Derry
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visitderry.com
Things to Do
I traveled to Europe two weeks ago seated next to a young man
from Northern Ireland. I asked him about visiting Belfast and Derry - he didn't
seem to think much of either city and recommended spending as much time in the
countryside as possible instead.
There are nice places along the North
Coast that you can visit from there, nice beaches and the like, and of course
you are on the Donegal Border so you can travel across in Donegal easily.
You can pretty much do a daytrip to anywhere in Northern Ireland if you have a
car
In Ireland, still having city walls is considered unusual. The thing
is, the centre was neutral ground, which is good. All the other quarters were
clearly marked either catholic (look out for those huge murals on the houses) or
protestant (look out for sidewalks painted in the colours of the Union Jack). In
protestant areas, you'll get beaten up for praising the beauty of "Derry" city,
in Catholic areas, you'll get stoned for telling people how you like it in
"Londonderry". I know no other place in the world where saying the name of the
place can start riots.
The city is nice for a couple of days, but I doubt
you'll have the time of your life staying there for months.
About the
kind of English they speak: it DID take some getting used to. And I had already
lived it Ireland for about a year but still couldn't understand some of the
people in Derry.
They had some nice pubs in the old center.
Day Trips
Take daytrips - Giant's causeway, the
lakes, and Donegal are all lovely.
