Blogs from Londonderry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe
St. Patrick's Day in Northern Ireland
Published: April 11th 2012Europe » United Kingdom » Northern Ireland » County Londonderry » Londonderry
March 17th 2012
Today was the reason for our trip to Northern Ireland: to celebrate St. Paddy's Day in Irish style. We wanted to come to Derry for this occasion primarily because flights were cheaper than going to Dublin (we thought some of Mike's friends from school would join us, but they bailed), but also because we thought there would be less tourists and more of an authentic St Patrick's Day experience. Apparently the celebration of St Patrick's Day has been suppressed in the north more recently because of The Troubles, but the last few years it has been getting popular again. How could they pass up the opportunity to have a huge party? Before the festivities got underway, we wanted to explore the city of Derry (also known as Londonderry). The reason behind Londonderry is because of the ... read more
God Sent Me Angels
Published: October 3rd 2011Europe » United Kingdom » Northern Ireland » County Londonderry » Londonderry
October 3rd 2011
I got that feeling this past week that everyone I met was an angel sent by God. There was a mass of people with friendly conversation, advice, and entertainment. Chris and Fiona were long-distance bikers from Australia who treated me to a tea party in their cabin on the ferry from Lerwick to Kirkwall. Rachel from the Scotland mainland showed me the seals in the Lerwick bay. Jana ("Yana") was a student from Germany who buddied up with me from Lerwick to Inverness. Denny was an adventure-leader who took Jana and me on a speed tour of Lerwick before giving us a lift to the ferry. Two nameless gentlemen in Skara Brae offered to share their taxi with us, paid for it, gave us tickets to the Stromwell museum, and then filled us in on Orkney ... read more
Giant's Causeway
Published: August 3rd 2011Europe » United Kingdom » Northern Ireland » County Londonderry » Londonderry
August 3rd 2011
How does one give the Giant's Causeway Justice? Without photos I don't know if I'm up to the task or not. But I digress..... The Trafalgar Tour is going nicely, not too hectic and with more free time than I anticipated. Hotels are great locations, nice staff, and the group is starting to get to know each other and warm up. Combination of Canadian's, Americans and Auzzies. We have young married couples through to grandchildren (adult) traveling with their grandmother (2 sets). Neat meeting everyone so far. Our City tour of Belfast was a great introduction to the city (not that I hadn't had my own crazy version of it - suffice to say this was more sane) with our local guide, and afterwards we headed off to the Giant's Causeway. I was on the right ... read more
Londonderry/Derry
Published: August 3rd 2011Europe » United Kingdom » Northern Ireland » County Londonderry » LondonderryAugust 3rd 2011
Ah, gotta love the Libraries all around the world - they have internet. Sadly they have caught on to charging, but it beats (literally) standing in the hotel lobby blogging this morning at 07:00:-) Spent the day exploring the Northern Most Tip of Ireland as well as the walled city of Londonderry/Derry. Always say both cities names for fear of exciting someones personal references. I'm learning you must be careful on anything you say. This is a small country torn by their recent history, and whether you agree/disagree/don't know/don't care; the 'conflict' controls all motions of this area sadly. I've spent the day learnign more and more about it, and while since Good Friday they are on an improvement, there still is a lot of bitter history. The one consistant theme I'm hearing is everyone wants ... read more
Stroke City
Published: August 4th 2011Europe » United Kingdom » Northern Ireland » County Londonderry » Londonderry
August 2nd 2011
Well the blog has forced me to put the location as Londonderry, one of the things we learnt from the guide is the sensitivity around the name - to avoid offending anyone the city is called Derry/Londonderry (Derry - stroke - Londonderry) so Troy said it has the nickname of stroke city. An interesting place and we went on a walking tour of the Bogside where the Bloody Sunday riots happened in 1972. There are still murals on the houses and memorials for the victims of Bloody sunday. The guide explained the problems between the sections and the different communities had their flags flying and their paving slabs painted to mark their territory. On a positive note there is a pedestrian Peace bridge indicating that all the people of the city want an end to the ... read more
Day 7, 8, and 9
Published: July 24th 2011Europe » United Kingdom » Northern Ireland » County Londonderry » LondonderryJuly 24th 2011
I am behind in blogging due to not having free Internet every night and being busy on the days when the Internet was free. I am finding that the Internet costs to use in the big cities so far (Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dublin) with the exception of the hotel I stayed in London. It has been free in the small stops we make. I do need to remind my mother that I am on holidays and should be out enjoying the cultural experiences of the countries I am in-so please don't nag for blog entries. This blog will be a long one but, I will write quick summaries of each day in hopes to shorten the length. The night before heading out to try and catch the Loch Ness monster we had a trivia night. ... read more
To Derry We Go
Published: April 18th 2011Europe » United Kingdom » Northern Ireland » County Londonderry » Londonderry
April 9th 2011
After dealing with the ridiculous stay at the Seawinds in Kilybegs we went on with our day. We were going even further north. We started out in Letterkenny, the main event of the day was to go to the Free Derry Museum, but it didn’t open until 1 so we had some time to kill. In Letterkenny we parked and walked around looking for an ATM so that we could walk through a little flea market. The flea market was a bust, but it was a fun time to walk around and see what everyone was selling. The walking around to find cash took a really look time and resulted in us having to go to a Dunnes store, which is fantastic, go ladies go, they have the greatest coats at fantastic prices. Chris had read ... read more
Day 1 - Stroke City & Magilligan
Published: November 29th 2010Europe » United Kingdom » Northern Ireland » County Londonderry » Londonderry
September 11th 2010
Wish I Had My Clipboard & Whistle The timetable had been issued and early morning breakfast was first on the agenda. The Other Place was the rendevous point on a sunny morning and didn't disappoint. Of course some were late to show... After breakfast, Bartlett led off the convoy with the mini struggling to get off it's rear axle with all the red meat in the boot for the bbq. Our first destination was Londonderry, meeting in the Foyleside Centre - a place filled with the living dead. Well, Derry pale faced, ill looking folk at least. It makes Connswater seem a thriving hub of healthy joy. This was a handy point to get up onto the Walls at Artillery Street with everyone getting their first glimpse of the restored cannon. Sadly the Walls no longer ... read more
ABOD Parade
Published: September 20th 2010Europe » United Kingdom » Northern Ireland » County Londonderry » Londonderry
August 14th 2010
No Surrender! The cry that signalled the start of the resistance in Derry in 1688 has a blunt but brave force that much of the modern day misappropriated braggadocio belittles. When the young apprentice boys slammed the gates shut as the city fathers dithered, they changed history not only here but more probably throughout the UK and possibly Europe. Their tale is long forgotten outside NI and poorly known even here. Although facing down a handpicked army in Antrim's Redshanks, they showed remarkable character when faced with the charge of "Surrender or Die" - the indecisive deliberating amongst the protestant leaders of Ulster has remained to this day though. The Seige was the third Londonderry survived and took the lives of a third of the inhabitants within the Walls. In December 1688 when the gates were ... read more
1 week left in Derry
Published: March 28th 2010Europe » United Kingdom » Northern Ireland » County Londonderry » LondonderryMarch 28th 2010
Cork beat Derry in Derry last night. Up the rebels! AnnMarie and Richard completed the half marathon. Tasted some great whiskey in Busmills. No more of this nice safety for Rico. Soon in will be out in the big bad world for him. Not for the first time will he leave the beside locker. Previous outings have taken him around Europe back several time to he’s ancestors in Ponte Italy. Soon he will be going on a 7 month epic journey. To go where no donkey has ever gone before. Will he make it back in one piece. Watch this space!... read more
