Photos
We are still in Northern Ireland which is the UK and uses the pound and so we haven’t changed sim cards yet, but will tomorrow. It is all very complicated and yet other than the dividing barriers within Belfast and Derry, and the flags, you would never know you were in either Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland. Well, that and different currencies. Anyway, we never crossed a border, or saw a sign announcing that we were leaving one country and entering another.
We are still in Northern Ireland which is the UK and uses the pound and so we haven’t changed sim cards yet, but will tomorrow. It is all very complicated and yet other than the dividing barriers within Belfast and Derry, and the flags, you would never know you were in either Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland. Well, that and different currencies. Anyway, we never crossed a border, or saw a sign announcing that we were leaving one country and entering another.
We were up early again and went down to breakfast early.
Clay ate cereal and cold buffet with hot tea. I had hot buffet with toast,
scrambled eggs and ham and hash browns as well as a Yoplait with coffee.
The bus left at 8:30am. We drove north. We drove along the
Causeway Coastal Route which may be one of the great scenic coastal drives.
Evidently on a clear day at the closest point (12 miles) to Scotland you can
see it. We could barely see the shore and a little ways off. So, we continue
with the wretched and unseasonable weather. We drove through Larne and then had
a comfort stop at the Spar in Carnlough. That is pronounced carn lock. We went
inland some and drove over an old stone bridge called Glendun Viaduct. I am
fairly certain we didn’t get a photo. It was a very scenic valley. Along the
way we saw tons of sea birds, I spotted one otter, and one hare. Of course, we
saw loads of sheep and lambs, a lot of cattle and several horses and donkeys or
mules.
Our goal this morning was the reason we chose this trip. You
had to spend at least 12 days in Ireland with CIE Tours to get to the Giant’s Causeway. It is Northern
Ireland’s only World Heritage site. It is a geologic feature on the northern
coast. It was an awful day to visit, as it was gusting sideways rain so hard
that umbrellas were impossible. Honestly, someone should have warned us to pack
rain suits. We’d have gotten more use out of them than anywhere else we have
ever packed them. But, we don’t have them. So, cold and soggy it is. I guess it
was still impressive but not what I expected from all the photos in sunshine. I
guess when you are looking through the raindrops on your glasses and trying not
to slip on slick stones you can’t take in a lot else. So that was our time at
Giant’s Causeway. We were there almost 3 hours as it constituted our lunch stop
as well. We ate protein bars and Clay bought candy in the gift shop. Chocolate
covered honeycomb pieces (like seafoam in Oregon) and I got Finn McCool’s
Flump. Finn McCool is the Giant’s name and Flump is a long tube of marshmallow.
At 1:45pm the bus left for the last leg to
Derry-Londonderry. Evidently even the name is something to fight over. The
Catholics call it Derry and the Protestants call it Londonderry. I’ll just call
it Derry for efficiency and because that is how it is listed on our itinerary.
Derry is on Lough Foyle. It was an important Allies port in WWII. Derry was
founded 400 years ago and it was a walled city because it was settled and built
by Church of England people who were given it by the British monarchy. The
locals didn’t like it then and they still don’t.
About 3:45pm we arrived at City Hotel. There is no bus
parking here right on the river in view of a fancy new pedestrian bridge and
the old Guildhall. The luggage was to be unloaded and a comfort stop then back
on the bus. There was a large armed Police presence outside and crazy crowds.
It turned out that Prince Michael, the Queen’s nephew, was staying here and
celebrating something with the Young Apprentices who are the ones with the
Orange Marching Season. This dates back to 1690 or something and William of
Orange who defeated the Catholics and hence the trouble all the way to today.
We had a bus tour with a local guide to see the Bogs where the
Catholics were separated without housing, jobs or the vote. It just looks like
apartment buildings now with political murals and monuments. There was still a
tall fence as protection between the 2 where they were right across the street
again.
Then we walked on a section of the old city wall back to the
City Hotel. I asked the guide about the city seal, or coat of arms, as it was interesting
with a castle and a skeleton on it. The skeleton actually has a name. William De Burgh had an affair with his
sister-in-law and his brother walled him in the castle where he starved to
death.
We are in room 612 on the 6th floor with a view
of the river and the Guildhall. We can also see a new Peace Bridge for
pedestrians spanning the River Foyle.
We got back to the hotel about 5pm and got our keys and
found our bags in our room. It is a large room with a king-sized bed, a chest
with TV, a desk with a chair, a table with 2 chairs. A closet and tea set and a
pants press. We have had a pants press in every CIE Tours hotel so far and it
is a nice touch. The bathroom is decent with a shower over tub and lots of
towels including a towel elephant on the sink counter.
Bags are out at 6:50am in the morning, breakfast is at 7am
and the bus leaves at 8am. We only have one night here at City Hotel Derry.
