good talk

I took the bus to Belfast to take the train to Dublin.  I went into the Hotel Europa which has the distinction of being the most bombed hotel in Europe, 28 times.  I asked if the hotel had been bombed since I was last there in 2001 and the Concierge laughingly said that things had been uneventful.  In a previous trip I took the very good Black Taxi Tour which takes you to all these places in Belfast concerning the violence during The Troubles.  The Troubles began in the late 1960's and generally ended with the Belfast Good Friday Agreement in 1998.  The Catholics wanted Northern Ireland to become part of the Republic of Ireland while the Protestants (Orangemen, Ulstermen), mostly a breeding of Irish and Scots, wanted N. Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom.  The Battle of the Boyne in 1690 won by William of Orange putting Ireland firmly under English Control was to many, Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Ulstermen, as though it had been fought 2 weeks before.  During The Troubles about 3500 were killed with many grisly killings by both sides.  Previously I had also been to Londonderry (called Derry by the Catholics) where there's a Monument dedicated to the memory of those killed on "Bloody Sunday," January 30, 1972.  British Paratroopers for no reason fired on a peaceful Catholic demonstration killing 14 and wounding 12.  Significant is that this was the Regular British Army and not Paramilitaries who had done this in full sight of the Public and the Press. I sent a postcard to my older brother, Bob, on whose right forearm there's a tattoo of an eagle suspended from a parachute above the lettering "Paratrooper" (he pointed out that this was done freehand noting this to be true artistry, I'd have to agree as it looks quite good and there was no margin for error), I said maybe you shouldn't visit here.