'

The area i'm staying in is right near the Queens University which to some people is the most beautiful building in Ireland. it is very nice, kind of makes you WANT to study. The uni is right next to the Botanic Gardens which isn't that big in comparison to others i've been to but it has a glasshouse thats a couple of hundred years old called 'the palm house'. also the area around the uni is quite good. nice streets with cool shops and places to eat.

the Titanic was built here in Belfast almost 100 years ago when the towns port was pumping, now however its a shadow of its former self. but i heard that they are redeveloping the area and building apartments and restaurants and i read in the paper that they are thinking of building a building at replicates the Titanic for tourism, but from the artist impression it looked pretty dodgy. at least this time with it on solid ground and with no icebergs to run into it will stay afloat. fingers crossed!

I did a day trip up to the causeway, which are rocks that formed strange hexagon shapes from volcanic rock thats over 6 million old. the weather was a pretty average and there was an eerie mist that came in over the sea and over the rocks, it was pretty amazing to look at, the trip was so worth while. we then went up to Londonderry or Derry depending on which side of the fence you sit, along the way you see the London either written in or rubbed out. it was also a really beautiful city but also has a terrible past. Londonderry was where Bloody Sunday took place. i went down to where the 'Free Derry' wall stands and saw some of the murals. i have to admit, i was a little awestruck. they were amazing. and i was surprised that they hadn't faded but the tour guide said that they had put a varnish on them to protect them. pretty tragic.

There are a few murals in Belfast also and on my last day there i went and checked them out. it was a little bit out of the city in a rougher area. and i saw a couple of kids (probably about 8 or 9 years old) and they looked like they were up to trouble, nothing serious, just mischief. they saw that i caught them and they said a coy 'hello' and i said 'hi, how are you going?' back, they were really shocked to a different accent. i had my big backpack on and one of them said to me 'where ya get yer bag from, mister?' i said 'Australia'. 'whoa!' they both said, then the other one said to me 'are you catholic?' it was quite and awkward question because i didn't know which area i was in so i said 'i'm nothing...' they both seemed a little confused and asked 'are you goin to beat us up?' i laughed and said 'no, of course not' then they just shrugged there shoulders and said 'ok, see ya mister'. it was really bizarre. obviously people still have there guard up even though there seems to be peace within the area.

it was funny i was in a CD shop just looking around and in the corner of my eye i saw something, a CD titled 'the many hits of Jason Donovan'. now, correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't remember too many hits coming out of old Jason, except for his duet with Kylie, 'especially for you', what a classic that was. maybe the it should've been titled 'the many flops of Jason Donovan' or perhaps the CD's title was a double entendre and was actually commenting of Jason's drug past.
another thing that amazes me about the UK is how any girl can get a boob job, be a page 3 girl, become a W.A.G (W.A.G.S is a group of woman that date sports stars. it stands for Wife And Girlfriends of Sportstars) suddenly there a celebrity. its amazing! i was in a book shop and they had a book written by Katie Price aka Jordan and it had written on the front that it was a Number 1 seller. i was so surprised, i didn't think she would be about string a few words together to write a book! can anyone say ghost writer..?

one night i went out with a couple of guys that were staying in my room. they were from Newcastle and were over here riding there bikes around the coast of Ireland. (i think if i did that i would get about 100m up the road then give up.) they were really good guys we checked out a couple of REAL Irish pubs around the area which were pretty good. so much better than the imposers that you get in Australia, in fact you get them around Europe also. which i was surprised at, i thought it might have been an Aussie thing. its a bit like a Kebab shop, no matter you are in the world, or at what time, you will find a Kebab shop open.

anyway, i'm off to Galway, i think... depending if i catch the bus on time. bye!