Closed down Derry
Another breakfast of corn flakes. The next hotel is supposed to be serving a full Irish breakfast, and I'm definitely looking forward to that. I miss black pudding. I did try the lemon marmalade at breakfast today, which was interesting (and I do mean that in a good way).
We opened the window in our room last night to let in some cool breeze. Ireland seems hotter than usual this time of year, or so I've heard. And no one--no restaurant or hotel--has air conditioning. I guess us Southerners are spoiled by central air. One thing I didn't really notice until last night was how late the sun sets, and how early it rises. The night before I left the drapes closed and we just zonked out when we went to bed. But last night, with the window and curtain open, it was clear that the sun didn't set until about 10 PM, and it was rising well before 6 AM. In hindsight, it seems obvious since we are at a more northern latitude, but it struck me as odd, and it will take some time to get used to.
Our main stop for the day is Derry in Northern Ireland, so we're technically going to the United Kingdom for the first time on our trip. Derry is home to a lot of history in the strife between the Irish and the English. It's where Bloody Sunday occurred in 1972. Also within Derry is the walled portion of the original city, called Londonderry.
Our drive to Derry was a long one. Somewhere in storage is my road atlas of Ireland, but I already know how convuluted it can be to get from one place to another, thanks in no small part to the beautiful hills and mountains of Ireland. Although there is a motorway system for major cities, there is nothing that really compares to the American interstate system.
Along the way to Derry, we visited the burial place of W.B. Yeats in Drumcliffe. I guess I need to read some Yeats. I certainly know the name, but I'm not familiar with any of us works, save for the epitath he wrote on his tombstone:
The graveyard is also home to one of the more famous Celtic crosses. It may be a little hard to see from this picture (you can click on any of the pictures I've included in my travels for a bigger version) but it is full of detail.
Afterwards, we stopped by a local grocery store and bought a granny smith apple to compliment our cheese and crackers.
Derry is a town that is recently coming into tourism (that's true for most of Northern Ireland, apparently). We arrived on a Sunday, and it seemed as if almost the whole town was closed. A lot of local shops in Ireland do seem to close on Sunday. When we stopped in Ballybofel to buy our apple, that grocery store was one of the few places open--possibly because it was part of a larger chain.
Derry's tourist attractions were suffering from the same problem. The main tourist office was closed, which surprised even Susan, our tour guide. In order to get to the wall, we actually asked one of the locals, who was driving a tiny red Minicoop (the original) to lead us. The railroad museum was also closed, as was the Tower Museum we were planning to visit.
So there we were in Derry, all the attractions closed, and the bus wasn't scheduled to return for another ninety minutes. The old city wall, fortunately, was definitely still open. We walked the whole circuit, with Tiffany taking pictures the whole way. First, the wall offered a great view over the city. Some of the rooftops on the row houses all clustered together looked like a scene from Mary Poppins. There were also large murals painted on the sides of some of the buildings. There was even IRA graffiti on the wall itself.
We did some window shopping afterwards. We stopped into a department store--the older, multi-storied downtown department store, not the newer sprawling megamart. In fact, Derry is home to the oldest department store in the world... although I'm not sure if that's the one we went into or not. We left out the side door of the store and noticed a sort of shopping mall directly in front of us, which we decided was worth checking out as well. At least they were open, and it was pretty much a mall, but with some European stores in place of American ones. Then it was back to teh bus and to the new hotel.
The new hotel seemed like such a welcome change from the last one. Remember that I mentioned they had changed owners recently. Well, I had learned more of the story this day. The hotel changed hands only a week before we arrived. When the new owners began discovering various problems throughout the building, they tried backing out of the contract with the tour (which they may not have been told about ahead of time, either) but they weren't allowed to. It didn't help any that there was a problem with the drinking water in Galway, either.
Of course, even the new hotel didn't have air conditioning. But there was a restaurant downstairs where the tour group had dinner (and I had another Guiness). More leek & potato soup, which was delicious once again. But I had noticed that the soups have no chunks or even small pieces of any sort, but are completely blended. I had some roast beef with horseradish, and Tiffany had the salmon with a tarragon sauce. Not only was dinner delicious, but they'll be serving a full Irish breakfast in the morning!
We opened the window in our room last night to let in some cool breeze. Ireland seems hotter than usual this time of year, or so I've heard. And no one--no restaurant or hotel--has air conditioning. I guess us Southerners are spoiled by central air. One thing I didn't really notice until last night was how late the sun sets, and how early it rises. The night before I left the drapes closed and we just zonked out when we went to bed. But last night, with the window and curtain open, it was clear that the sun didn't set until about 10 PM, and it was rising well before 6 AM. In hindsight, it seems obvious since we are at a more northern latitude, but it struck me as odd, and it will take some time to get used to.
Our main stop for the day is Derry in Northern Ireland, so we're technically going to the United Kingdom for the first time on our trip. Derry is home to a lot of history in the strife between the Irish and the English. It's where Bloody Sunday occurred in 1972. Also within Derry is the walled portion of the original city, called Londonderry.
Our drive to Derry was a long one. Somewhere in storage is my road atlas of Ireland, but I already know how convuluted it can be to get from one place to another, thanks in no small part to the beautiful hills and mountains of Ireland. Although there is a motorway system for major cities, there is nothing that really compares to the American interstate system.
Along the way to Derry, we visited the burial place of W.B. Yeats in Drumcliffe. I guess I need to read some Yeats. I certainly know the name, but I'm not familiar with any of us works, save for the epitath he wrote on his tombstone:
The graveyard is also home to one of the more famous Celtic crosses. It may be a little hard to see from this picture (you can click on any of the pictures I've included in my travels for a bigger version) but it is full of detail.
Afterwards, we stopped by a local grocery store and bought a granny smith apple to compliment our cheese and crackers.
Derry is a town that is recently coming into tourism (that's true for most of Northern Ireland, apparently). We arrived on a Sunday, and it seemed as if almost the whole town was closed. A lot of local shops in Ireland do seem to close on Sunday. When we stopped in Ballybofel to buy our apple, that grocery store was one of the few places open--possibly because it was part of a larger chain.
Derry's tourist attractions were suffering from the same problem. The main tourist office was closed, which surprised even Susan, our tour guide. In order to get to the wall, we actually asked one of the locals, who was driving a tiny red Minicoop (the original) to lead us. The railroad museum was also closed, as was the Tower Museum we were planning to visit.
So there we were in Derry, all the attractions closed, and the bus wasn't scheduled to return for another ninety minutes. The old city wall, fortunately, was definitely still open. We walked the whole circuit, with Tiffany taking pictures the whole way. First, the wall offered a great view over the city. Some of the rooftops on the row houses all clustered together looked like a scene from Mary Poppins. There were also large murals painted on the sides of some of the buildings. There was even IRA graffiti on the wall itself.
We did some window shopping afterwards. We stopped into a department store--the older, multi-storied downtown department store, not the newer sprawling megamart. In fact, Derry is home to the oldest department store in the world... although I'm not sure if that's the one we went into or not. We left out the side door of the store and noticed a sort of shopping mall directly in front of us, which we decided was worth checking out as well. At least they were open, and it was pretty much a mall, but with some European stores in place of American ones. Then it was back to teh bus and to the new hotel.
The new hotel seemed like such a welcome change from the last one. Remember that I mentioned they had changed owners recently. Well, I had learned more of the story this day. The hotel changed hands only a week before we arrived. When the new owners began discovering various problems throughout the building, they tried backing out of the contract with the tour (which they may not have been told about ahead of time, either) but they weren't allowed to. It didn't help any that there was a problem with the drinking water in Galway, either.
Of course, even the new hotel didn't have air conditioning. But there was a restaurant downstairs where the tour group had dinner (and I had another Guiness). More leek & potato soup, which was delicious once again. But I had noticed that the soups have no chunks or even small pieces of any sort, but are completely blended. I had some roast beef with horseradish, and Tiffany had the salmon with a tarragon sauce. Not only was dinner delicious, but they'll be serving a full Irish breakfast in the morning!
Labels: 2007 Vacation
posted by scanime at 8:42 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Derry looks and sounds like a great place to visit. Just out of curiosity, how was that first big whiff of Derry air? Sorry. I've been wanting to use that joke for years. I love the steeple picture by the way.
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