Thursday 26 July 2007


Just finishing up a latte and a cheese & tomato "toasty" at a coffee shop in Derry, Northern Ireland. My family and I find ourselves back in the UK after crossing the border this morning from the Republic of Ireland. Border crossings between the UK and Ireland completely lack in fanfare or notice; in fact, while at Beleek Pottery this morning, my sister asked me, "Why are all the prices in pounds (the UK currency) if we're still in Ireland?" Turns out, we were literally JUST over the border. As in, the other side of a stream. Amazing.

Yesterday was an interesting day. We stopped in the village of Knock where an apparition of the Virgin Mary and Jesus had once taken place. My die-hard Catholic mother was particularly excited about this part of the trip, but the disappointment on her face was obvious when we arrived. While the shrine itself was very nice, the area was not very well kept and was flooded with tourists. The sheer tackiness of the shops nearby made it overall a not-so-fun time. Fortunately, we were only there for 45 minutes.

Even more fortunately, we took an optional excursion last night to visit a pub in a village outside of Sligo (for you literary buffs out there, County Sligo is where William Butler Yeats lived). Two gentlemen who called themselves the Bogtown Rats entertained us with some traditional and not-so-traditional Irish tunes. We also got two pints each of Guinness (Mom, Dad, and Bridget) or Bulmer's Cider (Deidre and I). We had a GREAT time singing along to a bunch of tunes that my mom had played incessantly on tapes while we were kids. I was particularly happy for my dad; traditional music and good "craic" in a pub was something he had been craving for most of the trip. We impressed the rest of our tour group (i.e., showed off) with our extensive knowledge of all songs Irish.

We took a walking tour of Derry this morning guided by a half-Chinese, half-Irish Buddhist named Ronan McNamara. I wish I was making this up. Ever see someone of Asian decent speak with an Irish accent? Surreal. He was quite knowledgeable about the city, being a professor of politics and history, and gave us a great tour of a city trying to overcome its reputation as home of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Gotta run. More to come later.

Off to Belfast,
Tara