Since before arriving in Belfast, a quick google search will show that some of the best places to visit in the seaside city is City Hall and St. Georges Market.  Luckily today I, along with my classmates and friends, were able to do so on one of our first free days to explore the country however we choose.  We began the day by navigating the U.K.’s public transport system, finding the bus stop on the other side of the street heading into what we hoped was the city center.  In anxieties for getting off at our correct spot, we did not explore the second floor of the double decker bus but planned to do so soon (why don’t we have these in the States?).  Fortunately, we found the beautiful Belfast City Hall as it was not hard to miss with its massive Baroque architecture and got off to explore.  Belfast City Hall is in the heart of the city center, allowing us to travel almost anywhere else of interest in Belfast by a good walk.  There was plenty to see and admire outside the building, but we needed to see more, so we booked passes for a guided tour of the inside and visited St. George’s Marketplace while we waited.

            St. George’s Marketplace is a large indoor market with various local vendors that takes place from the morning to afternoons on weekends.  I was initially shocked to walk into freezers of fish and lines of vegetables but further in it was amazing to see the variety of art and vintage collections that people were selling.  After a walkthrough I was eager to buy Celtic jewelry and locally painted pictures of Northern Ireland’s best spots, as well as highland cow stuffed animals as gift souvenirs.  The most special experience I had at the market, however, was speaking to a local crystal vendor named Pattie.  I joined in to listen to his and Maddie’s conversation and found he had been talking about politics in Northern Ireland as a Catholic man.  He was excited for us to be studying abroad and told us to continue visiting other countries and that ‘the ones you hear the worst about are probably much better than you’d expect’.  It was lovely to hear his perspective and I found it’s been very common in Ireland as a whole for the community to stand in solidarity with Palestine, unlike much of America where it holds controversy.  Many Irish people like him find empathy with their community, suffering under colonialism as the Irish have for many years.  I found it funny as he told us that Northern Ireland elections are taking place on the 4^th of July and he noted that being a special day for us from the States, which is ironic as it celebrates our independence from the British.  Although critical of American politics himself, Pattie was encouraging of us and a gift to speak to.

            Back at Belfast City Hall we began our quick tour of the civic building and learned a great deal of the way the government runs here in Belfast.  They appoint a Lord Mayor who has four-year terms and can choose to have their portrait taken to hang on the walls of the Hall.  There were many portraits of previous Lord Mayors, men and women, in all different styles but with their common Chain of Office, a big and heavy chain of gold to wear around their neck.  The original Chain of Office, of 1787, is in display.  Belfast’s current Lord Mayor just began his term on the 1^st of June and is named Micky Murray.

            As a great surprise to me, we learned that Belfast was the third most bombed sight in the U.K during the WWII Blitz, and City Hall fell victim to the violence as well.  1,000 people died in 1941 due to a bombing of the City Hall and one portrait of a Lord Mayor survived, now framed in the Hall and unmoving.

             Finally, we were taken to the Counsel Chamber and were able to sit in representatives’ pews, all separated by political party and ‘two sword lengths apart’, as inspired by the English parliament’s.  A mace is brought to the chamber before meetings as a symbol of power as they were previously used in battle.  Although it seems a grand gesture for government meetings, our tour guide said they were quite casual and nice to watch when you can’t sleep.

            Overall, today was filled with adventure, splurging money, and learning local history in the inner city of Belfast.  It gave me a wider context in which the government works along with an appreciation for the local art and artists who were so inviting and encouraging to us.  This easily won’t be a one-time excursion into the city center.