On Monday we departed from Dublin heading North for Northen Ireland, specifically Belfast. Along the way to Belfast we made a few stops first off which was to visit the Papal Cross which marked the location that Pope John Paul II said mass during his first visit to Ireland to over 2 million Irish people. This was very special to be able to see this location and try to imagine the vast fields, which were full of deer during our visit, filled with that many people coming to see mass.
From there we continued on to a Cathedral to see a very special relic. The relic was of St. Oliver Plunket and specifically it was of his perserved head. Oliver Plunket was a Bishop that was ordered, by the monarch, to stop performing his duties. He refused and was eventually tried and put to death. His head is mo perserved and on display in the town where his congregation was.
Follow that we took a small trip to an old Monistery where monks used to carve huge celtic cross with images explaining to the stories of the bible. It was a cool place with many grave stones and huge tower used as protection for the monks. The fact that crows were cawing the entire time added to mood of the monistery.
We continued on to Belfast which was a special intense experience. If you ever visit Belfast the one thing I suggest to do is take a Black Taxi Tour. This is a tour run by Taxi drivers from both sides of Belfast that work together to discuss both sides of the Belfast conflict. We started by visiting the Protesnt side where we were shown some girzzly murals dipicting and celebrating the killing of Catholics. This murals are in a residenial area were many members of the UDA still live and meet. Some of the Murals have been painted over with more up lifting pictures and tones in an attempt to move forward by the government. The nursey school next to these scenes is aptly named Hope nursery school...
We moved onto the "Peace Wall" much like the Berlin Wall it divids the Protesten and Catholic section, we signed the wall with a message of peace and realized tensions are still high in this area as rocks and bricks are thrown from behind hedgerows in our direction.
We contiuned to the Catholic side of the wall and saw how those that live near the wall have cages around their decks to block out debris that is thrown over the wall. We viewed the Catholic IRA murals which were much more political in tone.
We left with new knowledge on such an old conflict.
We checked into our hostel, 12, person dorm a place to lie our heads ar night. We learned about the Belfast Giants their hockey team. I learned rocket is Ireland term for arrugala.
We went to dinner at Ryans pub and had Carlsberg to.drink hot wings made with malt viniger for starters and chicken boxty, irish potato pancakes for main. It was great food and good company.
We continued on to another pub Robins Pub to listen to Irish music. We entered the haberdashery to hear the band playing "Galway Girl," we approached the bar and this is where things get interesting. I noticed someone I knew from the states it was Nathan Maxwell the bass player for Flogging Molly. We politely approached him and asked if he was indeed Nathan, he was!
This encounter was huge for Mike and I. When we orignally booked our trip we had planned to see Flogging Molly play in Dublin but was not able to get the trip to sync up to the tour schedule. I had joked with Mike that we might bump into them in a pub.
We began chatting with Nathan and we shared our first Pint of Guinness in Ireland with him. He told us the story of his first pint in Ireland. From here on the Conversation and Guinness flowed freely. We introduced him to our group and he spent the entire night talking about politics, religion, family, music etc. As the evening continued our group got smaller and smaller we were left with Myself, Mike, Nathan, and out group member friend Mike. The pub was closing and we were politely asked to leave. Nathan expresses he wanted to hang some more. He invited is back to his room.
We got to the hotel and were not allowed in his room. We went to the lobby lounge and were introduced to Dennis, Flogging Molly's guitar player, their lighting designer, and road manager. We continuednour convo and disscussed with Dennis a possible move to NJ. We finally left with hugs and handshakes and got back to the Hostel at 3am completely amazed by the days events.
We now toast to Nathan, said in an Irish accent, "To Nat'an Maxwell, may he find God before God finds him!"
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