Galway to Derry

 

  On Saturday, we left Galway and drove to Derry making a few stops on our way.  The first was at the Country Life Museum which gave all sorts of history about thatching (yawn) and the third was at the Belleek pottery factory.  This was also a yawn, but I did come away with an appreciation for the craftsmanship that goes into the creation of this pottery, particularly the flower bedecked baskets.  Also, I made friends with an adorable cat.
     Our second stop was probably a yawn for the rest of my tour-mates, but I was totally excited to see W.B. Yeat's grave which is located in the Drumcliffe Churchyard in County Sligo.  One of the best parts about this stop is that you just pull up and walk over there -- the site has not been made into a major tourist extravaganza.  (OK, there is tea-room / souvenir shop but it is set aside and unobtrusive. I'm sorry to report I did not refrain from buying a Yeats t-shirt).  The Drumcliffe Church is still an active one and it was mindblowing for me to visualize congregants passing by Yeats's grave every week on their way to services.  I'm sure I'm not the first to notice that the door pulls to the church are in the shapes of swans.
     We made it to Derry by 5pm and I got a workout in at the hotel exercise room before our hotel meal. The hotel was swarming with men from the Royal Navy wearing snappy blue suits with embroidered insignias and pinned with ribboned medals.  There was some sort of ceremony planned for Sunday and we later found out that a member of the royal family was there (Prince Michael who heads the Royal Navy), so half the hotel was occupied by the English equivalent to the secret service.  We also noticed a heavy police presence in the surrounding area and I wondered how much of that was extra due to the royal visit, vs. whatever is typical for this area that has so much history with The Troubles (more on that, next post).
     Here are photos.