A Visit to Derry

If you are in Northern Ireland, you would be remiss if you did not visit Derry. Most people know Derry as Londonderry, however, the process is in place to officially change the name back to Derry.

Derry is a pretty city. The violence that was there twenty years ago is almost a thing of the past. The people are working hard to overcome the feelings that caused the violence and they are doing a good job of it. They are not completely finished the process yet, but they are getting there.

Derry was a city that was divided along religious lines. It was the Catholics against the Protestants but as the younger generation grew to become adults, they did not understand why there were such problems. As most people are aware, many of the younger generation do not go to Church and even those that do have no idea why the fighting went on for so long.

The people of Derry are working out their differences and both sides of the conflict want the violence to end. Housing for the working class is becoming equalized for both Protestants and Catholics. Job opportunities no longer specify religious preference. Stores cater to all.

The people are also being cautious. There is a wall in one of the areas of Derry that separates homes of the Protestants from homes of the Catholics. The people on both sides of the wall were asked if they wanted the wall to come down. People on both sides said no because they don’t want to chance an outbreak of violence. This wall is not the only wall that is in Derry.

The location of the barracks for the military also has a wall that was meant to help protect the British Army. Some of the guns are still in position but these are older cannons that do not get fired. We had the opportunity to walk along the top of the wall in Derry and you can see that it was strategically placed. It also provides a pleasant walk on a nice spring evening.

When you look over the city of Derry, you can see where the churches are and the amount of land that Derry occupies. One of the pictures that I took looked like the fog had rolled in and that it was quite dense. About ten minutes later, we looked out the window and the view was sharp except for one area in the distance. Ten minutes after that, you could see rain falling nearby but the whole view was clear. It was the rain that caused the view to look like it was affected by fog.

The Irish have a saying, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change.”

Day Six – Field Trip, April 2016

Bright and early this morning (8:15), everyone had checked out of the hotel and boarded the bus and we started our day of travel. It was a long day. We left Dublin and travelled to the Boyne Valley Visitor Center. While there, it was planned that we would spend a bit of time in the Visitor Center and then visit the tomb of New Grange which dates back between 6,000 and 8,000 years. I was all set to visit the tomb but my body decided that it was not going to cooperate with me. One of my symptoms of fibromyalgia flared up and it was really not a good time for me to visit New Grange. I was disappointed about that but there was nothing that I could do about it. I sat and relaxed until the other members of the group came back for lunch. By that time, I was also able to eat some lunch with them. Later in the day, my brother showed me some of the pictures that he had taken.

We boarded back on the bus and continued on our way to Belfast. Once we were in Belfast, the driver took us to meet our tour guide for a bus tour of the city. We had the opportunity to see some of the Victorian and Edwardian architecture and some of the monuments that were erected in the past. We were given a brief history of Belfast and were given a good tour. We visited both the Protestant and Catholic sides of the area where all the trouble in the 60s to the 90s took place. We saw that wall where there were paintings portraying the conflict. We were taken to the Peace Wall separating the Catholics from the Protestants. I haven’t full digested all that I saw today with regards to this.

As our tour continued, we were take to the Titanic Quarter and the guide left us at Titanic Belfast to go through the display. I have never seen some of the elements that were used in any other display of history. There was a chance to “take a ride through the dockyard” where the Titanic was built. There were interactive displays describing how the ship was built and the furnishings of the various quarters of the different classes of passengers. Towards the end of the display was a video of a couple of mini submarines doing a “tour” of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. I don’t consider that the time we spent at Titanic Belfast was a waste of time. It gave me something to think about because my great-grandmother’s brother was a Master Mariner for the Cunard Lines at that time. He could have just as easily been working for White Star Shipping Lines and been on the Titanic.

Once we were finished at Titanic Belfast, we were taken to our hotel so that we could look after a couple of quick things and get ready to go out to dinner. We then had a group dinner (which was part of the package) at Mourne Seafood Restaurant, not far from our hotel. This time, the bus driver joined us for dinner. Because of my problems earlier in the day, I decided to take it easy and tried to go for more of the light choices. As an appetizer, I had goat cheese that had been made into balls, dipped in a thin batter, deep-fried, and served with greens, beets, and a couple of crackers similar to Melba Toast. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was followed by baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and spinach. Again, it was an excellent choice. For dessert, I had ice cream. I could have had a larger dessert, but I was thinking that I had pushed enough for today.

We had such a full day that once we were back to the hotel after dinner, I sorted out a couple of questions that I had, and then sat down to let you know how our day was. It’s time for me to say “Good Night”.