Photography by Paul Dishman: July 2017

Our latest trip was another of the great drives to do in the world - the Causeway Coastal Route. This was to take us from Belfast to the Giant`s causeway and on to Londonderry / Derry before spending a couple of nights in Belfast. We almost knew before we started that our 4 nights were not enough - another couple of nights and we`d have done all we wanted but it always leaves the excuse for a return trip!
Flying with Flybe in a twin prop turbine plane for 84 people we had had one panic when discovering their carry on luggage sizes were smaller than others and were warned that they were checked on Ireland flights due to small lockers being available. Adjustments made and pants and socks packed around my camera gear we found that in fact they didn`t check at all!
Arriving at George Best Airport we picked up our hire car, first stroke of luck was a free upgrade which accommodated all 4 of us and our luggage without problems. Then it was off up the Causeway Coast towards Cushendun. So lucky with the weather - hot and sunny!

Carrickfergus Castle

Glenarm Gardens tearoom

Some sneaked into the gardens via the tea room!

Carnlough - our first Republican area marked with one flag on the green

Our first stop for the night was"Sleepy Hollow" which was nothing like the village in the film but had the same horsemen!

I prefer the roiginal shot for the camp looks...

After a walk into Cushendun I realised that we might be able to get to the dark hedges before dinner and set off across country on a mission to get back to Cushendall for 8pm! So glad we got to see the Hedges with fewer people around than would be the case in the daylight but still busy. Damned Game of Thrones!

Cushendun

The Dark Hedges

Loved the Dark hedges and had to have a go at cloning the people out and making it look more mystical. The trees just don`t look real!

The view from our bedroom window at Sleepy Hollow was lovely!

Next day we were off to Carrick a Rede and it`s rope bridge across the gorge. Joining the National Trust was a good idea as we knew the Giant`s Causeway was covered by that too.

Photos of it were misleading - nowhere near as scary as it looked!

The Giant`s Causeway is as beautiful and mesmerising as it is busy! Fantastic sight to see and so much bigger than I had imagined. Full of tales of giants and legend. I`d hate to cross these stones in wet weather but for us it was glorious again!

Finn McCool`s organ

Our next stop was Londonderry/ Derry depending upon your persuasion and sympathies. We were not sure what to call it for fear of causing offence! As we pulled up to our B&BI feared i`d made an awful mistake. It looked like 2 converted council houses from the days of the white houses in Meanwood or Lincoln Green! We were in the heart of the Bogside with plaques on our street to the the republicans shot "on active service" and just yards from the murals and the famous site of the Bloody Sunday massacre! In fact once inside the Abbey B&B it was great. Newly refurbished and extended with friendly staff and highly recommended for anyone wanting to visit this historic quarter. Our stroll around Derry was enlightening and horrific in equal measure. Really hard to envisage this piece of our country once at war with plaques to Innocent victims as well as hardened "soldiers" all around. references to Tony Taylor`s internment showed that resentment still runs high!

For lovers of street art Belfast and Derry / Londonderry are a must see. There is such a range of street art to see. From the scary paramilitary images of smiling gunmen with rifles killed on active service to messages of peace and understanding. One of our guides on the Hop on Hop Off Bus said that the old paramilitary messages are gradually being replaced by messages of hope - I hope so! I felt personally much more at ease in the Bogside than I did in the protestant part of Belfast with it`s Orange Halls and more prevalent military messages. One thing for certain is that our welcome was warm from the Irish of whatever persuasion and all we met were keen for the peace to continue.

Bernadette Devlin

Bloody Sunday victims

Chilling sniper poster!

Plaque to the fallen on our street

Bloody Sunday Memorial

Death of the innocents

Of course it wasn`t just about the murals and troubles in Derry - whoops I`ve gone all Provo then! Derry was a nice place to walk around with a walled inner city and beautiful Guild Hall as well as the Peace Bridge. We also went our looking for bars with live music - without success it has to be said!It was very quiet on the day we visited prompted Peter to declare "It`s like a bloody Sunday here" to cries of "Shhhhhh!"

Sandino`s bar

Guild Hall

They liked me so much they made me mayor!

Peace Bridge

All too soon it was time for our next journey across country to Belfast. Here we had a 2 night stay in a city centre apartment sourced on Booking.com. After returning the car to the airport we got a taxi into town and set about getting our apartment right. Initially there was no crockery, no working TV,no wifi, a strong smell of paint and a faulty fire door. Coupled with pretty but inappropriate heavy furniture for the flat that was heavy to move around and make accessible there was room for improvement. Letting staff did come around with stuff and a guy delivered and fitted a new TV / aerial but it was really a week too early for us to stay there. That said an email of complaint got us nearly half the cost back so we were happy! First night we stayed in enjoying an M&S meal for £10 as we had our first real rain of the trip.

We chose to explore the city using the Hop on Hop Off Bus. Once more competition between 2 firms got us a great deal on the street of £8 for 2 days - with Sue getting the response "Says she" when she told one guy we`d gone with the other because he was younger and more handsome! Harsh although he had tried to bully the younger lad!

First stop Titanic Experience

Loved the old pictures

The studios fro game of Thrones are in the Titanic Quarter in the old hangars

We didn`t buy one - terrible skin tones on the print!

The Nomadic - Titanic`s tender ship

First class loos!

What did we think of the Titanic experience? Stunning building with so much potential in an area that is developing but could have been so much better. having been to some world class museums that we enjoyed much more we found this one some how lacking. Not even a place to do a pose doing the old Leonardo and Kate pose!

Of course the Titanic Quarter was the site of the |Harland and Wolf shipyards building Titanic and many other ships. The listed cranes, Samson and Goliath are there to this day and dominate the skyline from many parts of the city. We were told that the Eiffel Tower would fit underneath the crane and the H&H letters are 2 metres high - such is the scale. The old drawing rooms are to be turned into a grand hotel incorporating the natural light built into them.

Next was Stormont. A rather bizarre trip on the Hop on Hop Off bus whereby we had to stop at the gates for security. "Anyone looking suspicious look out of the window now" called the guide as security got on board. They smiled and waved to us - upstairs and down from the front then waved us through without search! Compared with access to Downing Street you wonder where security is! It`s a gorgeous estate open to the public for parties / evens / running etc since the days of Mo Mowlem who tried to bring it closer to the people and seems to have succeeded.

Next it was off to the Falls and Shanklin Roads. Here we saw so much more starkly the "interfaces" where catholic and Protestant communities touch on each others lives. here the murals were much more military and our eyes were fully opened to the events of the the Troubles and how they still impact on people today. I discovered my ignorance of events, history and present day all at once. When I had heard of the Peace Wall I had imagined one with images / words calling for understanding, sharing and kindness in a trouble free world. Of course I now know that there are some 17 peace walls constructed between communities with some almost 30 feet high and made of breeze block , tin and barbed wire that effectively split off the Protestant and Catholic communities. gateways in these walls are still locked at various times between 6 pm and midnight as 65% of the communities polled felt they were not ready yet for them to be open or removed! Still work to do. I still hate seeing the Orange halls and the proud tradition of marching and seemingly baiting catholics by moving close to and through their areas. Let`s hope things continue to improve and the government is sorted out soon after the recent split though may has done little to help with her UDP sweetener / bribe to hold onto power!

As usual flags abounded - there being so many more about because of Orange day being held on 12th July and bunting being left up now for a couple of months. Something I just don`t get is the whole worshipping of William of Orange and a battle in 1690 that causes such division still in the 21st century

CS Lewis is a bit part player here

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I can cope with the non sectarian images

This less so

Guns and more guns!

Gates are still locked at night to separate the communities

Peace Wall

Smiles and guns

God save the Queen!

With the heavy stuff of Belfast done it was back to the lighter tourist route! So funny hearing live guides on the bus and their attitudes to expensive sculptures / governments.

Nula with the Hula

The Balls on the Falls

A chance read told me of some yellow umbrellas in the sky and murals of famous Irish people. Something of an understatement to what I found and my favourite discovery in Belfast with murals full of fun and colour instead of terror.
After following the trail it seemed at first that the umbrellas had gone as the rain started....

But a walk down to the end and around the corner to the Duke of York Pu brought us to this...

Murals everywhere depicting some faces I knew and many more that I did not. A fantastic beer garden or mural art that I could have sat and taken in for ages, together with some great old black and white photographs. They offer a magazine for sale in the pubs explaining about the murals but attempts to buy one were blocked when a coach party walked through to see a game of |Thrones metal door in the pub I was in and blocked me off!

That night we went out looking for live music again ..... again without success!But we did visit the oldest pub in town which was beautiful.

Just a short walk from here to our apartment we discovered that Christine and her Google maps can seriously send you off course. Luckily Peter`s app was pinpoint accurate - once you had followed City hall signs and were within 43 metres of you target! Still - gave us a chance for some night shots of City Hall!