We walked a segment of the Bluestack Mountain Way before driving on to Derry. In Derry we stopped and walked around the old town on the city walls reading all the displays with information about the wall and the siege. I like this mix of walking and reading. Fun and educational.
Reading how proud the town is for withstanding the siege against the catholics more than two hundred and fifty years ago puts the entire civil war they euphemistically call the *Troubles* into a new perspective. Not joining the Irish suddenly seems like a good idea. I need to learn more about this.
When we continued to our hotel I was shocked to see the union jack on almost every lamp post. Coming from Ireland, driving an Irish car, listening to Irish music, I felt *rejected*. The flags were telling me that this was not-Ireland. Clearly, problems are far from solved.
We also had a terrible lunch at a restaurant along the highway somewhere. Ugh!
We stayed at the Beech Hill Hotel. We didn’t see the lake or the park and the hotel itself didn’t leave a very good impression – but it did have a room full of memorabilia and newspaper clippings regarding the Marine Barracks that stood here during the World War II.
#Life #Ireland