Update x 3!
So I woke up this morning with cramps from HELL. Uh, ow? UNCOOL. So I went out to the pharmacy, got Supplies, walked around for an hour and a half and decided I Need To Sit Down Now And Take This Panadol, thanks. So I figured, good a time as any to update again! And it gives the painkillers time to, yanno. Do their magic thing. Plus I figured out this morning walking around that Oh Look! It is Saturday! Things don't open as early! So it's just as well I'm holding off until noon. I mean, things were JUST STARTING TO ROLL UP THE METAL DOORS! Also, it apparently rained or something last night/early this morning as it was a bit cloudy and the ground a bit damp. But it's slowly clearing up so waiting ALSO means it gets sunny for me!
Seriously, you're all going to think Ireland is SUNNY or something instead of the overcast, rainy place it usually is when you see these pictures (of which there are about 100 right now, BE WARNED--it's feast or famine with me).
SO! Recap of yesterday, shall we?
Once I left here (which I returned to mostly to take a shower--did I mention that before?), I went up to the city walls. Which, by the way, are FANTASTIC. Let me tell you a bit about Derry: It was once an island, The walled part was the entire city. Then the river stopped flowing around the one side and it ceased being an island. The area where the river once was became a march, or as the Irish call it, a BOG. During around the time of the Famine, many, many native Irish catholics came to the city looking for work and food which is when BOGSIDE (you see now?) started getting populated and stuff. So the walled part of the city is what the city originally was when it was chartered by the English (and therefore mostly populated by the English who came and settled it--plantation is the word used. but not like the south with cotton, fyi) and it's like, up on this hill and then slopes down towards the river. Walled. And these walls are BIG. But the cool part is that you can walk all around the city and when you're on the Bogside side, you can look over the whole area and across at the hills and Craggan. Really nifty. Plus they've got those hella useful signs everywhere telling you cool stuff.
After I finished my jaunt around the walls, I went down to the Tower Museum. Went through this huge exhibit called the Story of Derry (note above information!) and surprisingly, the other half was about the Spanish Armada. Confused? I was. Until I found out that one of the biggest ships of the Armada ended up in the Lough that's just up the river from Derry and they, you know, found it. So the stuff they found and information about the excavation, etc is all there. Pretty spiffy, I must say!
So by this time, I'm getting very, very hungry. I grab my handy-dandy map and figure out where this place marked out is. Flamin' Jacks, it was called. So I went, I found it was actually a pretty nice restaurant, I got garlic bread, steak and vegetables, I dined, I ate almost everything. It was delicious. And after that it was coming on 7, things were closing, the sun was setting, and I was TIRED, so I came back, dozed, relaxed, went in the breakfast room and had tea and watched a show about urban gardening (socool) and eventually went to sleep. All in all, a lovely day.
Woke up this morning, cramps as mentioned, and lazed in bed for about half an hour before going over for breakfast. Which was delicious. Something about full English or Irish breakfasts will always make me happy. Went to the Foyle Center which is a really big shopping mall and wandered about, went back on the Wall briefly to orient myself and hiked over to the Long Tower Church because it looked pretty. And it was pretty. Lovely architecture! Then made the hike back here and well. Here I am.
THINGS TO DO:
- City Tour
- Bogside Artists Gallery
- WHATEVER STRIKES MY FANCY.
I love traveling solo!
Seriously, you're all going to think Ireland is SUNNY or something instead of the overcast, rainy place it usually is when you see these pictures (of which there are about 100 right now, BE WARNED--it's feast or famine with me).
SO! Recap of yesterday, shall we?
Once I left here (which I returned to mostly to take a shower--did I mention that before?), I went up to the city walls. Which, by the way, are FANTASTIC. Let me tell you a bit about Derry: It was once an island, The walled part was the entire city. Then the river stopped flowing around the one side and it ceased being an island. The area where the river once was became a march, or as the Irish call it, a BOG. During around the time of the Famine, many, many native Irish catholics came to the city looking for work and food which is when BOGSIDE (you see now?) started getting populated and stuff. So the walled part of the city is what the city originally was when it was chartered by the English (and therefore mostly populated by the English who came and settled it--plantation is the word used. but not like the south with cotton, fyi) and it's like, up on this hill and then slopes down towards the river. Walled. And these walls are BIG. But the cool part is that you can walk all around the city and when you're on the Bogside side, you can look over the whole area and across at the hills and Craggan. Really nifty. Plus they've got those hella useful signs everywhere telling you cool stuff.
After I finished my jaunt around the walls, I went down to the Tower Museum. Went through this huge exhibit called the Story of Derry (note above information!) and surprisingly, the other half was about the Spanish Armada. Confused? I was. Until I found out that one of the biggest ships of the Armada ended up in the Lough that's just up the river from Derry and they, you know, found it. So the stuff they found and information about the excavation, etc is all there. Pretty spiffy, I must say!
So by this time, I'm getting very, very hungry. I grab my handy-dandy map and figure out where this place marked out is. Flamin' Jacks, it was called. So I went, I found it was actually a pretty nice restaurant, I got garlic bread, steak and vegetables, I dined, I ate almost everything. It was delicious. And after that it was coming on 7, things were closing, the sun was setting, and I was TIRED, so I came back, dozed, relaxed, went in the breakfast room and had tea and watched a show about urban gardening (socool) and eventually went to sleep. All in all, a lovely day.
Woke up this morning, cramps as mentioned, and lazed in bed for about half an hour before going over for breakfast. Which was delicious. Something about full English or Irish breakfasts will always make me happy. Went to the Foyle Center which is a really big shopping mall and wandered about, went back on the Wall briefly to orient myself and hiked over to the Long Tower Church because it looked pretty. And it was pretty. Lovely architecture! Then made the hike back here and well. Here I am.
THINGS TO DO:
- City Tour
- Bogside Artists Gallery
- WHATEVER STRIKES MY FANCY.
I love traveling solo!