Today was our first breakfast in our new guesthome. We were definitely spoiled at the Maldron Hotel as far as breakfast went. The buffet of sausages, bacon rashers, toast, croissants, eggs, beans, mushrooms, cereal, and fruits was probably not the best thing to set the pace of the trip. Granted it was fantastic at the time, but now moving towards a more moderate breakfast, it leaves a few things to be desired (mainly heaps of bacon rashers and sausages). But it was still a great morning, much quieter and more homey as compared to the hotel.
We only had one listed stop for the class today which was Queens University. The university was originally titled as an academic institution but was chartered as Queens College in Belfast in 1845, along with similar colleges in Cork and Galway. These were created in order to encourage the higher education of Catholics, which makes sense since Trinity College did not have Catholics in the school. Now this was due to a law enforced by the Catholic church itself. Restrictions have since been lifted, but the laws enforcing this law remained in the 1970's. So, up until this time, the Catholics had to find another means of higher education, and thus Queens University. The University itself was rather substantial. The initial entrance building was massive, very much like a long cathedral. It was primarily meeting rooms, galleries, and exhibits for the universities history. Upon exiting we saw that the campus extended much farther than expected. The total student enrollment is around 25,000 students, which surprised me. The campus was large, heavily filled with parks and greenery, and has less students enrolled that the University of Colorado Denver (29,000). Though when compared, UCD is closer to a commuter college than QUB. A large amount of our students don't live within 10 miles of the campus and travel on the conveniently close highway to commute to school. We were not able to see a large portion of the university as exams were taking place in some of the buildings. This concluded the class portion of the day and left us to explore the Belfast area and see what we could learn.
We only had one listed stop for the class today which was Queens University. The university was originally titled as an academic institution but was chartered as Queens College in Belfast in 1845, along with similar colleges in Cork and Galway. These were created in order to encourage the higher education of Catholics, which makes sense since Trinity College did not have Catholics in the school. Now this was due to a law enforced by the Catholic church itself. Restrictions have since been lifted, but the laws enforcing this law remained in the 1970's. So, up until this time, the Catholics had to find another means of higher education, and thus Queens University. The University itself was rather substantial. The initial entrance building was massive, very much like a long cathedral. It was primarily meeting rooms, galleries, and exhibits for the universities history. Upon exiting we saw that the campus extended much farther than expected. The total student enrollment is around 25,000 students, which surprised me. The campus was large, heavily filled with parks and greenery, and has less students enrolled that the University of Colorado Denver (29,000). Though when compared, UCD is closer to a commuter college than QUB. A large amount of our students don't live within 10 miles of the campus and travel on the conveniently close highway to commute to school. We were not able to see a large portion of the university as exams were taking place in some of the buildings. This concluded the class portion of the day and left us to explore the Belfast area and see what we could learn.
Real quick I wanted to discuss the crest that we seem to be seeing on a lot of historical parts of Ireland as we travel around. The crest to the right has been seen in the parliament house, several churches, and Queens University today. The harp and the red had were familiar, as the harp was the crest of Ireland and bearing a resemblance to Brian Boru's harp that we saw in Trinity College. The Red Hand coming from the legend that the first English king to touch Irish soil did so my severing his hand and throwing it to shore. However in addition to these other symbols, the connection was unclear. Turns out the crest represents the four previously separated provinces of Ireland. The provinces represented for the symbols are Ulster for the Red Hand, Leinster for the Harp, Munster for the three crowns, and Connacht for the bird and dagger. While none of these provinces really hold any designation as far as borders, they are occasionally used when source: http://www.stoliverplunkettcsc.com splitting things such as sports teams up by regions.
Our group decided to venture to the Titanic museum, west of the river in Belfast. After much, much wandering around to try to find it, we managed to find it. The museum itself was relatively cubed shaped but with each corner resembling the bow of a ship. The exhibit was probably the most modern, technology integrated one that I have ever seen. There were walls of information that you would traditionally expect, but a bunch of interactive portions such as a map of Belfast that lit up with locations of note when you touched the location name along the side. This in addition to 3D models of how the ship would've been built, where people of different classes would've spent their time, and an entire room with projectors that allowed you to use the floor as a touchscreen made the museum incredibly immersing to the information being presented. It also included replica rooms on the different decks and projections of the crew and guests. While most of us do have a fairly firm grasp of the events of the Titanic, this exhibit allowed you to connect deeper with those that lost their lives that day. In all, an experience that I would highly recommend to anyone.
Outside the museum we found a carnival that turned out to be an annual deal for the Titanic exhibit that we had managed to come to on a day that it was happening. Much food was purchased, and food culture was observed. Also previous statement redacted in regards to the less sugar in Ireland. I found the sugar. It comes in the form of a bucket of churros covered in nutella. I have no regrets about purchasing and eating it all. In all a grand day, and I look forward to our tea time tomorrow at the Europa Hotel. Stay tuned.