Peace for All and Learning about just How Titanic the Titanic was

Once we arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland we went to the local branch of the Ulster-Scots Agency. They greeted us with a member playing the bagpipes and awesome sandwiches! We then received a presentation from their teaching correspondent about who the Ulster-Scots are and the history behind their immigration to and from Ireland. We even talked briefly about the Ulster-Scots and how some of them immigrated to Appalachia to seek religious freedom! They sent us off on our city tour with the bag pipes playing Auld Lange Syne.

After eating lunch with the Ulster-Scots Agency we headed off on a bus for an official tour of Belfast! We drove around the city and our bus driver even took us into West Belfast, which is where some of the Troubles took place. Even though the city is at peace currently many of the "peace" walls are still up and many are painted with murals depicting figures of peace, human rights issues around the world, or major events that happened during the Troubles. It was quite moving to see the murals and the walls that are still standing tall separating the city. It was very interesting to hear our bus driver's perspective on the walls and on the Troubles. He believes that in the next five years or so the walls in Belfast will come down.

Pictured above is Nelson Mandela as some of you may know, but notice the Irish flag behind him. Our bus driver said many of these murals in particular are meant to represent solidarity with different Human Rights movements around the world.

Pictured above is the Peace wall, and if you look closely you can see a quote from the Dalai Lama and the thousands of signatures lining the wall. 

Even though the murals have been around for a while, new murals are still added today. More recently, this mural in remembrance of the hate crime that took place last summer in Orlando, Florida was added. The murals, especially ones such as this, are meant to promote peace and love towards all people and to remember those who are gone. 

Here is a picture of one of my fellow students, Grace Plemmons, signing the peace wall.

After we finished our tour, we journeyed next to the Titanic museum. As you may or may not know, the Titanic was actually build in Belfast. So next to the slip where the Titanic was built a museum was erected in hopes of keeping the memory alive and teaching people about what really happened on the ship. The museum is huge and each side is as tall as the Titanic actually was. The museum focused on what Belfast was like for the working man back in the early 1900's and how they built the Titanic. It's crazy exactly how much went into just building one part of the gigantic ship! The museum also touched on the search for the Titanic and the various myths surrounding the ship and it's sinking.

This is the slip where the Titanic was built. The poles represent the length and width of the ship when it was in the dry dock.

This is a picture of the Titanic Museum itself. Notice the hull shaped exterior and just how tall the building stands.