| Product: |
Belfast in General |
| Date: |
19.10.03 (176 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: nice people, irish warmth, hmmm the beer is good
Disadvantages: streets can be dirty, the city councillors, neglected streets
I have lived in belfast all my life, i have seen a lot - the security situation, the bombs, the bullets, the funerals.
Now that the ceasefires and peace process has breathed new life into the city some things never change - the state of the place.
the rubbish is a disgrace, the graffiti is disgusting and the fact that some city centre streets have been neglected.
the massive castle court shopping centre is a major spot for shoppers and tourists. in its shadow lie many neglected streets.
Gresham street is full of sex shops which lead onto north street. this is the gateway for the shankill and is a really a slum.
castle street on the other side of castle court leads to the falls and west belfast. this street has a sex shop, plenty of arcades and is also a slum.
the falls and shankill are working class areas which have suffered a lot during the conflict and now in peace time the streets that lead to them are a disgrace. This puts many tourists off.
sectarianism still exists in this city and the fact the union jack flies all year round from city hall is hard to understand. it is simply two fingers in the faces of nationalists.
there is plus sides to this city and one of those plus sides is that this is a city in ireland and the irish warmth can be felt as soon as you set foot here.
the place has moved on from the past but has a bit to go.
Places to go:
The city does have something to offer tourists. Beside the main post office operates several bus tours. They bring you around Belfast, the shipyard where titanic was built and around through the entire city. Some the tour guides are quite witty and very friendly.
Pubs – yes we irish are the second largest consumers of drink in the world. We celebrate everything with a drink. The pubs are full of friendly people. Try Kelly’s cellars, the crown or white’s tavern, these are very old pubs.
The Belfast visi
tors centre in the city centre will give you lots of info and locals will always help you.
One bit of good news is the fact that ‘black mountain’, which dominates the Belfast skyline, is being open to the public. You can see the entire city, a few counties and even the isle of man from this big mountain. The national trust is to build a network of paths over the next year on the mountain range. The land was previously owned by the british army.
So this city may be grubby in parts but the people will make up that. The people who run the city are slightly useless. They spend their time giving the go ahead for new arcades, bookies and sex shops. Overall it’s not a bad place after all I am still here 3 decades later.
Summary:
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