Yesterday we drove past Derry/Londonderry on our way to our B&B in Donegal town. When we finished dinner we got out our trusty Rick Steves guide book to plan today's sightseeing events. When we read all that he had to say about Derry we decided to backtrack and see all that we missed.
The town has two names, for the people who live in the Republic of Ireland and are Nationalists (Catholic), they refer to it as Derry. For those who live in Northern Ireland and are Unionists (Protestant), they call it Londonderry. This has been the battleground city since 1969. The city sits on the dividing line between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The battles between the nationalist (IRA) and the British troops lasted for 38 years until 2007, when the British troops were pulled out of Derry. The above bridge is called the Peace Bridge and was built in 2011. The east bank of the river is home to most of the unionists who live in the city and the west bank is home to mostly nationalists. (The nationalists want to unite Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and make it one country. The unionists want to stay united with the United Kingdom.)
In the 1970's there were many, many lives lost as the nationalists fought for civil rights. What remains today are murals that depict the tragedies that took place in the 70's throughout the troubled spots in the city, such as the photos below.
See I told you we weren't lost. I found us on the map, man, am I good or what!
Thought I would show you a photo of our rental car. Not too good on gas but we have plenty of room for our luggage.
Cindy wanted to rent this one, more to her size!
We found a great spot for lunch, but taking a photo of someone with their mouth full is not funny!
We decided to check into our castle early to see how lost we could get between the bar and our room. And it worked. We got lost several times.
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