We have been up for over 30 hours now and are fading quickly. We had a good and uneventful 10 1/2 hour flight from SFO to Heathrow, then another 90 minutes onto Belfast. We are staying at the beautiful Europa Hotel in the heart of the city. This hotel is famously known as “Europe's most bombed hotel.” Between 1970 and 1994, it was damaged 33 times by IRA bombs. President Bill Clinton stayed here during his two visits to Belfast in 1995 and 1998.
After meeting our program director, Rory, we took a short walk to explore the neighborhood. Across the street from the hotel is the Grand Opera House which opened in 1895.
A half block down the street is the Presbyterian Church Assembly Buildings Conference Centre. It was built in 1905 as the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and is one of the most impressive buildings in Belfast’s city center.
Tomorrow we will continue to explore Belfast and learn more about its troubled past.
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