London, Scotland, Ireland, and Paris 2022

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July 21

Today we had an earlier day that is usual. We had to be on the bus at 8 and breakfast was at 7:00. It meant getting up at 6:00, which wax no problem.

Our first goal today was the Northern Ireland town of Derry or Londonderry. Derry/Londonderry is the second biggest city of Northern Ireland, after Belfast. It's a walled city, and there is so much history within the walls. The city was originally named Derry, from the Irish “Daire“, meaning “oak tree”. It was then anglicized to “Derry”. In 1613,  the name was changed to Londonderry. The name of the city is now a topic of dispute between Irish nationalists (using Derry) and unionists (using Londonderry).

In Northern Ireland, the religious differences are what turned into a political split; Catholics predominantly consider themselves Irish and hold nationalist views - they want an independent Ireland free from British control. Protestants identify largely as British and unionist, meaning they wish to remain linked to the United Kingdom. Many of you will remember the fighting in the late 60’s. It all came to an end with the Good Friday Agreement. Northern Ireland will remain a part of United Kingdom.

I enjoyed walking around Derry. You could climb up on the wall and walk. There are several gates where you could get down. I loved the old buildings, especially the old churches. I found a small shop and restaurant area also. There was an interesting pedestrian bridge crowding the river. It was awesome!

We boarded the bus to head to Giants Causeway. Now I’d never heard of Giants Causeway, but it is a large area of stacks if basalt rocks caused by a volcano. It’s difficult to describe so you’ll have to refer to the pictures. It was a beautiful area and hard to imagine how it formed.

From the causeway we headed to our home for the night, Belfast. This is the reason I wanted to take this trip. My mothers ancestors immigrated from Belfast years ago. Sadly by the time we got there we only had a few hours to find our way around. Most of the businesses close at 6 pm except for restaurants. I hate that we don’t get to spend much time here.

We had dinner at an Italian Restaurant and again we felt we could have done a better job of cooking.

The scenery here is just beautiful. Words and pictures can’t possibly describe it. The flowers are amazing!

Tomorrow we get to have slate start. Everyone’s excited!!

Later

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