Jul 2, 2012 - Artrim Coast

Sunday was a terrific day. It just barely rained in the morning and evening, and we got in lots of hiking along the Atlantic! For a day trip from Derry, we headed east along the coast for some spectacular views. Our first visit was to the Giant’s Causeway, which has nothing to do with San Francisco (Giants) or Yolo County (Causeway). It’s a series of some 40,000 interlocking hexagon-shaped basalt columns, formed along the shore by ancient volcanic eruptions. The photos are the best way to understand these. Our second stop was the...

Jun 30, 2012 - County Donegal

Saturday was a rainy day, and it was weighing on our patience. With just half a week to go, we were hoping the weather would make a turnaround by now. It’s almost July! We feel like we vacationed in the Southern Hemisphere. Because we’re in an apartment in Derry, we had our first breakfast on our own, cold cereal instead of the Irish hot breakfast. That was fine. We decided to drive out to see more of the County Donegal countryside, west of Derry. This was back over the (invisible) border into the Republic of Ireland, and back to the euro....

Jun 30, 2012 - Westport to Derry

I knew I loved our Westport B&B: Friday’s day started with a highlight. I got my usual porridge (oatmeal) with a bonus topping – Bailey’s Irish Cream instead of milk! What a treat. I recommend it highly. We stopped for lunch at a market in Grange, and found an adorable park on the way out of town. It stopped raining just long enough for us to enjoy our picnic and get in some play. The boys were attracted by the zip line, which was broken. But we ended up playing on the adult exercise equipment. They need this in Davis. There was an...

Sep 21, 2011 - Giant's Causeway and Belfast

This entry is a little late: that is, the morning after. Last night in Belfast staying at the business centre hotel in downtown, this supposed upscale hotel did not have free WiFi. In all the hotels in Ireland, even in the inns on the remote west coast, WiFi has always been provided free of charge. But here they charge 5 pounds an hour so forget it. As I write this entry it is 9AM Thursday the 22nd and we are in the luxurious ferry lounge in Belfast awaiting our sailing on the Stenna Line to Stranraer, Scotland. Here they have free WiFi....

Sep 20, 2011 - Derry or Londonderry

So this morning as we leave Donegal, we leave the Republic Of Ireland for Derry as the Irish call it Or Londonderry as the Unionists know it. It is a short drive through some lovely purple heather hills deep in the morning mist and drizzle. For the last few days as we have been driving through western Ireland we have been noticing frequently large stacks of fresh cut peat in many yards and farms. These are, we believe, the equivalent of our winter stacks of firewood. How they dry for burning, how long it takes to dry and how long they burn...

Sep 24, 2010 - Derry

@@@@@@@ Background With the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, monasteries began to spread around the island. In AD 546, St. Columba chose a site beside the River Foyle and named the place after the huge forests of oak trees in the region. ‘Doire’ Gaelic for ‘oak grove’ was later Anglicized to ‘Derry’. And so it was known for the following 1100 years until the city was selected as a major ‘Plantation’ project following the Flight of the Earls in 1607. The land was very fertile in the six counties that formed Ulster and the English monarchs...

May 4, 2010 - Northern Ireland

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