Derry/Londonderry

Yesterday a few of us took a train to Derry which is about a 40 minute ride. We met an Irish guy who was sitting across from us and he said that this train ride is the most beautiful in all of Ireland because it takes you right along the beach, rolling hills, and huge gorgeous cliffs! I took lots of pictures :) We eventually found out that the same guy we were talking to, Ross, was going to surprise his girlfriend of 5 years because it was her birthday. He also told us he was going to PURPOSE!!! Then of course all the girls around him started 'awing' and getting excited. We probably asked him 20 questions about his plans haha. Then we found out he was only 19! We got off the train once we arrived in Derry and Ross showed us where to go to get some delicious crepes. We wished him luck and chowed down on some banana, nutella, and cinnamon crepes! Then we shopped around a bit. Derry is a bigger and busier city than Coleraine. It has lots of bigger and cheaper stores that are similar to Sears or Forever 21.

It was freezing and windy and I was on the verge of getting a little head cold, but we all sucked it up and went on an hour walking tour with a very informative and quirky tour guide. We walked along the walls of Derry, which were origanally built to protect the invading Protestants from the Catholics. The Catholics didn't want the Protestants to be in Ireland and therefore tried to kick them out and have them surrender. To save themselves, the Protestant King decided to build a wall around the city to provide protection. It took about 5 years to build and cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, which was a ridiculously large amount of money in those days. It worked though! The walls have never been breached and they still stand to this day. It was very impressive to see. Just a few years ago, the Union Jacks left Ireland and destroyed their watch towers that were located throughout the ciy. The Nationalists were very happy about this and it is now a much safer place to live. There is, however, a block of Protestant housing located smack dab in the middle of Derry that is surrounded by Catholic neighborhoods. It has tall green fences around the entire neighborhood for security purposes. We saw murals that artists had painted on the sides of buildings. They all represent the history of Irelend in some way. One is a dove to represent the peace and equality that Ireland has been wanting and working towards for years. There is so much to learn! I love it!

After the tour we walked to the University of Ulster Magee Campus. The main building is a huge castle, it was the first campus built out of the 4 that exist today. We met one of Siri's friends who goes to school there and went out to dinner with them. It was a restaurant that Rick Steve's suggested called Flaming Jack's :) It took SO long that right when we got our food we put it in take-away boxes and ran out the door to catch the last train back to Coleraine! There were 6 of us that were chowing down on our dinners on the train! It was a delightful, and almost not successful trip if we had missed our train. I would love to go back there when family comes and visits!

Pictures:

1- Warming up with a cup of coffee after the tour :)

2- This is the view from on top of the wall. The wall has holes in it that allowed cannons or guns to be shot through them.

3- This is one of the murals. It is the dove of peace. The squares behind it represent equality. The colors go from dark to light which represents the process of gaining peace in Ireland. Something like the 'dark' ages to the 'light and peaceful' ages.

4- This is a picture of a Catholic neighborhood right outside the wall. The beautiful green grassy area used to be filled with Irish slums and very poor, jobless, hopeless Catholic families. It used to be an extremely dangerous area to live in. Ovbiously, lots has changed and it is now a beautiful, peaceful place where dogs chase balls and children play under the grey sky.

5- This is the Protestant neighborhood I mentioned before with the green fencing around the entire area. There is only one enterance.