Thursday
Although I have lived in Belfast for a very long time, I have rarely written about it, primarily because of hate-mongering gits who turn any mention of Northern Ireland into an excuse for personal attack and pointless flaming. So... if you are one of them, go away. This article will bore you and any attempt to discuss politics will be deleted on sight.
Few of our readers have the slightest knowledge of Belfast outside of what is written over drinks in the Europa Hotel bar or from live media feeding frenzies where a handful of rioters get photographed, filmed and interviewed by a small army of bleeding-lede starved media mavens. This creates a distorted view of our town and has virtually no relationship to the daily lives of anyone who lives here. The 'exciting' Belfast is long gone. This is not to say we do not have some problems with hooligans, particularly around July 12th...
Reporters at the Europa missed this one!
What the reporters do not bother to show you is that this is an incredibly beautiful place. When we get a perfect day like today, It is simply stunning. That is what this article is about. Nothing newsworthy. Nothing political. I simply went shopping, about a mile or two of walking on foot, and took a few photos to share with you. Since the small size allowable on the front page does not do the images justice, I have made them clickable for those who really want to get the full impact of the high resolution images.
The geography of Belfast is dominated by the Belfast Lough and the hills on either side.
There are a fair few churches about.
Even a wee neighborhood shopping center looks nice in the summer sunlight.
There are parks and parklets everywhere.
There is a bird sanctuary just the other side of this railway bridge.
If there is any point to this article other than a hot day diversion, it is that journalists are trained to see and report what is ugly and mean in life while bloggers are free to show what is fun and beautiful and good with nary a worry about getting sacked for it.
Now... where did I put those extra icecube trays?
Nice Pics Dale. Looks like you had a good day.
Shame you felt you had to include that first paragraph - I for one have long been under the impression that there was much more to Belfast than Paisley and Adams.
I've never been, but I always got the impression from TV that the city's setting was analogous to Edinburgh with the scenery almost coming into the town so to speak? I hope that makes sense.
Posted by Nick M at July 20, 2006 06:56 PM
Ahhhh, you're making me homesick Dale.
Notice you didn't show them the scenery on a windswept day in December when the sun creeps above the horizon for almost a whole seven hours and the rain comes in from the West in horizontal sheets!
Posted by Young Fogey at July 20, 2006 07:13 PM
Young Fogey: I have discovered by trial and error that you cannot do scenic landscape photos with a flash ;-)
Posted by Dale Amon at July 20, 2006 07:21 PM
My visits to Northern Ireland during 1979 really woke me up to how distorted our views are when they are formed only by what we see in the mainstream media.
During the winter of 1979 I went to Northern Ireland several weekends in a row to sell watches in the vaious markets round Belfast, Cookstown etc. Even though it was winter, and perishing cold, and I had to stand outside all day long and, even though the 'troubles' were still at their height, I found the countryside beautiful and the people charming. I do not know if it has changed but the pubs and nightclubs were great fun and the live music of a very high quality.
Posted by Nick Timms at July 20, 2006 08:08 PM
I have covered some of the fine music in a few posts over the years. Many of the best musicians on the whole island come from Belfast.
Posted by Dale Amon at July 20, 2006 08:35 PM
beautiful? now come on. really new zealand is beautiful, japan is beautiful. Belfast is far far from it. it's a run down dead end. and you know it
the good weather does nothing but bring even more scum out onto the streets to mar whatever small enjoyment the rest of us get from it.
Posted by rich at July 21, 2006 11:19 AM
It's been 11 years since our last visit, but we loved our time in Belfast. The Botanic Gardens were lovely, and the city center was tidy and lively. And of course, the countryside is beautiful.
Posted by Michael Bates at July 21, 2006 04:44 PM
I have wanted to see Belfast after reading "Eureka Street." My work used to take me to Dublin and I always planned to drive up. My new position does not involve travel, so it might be a while – thanks for the pics..
Posted by jk at July 21, 2006 08:22 PM
the good weather does nothing but bring even more scum out onto the streets to mar whatever small enjoyment the rest of us get from it.
Jerk.
I have been to the north-west coast of the Republic, pretty close to the border with the North, and if that is a guide, then the North must be great. My brother used to work for a while in Derry and loved it for the fishing and the scenery.
I am really glad Dale put this thread up, and I hope that Belfast and its surrounding area continues to thrive and prosper. The birthplace of Van Morrison and George Best (RIP) deserves to be regarded as more than just a place where bombs go off.
Posted by Johnathan at July 22, 2006 03:41 PM
I've been to Belfast. The photos are the best they've got. It goes downhill from there pretty fast.
Posted by ken at July 24, 2006 01:02 PM
Hi ! I'm going to Belfast next week, so I'm getting some info...
Posted by Ks2ndre at July 28, 2006 09:46 PM
