Pamela Louderback, Day 93

Since my time left in Belfast is coming to an end, I thought I would spend today on the Lagan River.  I walked down Donegall Pass again in hopes of window shopping at the antique stores.  Unfortunately, they were closed and shades were drawn over the windows.  Past Donegall Pass, I traveled Ormeau Road for one last visit to St. George's Market and finally gave in -- purchasing the Isle of Man Manx cat figurine.  I had a nice visit with the proprieter who regaled about all of his trips to the United States over the last 25 years.  He had been to Macon, Georgia, several parts of Alabama, North Carolina and all along the Eastern seaboard.  His favorite place was North Carolina. 

After leaving St. George's, I walked up Oxford Street past Waterfront Hall making my way to the place of the bloodiest site of Bloody Sunday (Oxford Street Bus Depot) where at 2:48 p.m. a car bomb exploded outside the depot on Oxford Street. This explosion resulted in the greatest loss of life and the greatest number of casualties. The area was being cleared but was still crowded when the bomb exploded. Two British Army soldiers, Stephen Cooper (aged 19) and Philip Price (27), were close to the car bomb and died instantly. Three civilians who worked for Ulsterbus were killed: William Crothers (15), Thomas Killops (39) and John Gibson (45). One member of the Ulster Defence Association was also killed: William Irvine (18). 

I walked along Donegall Quay, enjoying the tugboats, ships, and passersby.  Laganside Courts, the Customs House, and the Royal Court of Justice were all within blocks of each other.  At Thanksgiving Square, I was able to see the sculpture known as The Ring of Thanksgiving. This female figure represents various allegorical themes associated with hope and aspiration, peace and reconciliation and is derived from images from Classical and Celtic mythology. Typical Belfast humour - she is know as many things:- The Thing with the Ring; The Nuala with the Hula (Nuala a common Irish girl's name); or The Doll on the Ball.

However, my favorite sculpture, one I had been wanting to see "up close", was the "Big Fish".  This sculpture is a printed ceramic mosaic sculpture created by John Kindness.  It's 10 metres long and was constructed in 1999 in Donegall Quay near the Lagan Lookout and Custom House.  The outer skin of the fish is a cladding of ceramic tiles decorated with texts and images relating to the history of Belfast. Material from Tudor times to present day newspaper headlines are included along with contributions from Belfast school children (including a soldier and an Ulster Fry).  The work was commissioned to celebrate the regeneration of the River Lagan and the return of the salmon. The site is a significant landmark -- where the River Farset meets with the River Lagan.  Belfast is named after the River Farset -- The name is derived from the Irish Béal Feirsde, which was later spelled Béal Feirste.  (Béal means "mouth",  feirsde/feirste is the genitive singular of fearsaid and refers to a sandbar or tidal ford across the mouth of a river.

The end of my Titanic Quarter/Laganside walking tour took place near Victoria Square -- a shopping centre that is home to over 50 stores including House of Fraser, Topshop, Cruise, Reiss and H&M.  Architecturally, it gives a feel of openness and almost all levels can be viewed depending on where you're standing.  Victoria Square bases itself on an open street model more prevalent in mainland European cities: it is termed an "urban grain streetscape", not a mall.  The showpiece glass dome space is the heart of the project with floating platforms linking all levels of circulation -- and is quite impressive looking, especially at night.

Photos of my outing will have to wait as I destroyed my converter while Skyping the other day (i.e., burning smell, followed by loud "pop", and much smoke that filled the entire office) and I cannot use my laptop until I purchase a new converter.   I'm just glad a fire extinguisher was not necessary...  Slan!