Dublin to Londonderry/Derry

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Last night was incredible. It was a night to really enjoy the Irish Pub culture. Everyone is there for some fun and cheer. After breakfast, we got on the bus and headed for Belfast. Our tour guide will be teaching us an Irish pub song each morning on the bus. Today she taught us "Whiskey in the Jar"; good thing I'm Irish and already know it.

Driving into the city, I can see some of the remnants of what the locals call "The Troubles". Some streets have the Union Jack and Northern Ireland flags and others have the tri-color. A local tour guide comes onto the bus to give us information about Belfast, its troubled past, and peaceful future. I could not possibly blog about all the information I learned about the struggles of Irish Catholics in their own country. However, I was surprised at how much I already knew. The city is still divided by a wall separating the Republic (Catholic) and Loyalist (Protestant) parts of the city, even though the peace process has been going on for 15 years. Many murals are painted throughout these walls. We were encouraged to write words of inspiration of our own on the wall by our guide. This was a truly moving experience.

We continued to tour other parts of the city and see many memorials for the Titanic. It was built in Belfast and many of its people went down with the ship. We had time of get a picnic lunch and eat on the lawn of the city hall. The city is very quiet; it is Sunday and many businesses will not open till after church services. I also saw the studios where "Game of Thrones" is filmed. Our guide told us that on the way to our next stop, the show is filmed in the countryside we will pass! So cool! It was back on the bus to make our way to the Giant's Causeway.

The countryside is as beautiful as everyone has told me. It really is so green! Once we got to the Giant's Causeway, we got our audio tour and hit the trial. There is a legend about an Irish giant tricking a Scottish giant, causing him to run away back to Scotland and thus creating the jagged causeway. The rock formations are unbelievably amazing. Just standing there and taking it all in was emotional. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. My pictures don't give the beauty of it justice.

Our next stop is Londonderry/Derry where we took a walking tour of the town. A guide named, Ronan McNamara (a half Chinese/Irish buddhist) walks us through and provided more information about the struggles between the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. He is probably one of the most interesting people I've met. He has such hope for Northern Ireland as the peace process has been underway for about 15 years. He walked us through the Protestant and Catholic parts of Derry. We visited the many sites and murals of "The Troubles". We saw where Bloody Sunday took place. As a good Irishman, he tells the stories in such a way that I get pretty emotional. The struggles of the Irish Catholics throughout the years has created such a sense of pride as to where they are now. I feel very connected to my Irish heritage being here in the land of my ancestors. Off to Galway tomorrow...so excited to visit this town for two days.

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