Snag a snug and down some Irish whiskey

Ever sit in a "snug?" In the Crown Bar, a former gin joint also known as the Crown Liquor Saloon, the snugs are private, carved wood booths. Wait staff can pass drinks over the top of the cubicle-like snugs, or open the door and hand them in.

The Crown Bar is in the heart of Belfast. But isn't Belfast dangerous, you ask? Not any more so than other urban area.

Peace broke out in Northern Ireland, as of the signing in the 90's of an agreement between the Catholics and the Protestants. "The Troubles" are no more, although you can see much of the history of them via huge murals on walls and houses around the city. And people still hold grudges and have prejudices, like human beings everywhere.   

But tourism is coming back. The Crown Bar, near the Grand Opera House, was hopping on the Saturday night I wandered in. What a fine, historic interior. Etched and painted glass. Brocade walls. Red granite topped bar. And a lively crowd, packed in all possible spaces.

I was in Northern Ireland with a tour group but I had time to wander off on my own each day. Including after dinner, which is when I explored the Crown.

Another afternoon in Belfast I found "Joy's Entry" and several other narrow, maze-like pedestrian passages between buildings. You enter these walks and find "secret" pubs and restaurants like McCrackens or O'Neill's.

A sign on a brick wall near one of the entries says they are "the close-knit passageways where Belfast was born and bred." I can imagine a great movie scene where people being chased slip into one of these entries and lose the car that was after them. 

I also took a "black taxi tour" and learned a lot about the history of The Troubles. My guide, Ken Harper, explained the symbolism on some of the murals. For instance, an "H" is for H block in a Northern Irish prison where Bobby Sands, an Irish Republican prisoner went on a hunger strike and died.

Harper explained the peace wall, or peace lines, that the British Army built to keep down the violence between neighborhoods. Many sections of the wall remain.

It's fascinating to visit a recent former "war zone" and have a chance to visit places like Shankill Road and Falls Road that were in the news for so long.

And to see that there's so much more to the place than its outdated reputation for violence. Such as a five-star hotel. The shipyard where the Titanic was built. And some fine Belfast shopping streets.

And there's always the great Irish humor. From our guide, when we first drove from the airport to Belfast:
"If you can see the hills, it's going to rain. If you can't see the hills, it's already raining."

And from a member of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, about the pride that the Belfast shipbuilders had in the great vessels they built, including the Titanic: "As the locals will say, 'She was alright when she left here.' "

Photos: Ellen Perlman
1. Robinsons Bar, Belfast. (The Crown's exterior was under construction)
2. Mural on Protestant neighborhood, Belfast.

Comments

[george clake]

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