Belfast

 

I was in Belfast briefly over the holidays and the weather was BAD.
Wet, cold and windswept.
Apart from Christmas with family I did little other than eat and sleep.
I did take a trip down the Shankill and Falls roads and document a few monuments to the bad old days. The different factions are still arguing about much the same things as they have over the past 3 decades though outside of dissident Republican groups there is  little appetite to return to the violence of the past.
Sobering how bad things were back in the 1970s.



























Police station on the present day " peace line" separating Protestant  East and Catholic West Belfast.







The opposite view from the IRA below. 





































 

This is my first post in 6 months.

I think I should get back in the saddle.

Love to all

T



Christmas in Belfast

Its green.
Very Green.
I stayed at the same cottage as my last visit and took a short walk on Christmas day and took these pictures.

Green wet and cold. That was Christmas 2007.
On boxing day I went to watch a local derby football match. If I was cold on my walk I can only imagine how the players were feeling.

No family bust ups.

A good Christmas with great food and tons of sleep.

Unlike last year the flights and airports yielded no surprises.

I'm happy to say it was all restful and unexciting as trips go.
Hope your holidays are going well.

Love

T

Quick dash to Irealnd

Here's the reason for my 24 hour trip to Northern Ireland.
My parents don't get to see Jess very often, so when the opportunity arises we make the most of it. Its lovely to see them together and they're thick as thieves when we all link up. My parents rent a cottage close to where my sister lives and we had great fun having a treasure hunt, feeding the horses, spotting rabbits, and generally larking around. My niece and my daughter giggled into the night and made at least one phone call on my cell to an unsuspecting recipient!
The weather was, to say the least changeable.
Rain, sun, wind ,rain and sun again.
If you don't like the weather, wait around for 20 minutes and it'll change.
As the pics show, they don't call it the Emerald Isle for nothing.
We celebrated my sister's 40th and dad's 70th....110 years between them.
That makes me feel a bit better about my approaching 44th.
Where has time gone?
Use it while it's here is my advice to all of you.

Recently someone told me that my kid and I had a relationship that wouldn't last, or that it was some sort of abstract, manipulated ploy, unreal and used when the occasion lent itself.

To that I say, a resolute middle finger!

That's it for now.

I seem to be getting the hang of the camera and hope to carve out some time in Prague over the next couple of days to take some snaps.

Love to all

T

P.S.
Here's a pic of Banksy's most recent effort.

Read about it here