Day 1 of the Paddywagon Tour - Ireland

So we got to Paddy's Palace about 7.45am and started getting on buses. to make life more difficult there were 350 people to organise onto 5 different tours (all gappers where coming for half-term and a few other people too). So as we got onto the last bus to leave Dublin it was about 8.50am and the 26 of us headed off to the Guiness Factory. I stood in the largest pint glass and for all those who are going to ask, YES, I did try Guinness and it wasn't as bad as other things I have tried, but one mouthful was definitely enough.  :)

We then headed off to Drogheda where we went to St Peter's Cathedral and Saw Oliver Plunkett's head.
(If you want to know who he is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Plunkett)

After checking out the head and church we headed forth towards Belfast where we went on a Black Taxi Tour. It was through the areas of town where it is still strictly Catholic or Protestant and where the fence is that divides the city . The fence is just over 4 miles long and at it's highest is 42 feet high. We entered the Protestants area first and it was very rough and a little run down. Lots of kids where on the streets with their full Adidas tracksuits and Adidas shoes, swearing, fighting and throwing such things as rocks at each other. They certainly told us what they thought about us being there and  told us to 'f* off and to stop looking at them' in not so nice terms. These kids would not have been any older than 12/13 and kids as young as 4/5 were out there doing exactly the same thing.

We then went and saw the fence and wrote messages and names and got photos and what not. There were some great quotes and things people had written. One of my favourites was along the lines of  'don't hold onto the past, get the f* over it and grab a beer'  written by an Aussie.

We then headed to the Catholic side of the fence. It was so different yet it had so many similarities. The houses were all a lot nicer and there seemed to be a better atmosphere around the place. there were still some kids on the street but no where near as many. On this side of the fence there are houses within 2 metres of the fence so the hoses have extra fences and cages to stop the bricks and things that come over from hitting the houses. It was quite interesting to see this tour and to realise that this was still going on when I was born, so it was very recent and something I can relate to in terms of how long ago it was. It is also still very obvious in some places how people are still affected by it today.

To finish the day we headed to dinner and went on a pub crawl. £5 and we got entry into two clubs and two pubs/bar places. We also got three free drinks over the night. Everything else we had to pay for but was heaps cheap! Was a very good night!! :) :)

Xxxx