We drove to Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland which is a part of the UK and used the British Pound and Miles (in contrast to the Republic of Ireland which is a part of the European Union and uses the Euro and Kilometers). In general, Catholics call it Derry, while Protestants call it Londonderry. Some parts of town still have high fences separating the two communities.

There is a cool city wall (wide enough to walk on) around part of the town. Outside is an area called Free Derry where civil rights protests were held (including Bloody Sunday in April 1972). More about U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday.

We drove to Giant’s Causeway, 40,000 interlocked hexagonal basalt columns (lava/ice formation), and hiked around the top of the cliffs.

We made it to Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge by the last entrance time.The bridge is 100 feet above the rocks and waves, and connected fishermen to an island to fish. We saw lots of dolphins.

In Belfast we took a Black Taxi Tour with a guide who grew up Catholic in Belfast and lost two uncles and a cousin in “The Troubles,” their name for the 40 years of violence in Northern Ireland, which was for long time since WWII the worst violence in Europe.  He took us to the Protestant side of the city and showed us murals painted on houses glorifying their paramilitary groups. There are still security gates in the area that close each night.

He also showed us pictures of huge five-story wooden bonfires that the Protestants light every July 11/12 to commemorate William of Orange’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne (William had told his supporters to light bonfires or torches to signal where to land when he arrived in Ireland with this armies, hence the bonfires on July 12). Some people also burn effigies of the pope.

We saw the Peace Wall on Shankill Road, one of over a hundred peace walls in Belfast now. It looks like it is 30 feet high or more to block projectiles being thrown into the Catholic neighborhood.

The Nationalists tend to be Protestant and want to remain a part of the UK. The Unionists want the both parts of the island to be united into the Republic of Ireland (and separate from the UK, also predominantly Catholic).

We walked around the Christmas market, went to City Hall, and St. George’s market, a large indoor marketplace filled with booths.

The Titanic Museum was very interesting, offering lot’s of interactivity and multimedia. It seemed part attraction (it even had a ride at one stage), part museum.

We went to the Ulster Museum, which has art galleries, natural history and archaeological exhibits and a really well-done exhibit that documented the troubles.

We went to the Grand Opera House to see a pantomime play of “Cinderella.” We had good seats, and the show was very entertaining. A pantomime involves interaction with the cast and the audience, ad-libbing, and lots of local references and in-jokes. The star of the show was John Linehan, who’s stage name is May McFettridge, who played the fairy godmother. He has been performing in pantomimes at the Grand Opera House since the early 1990s, and there is a bust of him in the opera hall.

We walked around Stormont, seat of government for Northern Ireland before going to church Holywood Road Ward.

Drove to Trim Castle. It was closed for the week of Christmas, which wasn’t on their website. We still enjoyed walking around the outside.