Ireland trip day seven: Derry to Galway

Derry Girls.  I have heard a lot about that show, but I have never watched it.  I've enjoyed one of the stars, Nicola Coughlin, in Bridgerton, but no, never Derry Girls.  Perhaps I should have.  There was a lot on this morning in Derry that made reference to the television show, and there were definitely some among us who were fans.

I got up in the morning and made my way past the town's central square

over to Starbucks to begin my day.  We had a walking tour of Derry ahead, and then a drive to Galway with a stop planned.  A day that would be spent largely in the bus, the countryside rolling by.  Can I confess that I put on a napping music playlist during some of that later drive and let the verdant areas slide past my closed eyes? 

If you know me, you know how very well I can nap.  Anyway, Starbucks on a wet morning. 

Ah, but I had brought an umbrella with me to Ireland, so by the time we got in the bus to drive around Derry before the walk, we were safe from being rained on.

We had a local tour guide, Tony, join us.

A charmer of a man, a talker.  We drove outside the walls first,

and once again were told a very cursory overview of what we were seeing related to The Troubles.  I once again let that pass without comment and without photos.  If we're not going to be confronted and ask to reflect, then I don't want to otherwise engage.  You know that.  Moving on....

We came back inside the city walls

and began the tour on foot. 

Derry, I should add, is the only walled city in the UK with a complete set of walls.  We didn't walk the full length but rather walked part of it, Tony pointing out things like the cannons

and churches

and more. 

He spoke of the history of the city like the apprentices who closed the city gates when the deposed Catholic king of England tried to invade with the support of the French king.  We finished in the same central plaza where I had passed through in the morning. 

A good walk before getting on a bus, which we did almost right away, taking us south and back into the Republic.

Lunch was at a rest stop - no photos, it was fine enough for a light bite and a chance to buy a bit of Irish junk food.  As we continued south, we stopped in County Sligo

at Atlantic Sheepdogs for a fun little demo. 

The wind was bitter, and a rain blew through (leaving a rainbow afterward),

but Ben was a very good boy indeed,

and Martin was an engaging host. 

Sheep! 

I love dogs, and so I was delighted to see the demonstration.

Another longish stretch (for Ireland - the distances would be considered as modest here) and then we rolled into Salthill, essentially a beachside bedroom community for Galway.  The last hotel

of the trip and two nights there.  I got a little glimpse of Galway Bay

from my room

but a better glimpse before dinner from a quick stroll across to the seashore.  Lovely sunset.

I'm posting the dinner photos because I have them, but I cannot say it was an especially good meal.  The hotel dining room seemed to be staffed with students from the local university, and although friendly enough, they didn't provide the most polished service.  Ah well.  The soup was fine,

the pork was hammered,

the dessert was inoffensive. 

Harsh, but true on those.  The company more than made up for it, and I took a boulevardier from the hotel bar to my room to wind down and look forward to a last full day in Ireland.

Ireland trip day six: Derry and other points in Northern Ireland

The weekend was upon us.  Well, a Friday, close enough.  And after days of seeing multiple libraries and meeting with such good colleagues, we were treated to a weekend of being tourists.  The trip organizers understood that, for as much as we valued the professional exchanges we were experiencing, we also wanted to get to know Ireland otherwise.  So, stay tuned.  This entry and ones that follow will show attractions, not libraries.

After two nights in Belfast, it was time to pack up and leave.  But not without a quick survey of how The Troubles have marked the city.  I didn't enjoy that part.  I find tourism of strife, of incarceration, of tragedy to be distasteful for the most part.  Tours whiz through areas that memorialize the conflict, people spill out of buses, they take photos, they move on.  It's very surface, it doesn't provide space to breathe and reflect.  It almost feels like a dishonour, to me, to many.  Plus, it feels too near and still perhaps a bit raw in Northern Ireland.  Maybe that's just me.  Whatever the case may be, I didn't take any photos, and I watched the murals and walls and other things slide by the window without comment, or much comment.  I wanted to be out of there, and, happily, we soon enough were.  We left Belfast, and headed northwest.

First stop:  the Seamus Heaney HomePlace museum. 

No personalized tour, no.  A cultural attraction based on the Nobel laureate who grew up nearby.  I think it was my favourite museum we visited. 

I loved that we could hear his words, but I shut off the audio device and read his words instead, and in doing so and connecting them to the displays, I found beauty in what he wrote.  So no, as I said several entries ago, I am not one for poetry.  But I bought a book of Heaney poetry and will sink into it one day soon.

Farther north with us.  We climbed a pass and had lunch at the highest pub on the island,

something I have commented on previously.  From there, we headed to the Giant's Causeway.

I've seen photos of this geologic formation many times.  And, of course, great angles, superb photography, etc.  In truth, the site was really cool but also somehow less than I had thought it would be.  Also, other tourists.  Not as many as, say, when we went to Sequioas National Park and folks were lined up to take a photo with a tree, but there were others, and finding good shots was conditional on how well a person could capture the place without folks cluttering the scene. 

I managed alright.  And the columnar basalt formations were pretty cool. 

It was a chance to stretch our legs and appreciate what Ireland had to offer that wasn't man made.  I appreciated it.  We all splintered off according to our walking speeds and abilities, ambled and got photos,

and reconvened in the visitors center.

We drove on from there to the Magheracross View Point

with its awesome views of cliffs

and the ruins of Dunluce Castle

(also, cows!),

then headed on to Derry for one night there.  Our hotel

was inside the city walls, and my room

looked out toward the Peace Bridge. 

This was our last night for dining to ourselves, and as much as I enjoyed the company of my colleagues, I grabbed the chance to find a place with some better food.  Browns in Town was my choice, a walk outside of the city walls and downhill.  A starter of a white onion soup,

a delightful and pretty dish of cod for dinner,

and a buttermilk panna cotta

that may have been the best dessert I had on the trip.  After that it was back to the room with a glass of wine to write postcards and then turn in.  Two more days to go!