Northern Ireland

May 7–13, 2010

Belfast

A city with nothing to say for itself. There’s nothing to do here. Although the police cars here, unlike in Southern Ireland, look like serious armored vehicles.

Vote for such-and-such party, and it’s an offence to drink alcohol in public places.

The benches at bus stops are notable—a rubber sleeve stretched over a freestanding bent metal bar.

The Irish believe that cigarette butts and gum deserve their own compartments in trash cans, and even separate trash cans entirely.

Telephone booths here bear no resemblance to their brothers on the big island.

Street names are composed of letter tiles and set in custom frames.

A remarkable artifact—a “Well Kept Building” plaque. You could expect to encounter such a thing in Zvezdny, but certainly not in Belfast.