Backpacking through Europe in 1994

Day 4 • September 10, 1994
Belfast, Northern Ireland

Thirty years ago today I got up early and took a train north, from Dublin, Ireland, across the border to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Country number two for me!

I spoke with British soldiers who were guarding recently bombed courthouses as well as locals in a pub about “The Troubles,” the name of the conflict between the British Protestant and Irish Catholic populations.

I spent a fascinating day in Belfast, learning as much as I could, walking around and taking pictures, and I returned to Dublin on a train in the evening.

A British soldier stands guard in front of a courthouse that had been recently bombed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

My Photographs from today in Dublin and Belfast

Day 4 / 9-10-94
A Day in Belfast, Northern Ireland

The day is not actually over yet, but I have some time, and I don’t foresee anything too exciting happening later.

Today has run extremely smoothly for me. I woke up on time at 6:50, dressed, ate breakfast, and made it to the station for the 7:55 train to Belfast.

Everyone seems very upbeat about the IRA (Irish Republican Army) ceasefire of 10 days.

Belfast seemed very normal as I walked around until an armored personnel carrier drove by. It really scared me- i don't know why, but it did.

And then, as I turned the corner, I saw a soldier standing post with a nice big machine gun. I ended up going and talking to the soldier, who turned out to be very pleasant.

“It's still business as usual for us,” he said when I asked about the ceasefire.

I was eventually able to take his photo and that of another soldier a little farther away.

Here is what is weird though: in Dublin I felt uneasy because the police didn't carry any guns at all. I wanted to laugh at them. But in Belfast, I felt uneasy because I thought the authorities were too well armed. I mean, machine gun posts on street corners?

Something you don't see in America. But then again, I didn't see any headlines here proclaiming gang murders, kids killing kids, drive by shootings, etc. It leads to a lot of deep thinking.

Anyway, here's another episode of “Todd getting free stuff”. I was getting very thirsty, so I stopped in a pub called The Morning Star, which, it happened to turn out, was one of the original pubs in Belfast, dating back to the 1840s.

I started a conversation with a couple by asking if most people in Northern Ireland consider themselves British or Irish. British, they said.

They asked what I was drinking, and I replied water. Brian then jumped up to get me a drink. While he was gone, I explained to Mary, his wife, that the reason I was drinking water was because I didn't change any money to British pounds, since I was only going to be there five hours.

Brian and then returned with my water - not regular tap water, but some expensive Perrier water. But Mary explained my situation, saying “Brian, he doesn't really want water, he just doesn't have any money.”

So Brian went and bought me a pint of beer. Then as if that wasn't enough, they gave me £3 so I could get something to eat or drink before I left.

I stopped in at two other pubs on the way back to the station to spend my money!

I got the 3:00 train and was back in Dublin by 5:15. I walked back to the hostel, collected my pack, hopped on a bus, and am now in the city’s main bus station, awaiting my trip to London and then on to Tours!

My round trip train ticket from Dublin Connolly Station to Belfast Central Station.