Friday, September 12, 2003 (Near Giant’s Causeway – Northern
Ireland)
Not knowing the time is sometimes a good thing
but sometimes a bad thing too. Bloody Sunday and the museum and a dose of
painful history. Comparing the South with the North.
Day 184. The absence of any timekeeping devices
anywhere in the brick, other than the clock on the dashboard, is somewhat of a
double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s great not to have to continually
worry about the time or being late for anything. On the other, I’m never
very sure of whether or not I’ve slept in too long in the mornings. This
morning was one of those mornings. I think I slept a bit more lightly than
usual, all the time worrying about mischievous kids and the havoc they might
have been getting up to around us. I also had a few passing thoughts of a bomb
being attached to the underside of the van. A bit farfetched, perhaps, but I did
grow up hearing news reports of car bombs and other incendiary devices exploding
from time to time during the troubles right here in Northern Ireland. Truth be
told, I was actually more worried about whether or not the little buggars might
have scribbled graffiti all over the brick whilst we were asleep. At one point,
one of them came up to the van and rocked it a little from side to side in a
great display of daring to his egging onlookers. It was just a little bit of
spirited fun on the part of the kids. I might have done something similar when I
was a teenager also.
Once we finally
mobilised ourselves into action again this morning, we took off and drove the
half kilometre or so back into town to finish up taking a look around. We still
wanted to have a look at the Tower museum that the guidebook recommended so
much. The tourist information office visitor’s car park was full this
morning so we had to find another place to park. The coach park just a couple of
hundred yards farther did the trick – and it was
free.
On the way to the Tower museum,
we passed the Bloody Sunday museum. Since it was there in front of us, we went
in and had a look around. It wasn’t until this point that I realised just
how central and pivotal the city of Derry (originally so named but re-named to
Londonderry several decades ago) was to the ‘troubles’ of Northern
Ireland. The event described and remembered as Bloody Sunday was the final spark
that launched the region into near full-scale war and political turmoil that
still ripples today. The museum does a pretty good job of reflecting on the
turbulent and relatively modern history of Derry and is a poignant reminder of
the unrest that underscores the reasons for all the barricades, guard towers and
surveillance cameras that make up much of the landscape of this city. Although
the political issues at the core of the conflict are not resolved, the city does
appear to be a vibrant, bustling and friendly place all the same. School kids in
their school uniforms are all over the place and the shopping centres are full
of consumers going about their daily routine. If it weren’t for the wall
murals, painted curb stones depicting either the red white and blue or the
orange white and green, depending on whether or not that part of town is
inhabited mainly by Catholics or Protestants, and of course all the segregation
by extremely high fencing in certain locations, you might think that this town
was no different to the next.
After
taking in a dose of political history at the Bloody Sunday museum, we walked
around the corner to the Tower museum. Where the Bloody Sunday museum
concentrated on one slice of modern political history, the Tower museum was much
more comprehensive and we embarked on a tour through the history of Derry from
pre-history right up to modern times. I’ve come to expect great things
from museums in Ireland and this one was no exception. It was well worth the
cost of admission and a truly fascinating
experience.
The museums that we
visited this morning were great but there is such a thing as museum overdose and
we might have fallen foul to this had we continued for much longer. Accordingly,
we went in search of a small, out of the way, little restaurant and had lunch.
The Irish seem to treat lunch as the main meal of the day and neither of us was
able to polish off the full plate load of food that we were
served.
With our internal reserves
now well and truly topped up, we left Derry/Londonderry and headed for the
northern coast of Ireland towards the Giant’s Causeway. I had a bit of a
sore throat coming on and so we stopped just the once along the way for a photo
opportunity before continuing on to a campsite just a couple of kilometres short
of the geological landmark. The castles and other tourist attractions will still
be there tomorrow when we explore the
area.
This part of the country
reminds me a lot of the some of the scenery that we saw in South Africa.
I’d still say that the Republic of Ireland (especially in the South) might
be a little prettier but then we have spent much of the time up here in the
North dealing with logistical problems with less time actually spent taking in
castles and other interesting
attractions.
We finished off this
evening with a stroll along the coastline for a few minutes. Rain is now lashing
the brick and there have been some very strong winds knocking us from side to
side. Hopefully, this cold front will have passed by the morning and we will be
able to enjoy the delights of the northern coastline before heading back towards
Belfast to catch the ferry to Scotland.
Posted: Fri - September 12, 2003 at 01:23 PM