London Derry



Giant Causway

King Billy (William of Orange)




Saturday, September 8, 2012 Belfast/Giant's Causeway/Transfer to Londonderry

After breakfast, we traveled from Belfast to Londonderry (Derry).  The views from the bus were extraordinary.  The sheep were like dots in the field—and so FAT.  The cows were huge.  We are lucky because the weather is perfect. 

On the way, we stopped to view the Giant's Causeway, an amazing geologic formation of approximately 40,000 basalt stones, some as tall as 130 feet and mostly hexagonal in shape.  As Northern Ireland's premier landmark, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we heard the myth of the legendary Irish giant, Finn MacCool, in his attempts to woo a distant lady giant and meet a Scottish giant in battle to determine who was the stronger giant.  The Causeway is a result of accelerated cooling of lava outflows 60 million years ago.  We spent two hours here and did a self-guided tour over the basalt columns and the rocks.  We visited the new museum and had a light lunch.

Nancy being attacked by a pirate at castle

We arrived in Londonderry in the afternoon and had a guided tour by Denis inside of the wall.  Our hotel, The City Hotel (in Derry) is on the banks of the river with the Peace walking bridge right at our door.  We went on a walking tour of the city to get acclimated, and went to the oldest department store in Derry – The Austin.  It is 180 years old.  Then we all went to various pubs and restaurants.  We had a “cheap and cheerful” dinner of hamburgers, chips (French fries) and a pint of beer for 5 pounds each.  Then we took a walk across the Peace Bridge before retiring. 

Peace bridge at night

 

Peace bridge in daylight

Sunday, September 9, Londonderry/City tour/Optional Ulster American Folk Park tour

 Londonderry is situated on a picturesque hillside on the banks of the Foyle Estuary.  Founded by St. Columba in the sixth century, this is the fourth-largest city on the island of Ireland and is known for the vitality of its cultural life.  After a wonderful breakfast in morning we did a short walking tour with our guide Denis and then we met up with another guide – Roland.  Roland was a mixture of Asian and Irish descent and his mother was Budist and father was Catholic.  Roland is a professor and gave us a perspective of Ireland from the past to today.  We explored the city walls dated from the 17th century which encircle Londonderry's historic center.  Londonderry is also the birthplace of poet Seamus Heaney, who many consider a latter-days Yeats.  He's one of four Irish writers to have won a Nobel Prize for Literature.

 

Steve in on City Tour

 

 

Many of the group opted to take different tours.  Bob and Jim went to the Free Derry museum which was mainly about the Troubles in Ireland.  Another tour taken was by Carolyn and Roy of the Tower Museum, with exhibits illustrating the maritime history of Londonderry, or the Guildhall built in 1890 and in the Gothic architectural style, similar to its London counterpart.  Today it is the seat of the local government.  Rose and Nancy traveled on the optional tour to the Ulster American Folk Park.  This facility tells the story of emigration from Ulster to America in the 18th and 19th centuries and provides a living history experience on its outdoor site.  In the Folk Park, costumed guides and craftspeople recreate the past in an outdoor museum that includes a weaver's cottage, forge, schoolhouse, log cabin, church and a 19th century Ulster street.  The Ship and Dockside Gallery features a full-size reconstruction of an early 19th century sailing ship of the type that carried thousands of emigrants across the Atlantic.  A major indoor exhibition "Emigrants" complements the outdoor site. It rained most of the day, but with some sun breaks to make it tolerable.  The east coast group went to the Carvery for lunch—a fun place to eat.

 Nancy in pulpit on Ulster tour

 

We all met for our first happy hour in Mike and Eleanor’s room, with Carolyn and Roy providing a platter of Irish cheese and crackers.  Of course, there was wine, Bushmill and Scotch to compliment the day.  The locals were in the bar watching the Hurling match between Galway and another city.  It is a popular pastime in Ireland with amateurs in the competition.

 Happy Hour  Mike, Nancy, Eleanor, Carolyn

 

We walked to the Fitzroy’s restaurant for dinner.  It was very good and where the locals go.  We wanted to get rid of our Sterling Pound money as we are going to be using Euros from now on and were surprised when we went to pay the bill that it was 30% off!!  So we still have Pounds to spend.   We walked home along the banks of the Foyle river where the foot bridge (Peace Bridge) is illuminated.   Up early tomorrow – AIS at 8:30 A.M.

Dinner at Fitz Roys

Roy, Carolyn, Nancy, Jim and Bob (flash in mirror - Rose)