Derry Travelodge Hotel

... the next day! saturday was halloween and when we got back after our day out we all got dressed up and went down the the street party, its one of the biggest halloween parties in europe. there was a big parade and a fairly impressive fireworks show. then we went to a very packed pub. everyone's costumes were so amazing, they go all out in derry! i went as a gypsy, but there were plenty of vampires, bugs, penguins, witches, more vampires! it was a really fun night!<br>

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"< br><br>We're standing on the edge of Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, facing out toward endless ocean and we're all sharing a cathartic scream out into the sea. The wind is blowing strong--so much so that every so often you have to kneel down and let the gale pass, and the rain is coming in horizontally, but I wouldn't have it any other way. This is how the Causeway is meant to the be seen, so you feel like you are conquering something, a ...

... be part of the republic of Ireland. Derry is also the site of the Bloody Sunday massacres, where peaceful protests were being held, the British Army came in and shot at least 14 people dead, and wounded more. We had a walking tour of Derry and got to check out more beautiful murals. Now i don't have the answers, or the soloution, but i'd like to think that one day people could just get along. <br><br>Off to tea, found a cheap cheap place with jugs of cocktail for £7 and then to bed. <br>

... back to the car to get the rain coats we hadn&#8217;t thought we would need. <br><br>Back to the walls where we found St. Columb&#8217;s cathedral which was the first Protestant cathedral ever built in Britain or Ireland. It was a beautiful stone structure with hand-carved pews and needlepoint-covered kneeling cushions. The organ has almost 4,000 pipes, a lot of power for a small church. <br><br>We walked about half of the circumference of the city walls before going down to ...

... Foyle in derry. (Many protestants refer to derry as london derry). This bridge is supposed to be a very sympolic object, being built between guild hall on one side (catholic) and a former british army base (prot.). <br><br>Random facts I learned<br> 20 or 30 something german U-boats came up the river foyle in derry to surrender to allied forces during the war and later scuttled off the coast. <br> Amelia Aerheart made a landing in derry around 1932 I ...

Day 195 Cont...... Once in Derry we organized dinner for the masses and a pack-up lunch for the following day. Our deeds done we hit the pub at 11:00 and were chatting to a ****** Irishman who's wife was pregnent. Enough was enough, we both felt tired, only lasting 1 drink. Day 196. So So Cold (& wet) 27/10/08 Boy were we feeling the cold here. We woke up early to ensure lunch ...

... learned some history that Jayne, Phil and most people already know, such as why the Ireland flag has the colours that it does... and about the tension between the two sides... So far, the tour is OK but it seems more like a general introduction. We didn't get to see any museums in Derry... but the people are nice (lots of Aussies). And there are ALL ages, though the seniors stay at a B&amp;B! On a side note, I celebrated my ...

We're now in a different country! Arrived in Derry early this afternoon, after an easy drive from our base in north-west Co. Donegal. The drive was very scenic, following the coast road up to Dunfanaghy, then down again to Letterkenny, around Lough Swilly which is like a long finger of water heading south from the Atlantic, then up again briefly with a stop at the Grianan of Aileach (near Burt, what a great name for a village!) which turns out was one of the most spectacularly ...

... without the least bit of vandalism. <br><br>Actually, the whole city centre itself was charming and seemed to be functioning normally and peacefully. There was no sign of overt violence anywhere &#8211; save for the constant overly enthusiastic tour operators armed with flyers trying to get us onto their double-decker bus trips of course. And trivialising &#8216;The Troubles&#8217; for the second time in two paragraphs, there was one ...

... robbed me. Somehow, me, the non-shopper and great granddaughter of potters, has bought more than I thought possible and am shipping it back to the US. Something is mentioned that I save on the duty (?) and the more we ship the less it will cost - so Peg says lets combine orders. I tell her we will have to charter a plane or cargo ship to get all this stuff back home. Hope there is no last ...