Derry

After a quick breakfast we take the 9:50 am train into Derry. It’s a lovely journey along the coast. Towards the end the train stops to let a delayed plane land. Apparently a regular occurrence according to the train guard.

On arrival we march swiftly to the free shuttle bus which takes us to the centre of Derry close to the Guildhall. It’s now raining so we dart in for tea and toast in a little cafe called Cappuccinos.

After an informative visit to tourist information and our photo taken with the Derry Girls we walk back to the Guildhall for a look around. It’s incredibly ornate, victorian gothic with lots of wood and stained glass. There’s an exhibition of John Hume’s peacemaker awards including his Nobel peace prize.

Onto the city walls next. This is the only remaining completely walled city in Ireland and reportedly one of the finest in Europe. They are certainly impressive. The walls are a 1.5km ring and walkway around the inner city and were built between 1613-1618 but extended and raised at various times through history.

The city claims Europe’s largest collection of cannon many of them used in the two seventeenth century sieges. In 2005 the surviving 24 cannon were restored and placed back on the wall.

We enjoy the walk up and views, stopping first at St Columb’s Cathedral. It had an interesting cloak exhibition, including a cape worn by Eurovision winner Dana, that we enjoyed and we also got a chance to listen to a lovely rendition of the ‘Lord is my shepherd’.

Next we have to retrace our steps to New Gate in order to visit a loyalist area called The Fountains. It’s raining on and off now so our trusty blue macs are on and then off. There’s murals and fences and the Heritage tower museum that used to be part of a much larger prison.

We walk by the peace wall to get back up on the city walls again and our next stop is St Augustine’s church and a visit to a ceramics sale being held in the grounds by a retiring potter Tom Agnew, where we buy a lovely tile for our garden wall. It’s of a salmon and bought to remember our trip to Carrick-a-rede.

By now we are ready for a break and find an unusual spot called The Hidden City Cafe where we buy a sandwich and cake and a huge pot of Belfast tea. Some very unusual ingredients on the menu though like gomasio and seitan.

Back on the walls we can now see the murals of the bogside in the distance. We visit the Free Presbyterian church which is more ornate than expected and still has the refurbished 18th century original pews.

We leave the walls at Butcher Gate and walk to the Bogside where we visit The Bloody Sunday memorial, the H block memorial, the Free Derry Corner and the murals.

Time to wander back for a pint in Peadar O’Donnell’s pub and then a second drink in The Dungloe Bar before some food in The River Inn followed by a final drink in the Blackbird a very lively place near the bus station.