A tip for those of you who have not visited the beautiful world of Northern Ireland, specifically Belfast: Look both ways before you cross the street. This may sound like common sense, but let me tell you, it is battlefield here. Belfast is not a pedestrian friendly city.
Let me expound on that rather ominous statement. There are crosswalks and sidewalk and appropriately marked areas and or signs pertaining to road crossing in Belfast. However, there is also a lack of the above things in some areas and this is where the real danger arises. You see, here in Belfast there seems to be a great controversy over whether pedestrians have the right of way or not. Why, I witnessed an argument over this very subject last night between a pedestrian and a motor vehicle. The drunken girl yelled at the cab that almost hit her, citing the “law” that cars must yield to pedestrians in Belfast, and the cab driver yelled back, “You drunken idiot, no they don’t.” Have I mentioned before how kind and considerate Belfast is?
But I see a very important flaw with this argument. Regardless of what the pedestrian thinks, the car will always win. So, as a rule of thumb, when walking around in Belfast do not cross the street in front of a car unless you get the polite “you may cross” wave. In fact, I would even wait to make sure they are not just swatting at a fly in their car and have no real intention of stopping the vehicle. It just boggles my mind that someone would make no attempt to not hit a pedestrian. For instance, I am crossing the street. I was halfway across the street before you and your tiny European car ever showed up. I would think that because I am already in the process of crossing the street, you would slow down and do your best NOT to hit me. This is a foolish assumption. Drivers here make no such attempt, in some cases they will even honk at you – a kind warning which alerts you that they are about to run you over. And then, when it looks as though there is to be a person/car collision and you leap back with a shriek while the car meanders to stop (sometimes), the driver of the car will even give you a disgusted look. As if I brought this upon myself, thinking that people don’t want to run over other people with their cars. Apparently, in Belfast, running down pedestrians is an old tradition.
Don’t misunderstand me. There are some wonderful moments where you want to cross the road and a kind gentleman will give the head nod and a little wave. As you cross, you feel a sense of deep love and accomplishment. You see, those moments don’t happen every day. These are rare occurrences that you come to cherish and look back on fondly. You know that you are having a good day when a citizen of Belfast chooses to let you cross the road instead of ramming you with their automobile. Because let’s be honest, that is a big sacrifice for them. The moral of the story is to air on the side of caution when crossing streets in Belfast.
In other news, I did visit the Crown – one the oldest and classiest pubs in Belfast. A little expensive for the college budget, but the ambience involved makes it almost worth shoving aside tourists for a seat. Now, I have never bought a drink there but I can tell you that when I do I will feel a huge sense of sophistication. The pub is beautiful. There is an old-world charm that, no doubt, keeps the tourists coming and takes your mind to a kinder place, perhaps a novel, where the barkeep is a kind man with a good ear for listening and is a man who you consider a good friend, though never actually knowing much about him. It does help that the bartenders wear the old-fashioned outfit and the bar is filled with enough handcrafted woodwork to make any normal person wish they had a handlebar mustache to stroke. Instead of the oh-so-typical tables associated with pubs, the crown has booths. Booths that have swinging doors and high backs so you and your party are almost closed off from the rest of the bar. Yes, classy. The booths themselves are works of art – although there are so few of them and so many tourists that you basically have to call in advance to reserve one. Which definitely takes the fun out of meandering into a bar without a real plan for the night, but I am sure is worth it. One day, I will sit in one of those booths and order myself a glass of wine and feel very important. Just, not this month.
And that’s the news from Belfast; where the women are thin and the men wear sweatpants.
Kelsey
No comments:
Post a Comment