So we're now back from our trip having covered a total of 1800 miles and how do I begin to describe what we've just been through?
As a learning process, it has been imense. The first I learned from my two day trip to Wales last year was that plans need to be kept fluid. You might want to camp out but if the weather has other ideas, then it's probably not going to happen. What I didn't take into account was that the weather could potentially become so bad that it would make it near enough impossible to ride or very uncomfortable if you tried to. This was our first delay in Belfast when the winds picked up to 70mph gusts.
Secondly, keep tools and a stock of small parts that can easily break. After dropping the bike in Dunfanaghy, if I'd even had just a spare brake lever, we could have carried on and even possibly made it round the Ring of Kerry. As it stands, a lack of preparation on our part for this eventuality meant we wasted yet an extra day and a half just waiting to try and get parts.
Third, google maps can be a great source of information on how long a trip may possibly take. It doesn't however take into account road surfaces and rain which on a bike can severly hamper travelling time. The roads around County Donegal were attrocious. In a car, you could quite easily keep up a 50mph drive but on a bike, taking into account the amount of bumps, gravel on the roads, especially on bends and the wind which was still blowing very strongly and I would estimate that our average speed had been brought down to no more than 35mph making the days riding a lot lot longer than planned.
Fourth, road signs are great. At least they are when they point in the correct direction and have the same spellings for names that you've seen on your map. Unfortunately in Ireland both of these don't seem to apply very often and as a result, we quite often missed turnings having to retrace our steps.
Fifth, spending a day on a bike can be a great source of fun and can offer time to reflect on your own thoughts. 11 Days on a bike without anyone to talk to unless you shout when you're doing below 40mph can get very lonely and boring.
From this, we've now decided that we need to splash out and invest on those things that I'd mentioned before in the blog that we could really afford before we left.
A replacement brake lever, clutch lever and possibly even brake pedal and gear lever will be things that I look for in the eventuality that I drop the bike again. I didn't think it would happen after last year in Wales but it did so you can never be sure.
Planning shorter days travelling. In my opinion, it would be far greater to have reached our destinations early and been able to carry on going rather than finding that late in the afternoon we still had miles to go and the disappointment of not being able to see everything that I'd built my hopes up to see.
A sat nav is essential! Especially in a land where they don't speak the same language!
The intercom system should be good to have in that at least rather than pointing in a random direction, I can actually talk to Nikki to let her know what I've seen and even just to have a game of I Spy on the longer roads!
In conclusion, it was a great trip. I never expected everything to go smoothly but I did expect it to be a bit smoother than it was. On reflection this is no bad thing though as hopefully we will be far more prepared for Scotland and hopefully completely prepared to have a fantastic trip around Europe.
There won't be much more from the blog in the next couple of weeks. The rear brake isn't operating the brake light, the headlight has blown and I still need another right hand wing mirror which needs to be fixed for the bike to go in for its M.O.T which has now expired.
Maybe a couple of weeks rest is no bad thing!
Thursday 2 June 2011
Sunday 29th - the end is nigh!
Waking up on Sunday fearful after the night before of a hangover which gladly never came we packed up and headed off to Kilfenora in the direction of a certain house which was used for the filming of Father Ted! We had been told that there was a tourist office nearby that could point us in the right direction and off we went in search!
We only had a short period of time to get some pictures and the directions we were given were perfect although in some places, it really felt like we'd left the road and jumped onto a off road track! Onwards we carried on and eventually came across the house!
After taking some very quick snaps we turned back to head the way we'd come to get on the road back to Galway to find the motorway to Dublin!
Google maps, in general on English roads is fine. But experience throughout the week just gone had told us that whatever it says, add at least an hour as the roads had been so poor. Sure enough, we made a very quick journey off towards the capital and arrived shortaly before 3pm, 40 minutes later than google had predicted and this was not travelling slowly either! The toll roads, although boring, were a pleasure to ride on after having endured roads bumpier than I'd ever experienced before for the last 5 days. We jumped on the ferry and made our way back to Wales.
We only had a short period of time to get some pictures and the directions we were given were perfect although in some places, it really felt like we'd left the road and jumped onto a off road track! Onwards we carried on and eventually came across the house!
After taking some very quick snaps we turned back to head the way we'd come to get on the road back to Galway to find the motorway to Dublin!
Google maps, in general on English roads is fine. But experience throughout the week just gone had told us that whatever it says, add at least an hour as the roads had been so poor. Sure enough, we made a very quick journey off towards the capital and arrived shortaly before 3pm, 40 minutes later than google had predicted and this was not travelling slowly either! The toll roads, although boring, were a pleasure to ride on after having endured roads bumpier than I'd ever experienced before for the last 5 days. We jumped on the ferry and made our way back to Wales.
Friday 28th and Saturday 29th
Again, we awoke to an overcast day although it did appear dry. After the 7th day of scrambled eggs on toast (Ireland doesn't do beans or anything remotely vegetarian!) we got our bits together and made our way to the car park where the rain promptly started to fall.
We carried on and after a fairly boring ride the rain became so bad that we gave up and decided to stop at the nearest B&B which happened to be in Bangor Eris.
Now, I've never come across a village so quiet. There were a couple of shops and a takeaway which server fish and chips and fried chicken. Nowhere accepted card payments including the B&B and the nearest cash point was in the next village along. Not bad you say. It is when the next village is 12 miles away!
Luckily, I had a bit of cash left on me and we were able to just about afford a dinner of chicken and chips! Seeing as there was nothing else to do around, we had our first early night of the holiday!
We woke up refreshed and after a quick blast on my own to get cash to pay for the B&B we made tracks to head down towards Galway.
On the way down, the lonely planet guide recommended a trip along the Atlantic Drive towards Mount Slievmore which sounded great as there was an abandoned village there that we would have liked to have seen left from the famine. Unfortunately the road was so battered that it seemed too risky to travel down especially with the sheep that littered the road and scattered in every direction at the sound of the motorbike!
We carried on following the N59 and ended up at the Connemara National Park. As soon as we entered, we realised that we were in an area with spectacular scenery with mountains all around. I found a sign that indicated the Connemara loop going along the R344 and followed that down back to the R59. The scenery was amazing and along this road we hit our 1000th mile!
Zoom in and you can see the mileage - 999.9!
Off we carried on stopping in Galway for lunch. I was aiming to push on to Limerick to try and squeeze in a quick look at the Cliffs Of Moher. It was apparent though that it was still going to be quite a long ride to Limerick and after failing to book a hotel room, decided to see if I could find one as close to the Cliffs as possible. A small town called Lisdoonvarna appeared on the map as the closest town so a quick look on tripadvisor and I booked us in at Sheedy's Country House Hotel. Being our last night in Ireland, I really wanted to get down to see these iconic cliffs and we eventually arrived in Lisdoonvarna at around 4pm. The roads were obviously getting better!
As Lisdoonvarna appeared before the cliffs, we stopped to unload our luggage and jumped back on the bike to go see the cliffs. In their own right, the cliffs were impressive but I think that it was spoiled a little by the fact that you can see very similar sights in Wales without being ripped off by the local council charging 6 euro's each just to park the bike up. We spent a short amount of time there taking the obligatory tourist photo's and made our way back to the town for some dinner.
Sheedy's had a lovely menu but unfortunately, due to my fussy palate, we didn't actually like anything on the menu although it did all smell great. Instead, we opted to go to a pub round the corner where we had yet more chicken and chips! Looking around the bar, there were signs for live music later in the evening. As we didn't have much cash and I'd had a drink, we opted to leave a card behind the bar and come back later.
After dessert back at the hotel and another pint of guinness we made our way back to the pub which was now filling up. Whilst ordering our drinks, I got chatting to a man named John who kindly pulled up a stool for Nikki and myself. Well for those that know me, I will talk to anyone and after a couple of pints, he'd introduced me to others at the bar and soon we were all laughing and joking. The pub filled up with even more people and I've got to say that it was the best night out I've had in a very very long time. I don't think I've ever been to a pub where everyone was so friendly and happy to talk to everyone else and for this reason and near enough not much else, I will probably try and get back to Ireland sooner than I had anticipated up to that point.
John, I know I gave you my email address in my drunken state and if you are reading this, it would be great to hear from you!
Just a little plug for the hotel we stayed at too Sheedy's Country House Hotel.
The room was the best value that we had all weekend and the breakfast was fantastic. The owners were friendly and always helpful and they're very charming children. The daughter who kindly led her mum to show us our room but ran away without a care in the world when it came to boring things like food and their son, who called from reception across the baby intercom to advise that "SOMEONE IS HERE FOR YOUUUU!". I love the fact that this place was family run and you could see that a lot of care had been put in to making it a lovely place to stay. We'll definitely be back if we're in that part of the world again!
We carried on and after a fairly boring ride the rain became so bad that we gave up and decided to stop at the nearest B&B which happened to be in Bangor Eris.
Now, I've never come across a village so quiet. There were a couple of shops and a takeaway which server fish and chips and fried chicken. Nowhere accepted card payments including the B&B and the nearest cash point was in the next village along. Not bad you say. It is when the next village is 12 miles away!
Luckily, I had a bit of cash left on me and we were able to just about afford a dinner of chicken and chips! Seeing as there was nothing else to do around, we had our first early night of the holiday!
We woke up refreshed and after a quick blast on my own to get cash to pay for the B&B we made tracks to head down towards Galway.
On the way down, the lonely planet guide recommended a trip along the Atlantic Drive towards Mount Slievmore which sounded great as there was an abandoned village there that we would have liked to have seen left from the famine. Unfortunately the road was so battered that it seemed too risky to travel down especially with the sheep that littered the road and scattered in every direction at the sound of the motorbike!
We carried on following the N59 and ended up at the Connemara National Park. As soon as we entered, we realised that we were in an area with spectacular scenery with mountains all around. I found a sign that indicated the Connemara loop going along the R344 and followed that down back to the R59. The scenery was amazing and along this road we hit our 1000th mile!
Zoom in and you can see the mileage - 999.9!
Off we carried on stopping in Galway for lunch. I was aiming to push on to Limerick to try and squeeze in a quick look at the Cliffs Of Moher. It was apparent though that it was still going to be quite a long ride to Limerick and after failing to book a hotel room, decided to see if I could find one as close to the Cliffs as possible. A small town called Lisdoonvarna appeared on the map as the closest town so a quick look on tripadvisor and I booked us in at Sheedy's Country House Hotel. Being our last night in Ireland, I really wanted to get down to see these iconic cliffs and we eventually arrived in Lisdoonvarna at around 4pm. The roads were obviously getting better!
As Lisdoonvarna appeared before the cliffs, we stopped to unload our luggage and jumped back on the bike to go see the cliffs. In their own right, the cliffs were impressive but I think that it was spoiled a little by the fact that you can see very similar sights in Wales without being ripped off by the local council charging 6 euro's each just to park the bike up. We spent a short amount of time there taking the obligatory tourist photo's and made our way back to the town for some dinner.
Sheedy's had a lovely menu but unfortunately, due to my fussy palate, we didn't actually like anything on the menu although it did all smell great. Instead, we opted to go to a pub round the corner where we had yet more chicken and chips! Looking around the bar, there were signs for live music later in the evening. As we didn't have much cash and I'd had a drink, we opted to leave a card behind the bar and come back later.
After dessert back at the hotel and another pint of guinness we made our way back to the pub which was now filling up. Whilst ordering our drinks, I got chatting to a man named John who kindly pulled up a stool for Nikki and myself. Well for those that know me, I will talk to anyone and after a couple of pints, he'd introduced me to others at the bar and soon we were all laughing and joking. The pub filled up with even more people and I've got to say that it was the best night out I've had in a very very long time. I don't think I've ever been to a pub where everyone was so friendly and happy to talk to everyone else and for this reason and near enough not much else, I will probably try and get back to Ireland sooner than I had anticipated up to that point.
John, I know I gave you my email address in my drunken state and if you are reading this, it would be great to hear from you!
Just a little plug for the hotel we stayed at too Sheedy's Country House Hotel.
The room was the best value that we had all weekend and the breakfast was fantastic. The owners were friendly and always helpful and they're very charming children. The daughter who kindly led her mum to show us our room but ran away without a care in the world when it came to boring things like food and their son, who called from reception across the baby intercom to advise that "SOMEONE IS HERE FOR YOUUUU!". I love the fact that this place was family run and you could see that a lot of care had been put in to making it a lovely place to stay. We'll definitely be back if we're in that part of the world again!
Thursday 26th
So after an early start and a 2 hour drive to Omagh, we eventually found the motorbike dealer. Being a main Suzuki dealer I was expecting the large types of warehouse shops that we get in England but it was in actual fact, a small shop with barely a few bikes in with some helmets and clothing! £50 lighter and a brake lever and a left wing mirror up, we headed back to Letterkenny where we had hired out the car to return it and get a lift back to the hotel.
Arriving back at midday, it didn't take long to fit the parts and we were soon on our way in the rain. After travelling a few miles, we realised we'd missed breakfast and lunch so made a stop at the first cafe we came across to refuel ourselves.
Filled up, we carried on and the road that we took (N257), although being terribly laid was in parts, spectacular. The remoteness of it was just jaw dropping with old ruins of houses scattered across the harsh land it was difficult to believe that anyone still lived here. We read that during the famine, the community had survived though due to it's relationship with the sea and being able to survive on seafood and seaweed. It was also that untouched that the sheep were also allowed to roam free and we encountered more than a few along the road!
Seeing as it was already afternoon when we left Dunfanaghy, it was getting late and after only about 70 miles of riding, we decided to stop in Donegal and rest our heads to carry on fresh tomorrow.
Arriving back at midday, it didn't take long to fit the parts and we were soon on our way in the rain. After travelling a few miles, we realised we'd missed breakfast and lunch so made a stop at the first cafe we came across to refuel ourselves.
Filled up, we carried on and the road that we took (N257), although being terribly laid was in parts, spectacular. The remoteness of it was just jaw dropping with old ruins of houses scattered across the harsh land it was difficult to believe that anyone still lived here. We read that during the famine, the community had survived though due to it's relationship with the sea and being able to survive on seafood and seaweed. It was also that untouched that the sheep were also allowed to roam free and we encountered more than a few along the road!
Wednesday 25th
Having arrived quite late on Tuesday evening, the receptionist offered to let me put the motorbike out of sight of the main road. Having mentioned this, it set in a bit of worry in that maybe they had issues previously with bikes. One of the places that she recommended was behind the hotel down a steep grass verge which was fine getting down and certainly was out of sight. Deciding that it would be safer down there, I rolled down the hill and parked up for the night.
Having had breakfast and geared up, I went to retrieve the bike in the morning drizzle. Looking at the steep hill, it was apparent it was going to be a challenge to get up and foolishly sped up the hill and lost traction on the back wheel causing the bike to fall to the left and catapault me off. My main concern as I bounced down the hill was that the bike was going to slide on top of me but luckily it stayed. As I got up to survey the damage, it was apparent the both wing mirrors had broken off and the front brake lever had too. I found this puzzling as the bike had landed on it's left hand side and can only imagine that my arm had caught them both on the way over.
The two hotel maintenance men helped me pick up the bike and park it up. Kindly, they offered to take me to the nearest garage where I hoped they might have been able to at least weld the brake lever back together. Unfortunately, with the lever and the mirrors being aluminium, this wasn't possible. The man at the garage went home too to even see if he had an old lever lying around but alas, he had given it away when he sold his bike.
To cut a long story short, after a lot of phoning around, we found one shop in Omagh who were Suzuki resellers that kindly offered to take a lever off a bike they had in store for me so we could carry on after I explained we were on holiday. They also had a left mirror too. Unfortunately, being 2 hours away, they weren't able to come and get me and for some reason, couriering them over was not an option. We ended up having to hire out a car and travel down the following morning as it was too late to leave in the afternoon.
Breaking away momentarily from the bike, we were amazed to find that securicor vans around the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic are still escorted by the army. No one had warned us about this and we were amazed to see two trucks of soldiers lining the streets guns and all whilst the cash pick up was taking place!
On the plus side, having the car meant we were able to travel round the Inishowen Peninsula in the evening visiting the most northerly point in Ireland. Predictably, it rained!
Having had breakfast and geared up, I went to retrieve the bike in the morning drizzle. Looking at the steep hill, it was apparent it was going to be a challenge to get up and foolishly sped up the hill and lost traction on the back wheel causing the bike to fall to the left and catapault me off. My main concern as I bounced down the hill was that the bike was going to slide on top of me but luckily it stayed. As I got up to survey the damage, it was apparent the both wing mirrors had broken off and the front brake lever had too. I found this puzzling as the bike had landed on it's left hand side and can only imagine that my arm had caught them both on the way over.
The two hotel maintenance men helped me pick up the bike and park it up. Kindly, they offered to take me to the nearest garage where I hoped they might have been able to at least weld the brake lever back together. Unfortunately, with the lever and the mirrors being aluminium, this wasn't possible. The man at the garage went home too to even see if he had an old lever lying around but alas, he had given it away when he sold his bike.
To cut a long story short, after a lot of phoning around, we found one shop in Omagh who were Suzuki resellers that kindly offered to take a lever off a bike they had in store for me so we could carry on after I explained we were on holiday. They also had a left mirror too. Unfortunately, being 2 hours away, they weren't able to come and get me and for some reason, couriering them over was not an option. We ended up having to hire out a car and travel down the following morning as it was too late to leave in the afternoon.
Breaking away momentarily from the bike, we were amazed to find that securicor vans around the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic are still escorted by the army. No one had warned us about this and we were amazed to see two trucks of soldiers lining the streets guns and all whilst the cash pick up was taking place!
Tuesday 24th
We awoke this morning to another blustery but sunny day. Feeling positive about the rest of the trip and hoping that the bad weather had now passed we made our way to breakfast where, after 30mins, the grey clouds rolled in and we knew we were in for another day of showers at least.
We left the hotel at about 10am with an aim to visit Carrick a Rede (the rope bridge along the north coast) and the Giants Causeway. The route planned was the Antrim Coast which quite literally runs along the north eastern coast not passing much further away from the beach than a couple of hundred metres in most places.
After riding through the hills to get to the coast the rain stopped to reveal warm sunshine and as we passed along the winding, perfectly laid road taking in the amazing scenery of cliffs plunging into the ocean which, given the winds still being fairly high, was glittering blue in the sun with ripples of white from the crest of the waves being rolled forward faster then they wished.
The road was fairly quiet and reminded me much of a trip to Greece a few years ago where I had hired out a scooter to go round Rhodes. After hitting the far side of the island, all that could be seen was road and coast. As I did then, all I could do was smile as we progressed along towards our destination.
The night before, we had been watching TV and caught the highlights of the Northwest 200. A motorcycle road race that takes place along the Antrim Coast. Passing the area where the race took place, I couldn't help but lean over the tank as we passed the start/finish line and rev the engine a little imagining I was riding a sports bike! Reality soon struck back though realising that I could only legally ride at 30mph!
We approaced the rope bridge late in the afternoon and not realising we had quite a walk from the car park to the bridge itself, we kept our gear on including the rainsuits. The walk took about 20 minutes from the point of paying and on the way, was downhill which made things warm but not uncomfortable. It was obvious on the way back through we were going to struggle. The rope bridge itself crosses 20 metres onto a small separated piece of land and is 30 metres high. Given the windy conditions, I thought it would be bad but crossing the bridge was done with relative ease bouncing along as I went! Others were not quite so trusting taking them slightly longer to get across (or in Nikki's case, not attempting at all!). Going from sunshine on one side of the bridge onto the island, the heavens opened again and with the strong wind, the raindrops felt like pin pricks across my face! Fun nevertheless trying to keep upright and trying desperately not to get blown off the edge, I made my way back to the bridge to cross back.
Tired and getting hungry, but also realising that we were only halfway along the route chosen, we headed off quickly to the Giants Causeway. Upon arrival, we realised that there would again be a lot of walking so off we went taking lots of pictures too as any good tourist would do!
By the time we left, it must have been close to 6pm and given the distance left to get to our next hotel, we decided to skip out the Inishowen Peninsula and head round on the fastest roads possible arriving shortly before 9pm in Dunfanaghy.
We left the hotel at about 10am with an aim to visit Carrick a Rede (the rope bridge along the north coast) and the Giants Causeway. The route planned was the Antrim Coast which quite literally runs along the north eastern coast not passing much further away from the beach than a couple of hundred metres in most places.
After riding through the hills to get to the coast the rain stopped to reveal warm sunshine and as we passed along the winding, perfectly laid road taking in the amazing scenery of cliffs plunging into the ocean which, given the winds still being fairly high, was glittering blue in the sun with ripples of white from the crest of the waves being rolled forward faster then they wished.
The night before, we had been watching TV and caught the highlights of the Northwest 200. A motorcycle road race that takes place along the Antrim Coast. Passing the area where the race took place, I couldn't help but lean over the tank as we passed the start/finish line and rev the engine a little imagining I was riding a sports bike! Reality soon struck back though realising that I could only legally ride at 30mph!
We approaced the rope bridge late in the afternoon and not realising we had quite a walk from the car park to the bridge itself, we kept our gear on including the rainsuits. The walk took about 20 minutes from the point of paying and on the way, was downhill which made things warm but not uncomfortable. It was obvious on the way back through we were going to struggle. The rope bridge itself crosses 20 metres onto a small separated piece of land and is 30 metres high. Given the windy conditions, I thought it would be bad but crossing the bridge was done with relative ease bouncing along as I went! Others were not quite so trusting taking them slightly longer to get across (or in Nikki's case, not attempting at all!). Going from sunshine on one side of the bridge onto the island, the heavens opened again and with the strong wind, the raindrops felt like pin pricks across my face! Fun nevertheless trying to keep upright and trying desperately not to get blown off the edge, I made my way back to the bridge to cross back.
Monday 23rd
Not much to report today on the blog in terms of biking. High winds of up to 70mph have hit the north coast of Ireland and we're stuck! We decided that it wasn't worth carrying on as we wouldn't enjoy the day so opted for a relaxed morning followed by a trip into Belfast city centre.
Besides the high winds, there were occasional breaks in the rain revealing warm sunshine and after consulting our lonely planet guide decided a trip around the city finding the murals wouldn't be so tough.
Having never ridden in 70mph gusts of wind before with a passenger and luggage, it came as quite a shock when shortly after leaving the hotel, a gust hit us so hard it nearly blew Nikki off the bike and felt like someone had given my helmet an almighty slap on the side! Maybe we should have taken notice of the branch that snapped off the tree above us as we were preparing to leave as a sign it wasn't really safe... You live and learn!
After a short journey into the city centre, we found the cathedral and tried to find our way through the one way streets to the main square. This determination to go looking round on the bike was short lived however and 5 minutes later we were parked up in a multistorey car park and dialling to arrange a tour in a black cab to see the murals!
The tour was carried out by the taxi driver, which it turns out isn't abnormal and in my opinion quite refreshing. It may have been a little one sided but interesting nevertheless to hear about the trials and tribulations of the catholic community in Northern Ireland. To see some of the areas where what I can only describe as attrocities took place such as Bombay Street were a massive eye opener. I always liked to believe that the British media were a free media reporting from all sides of a story but as we toured the streets it seemed to me that over in England, we only receive a one sided story. The murals not only depicted events from Northern Ireland but also events ongoing around the world which I found fascinating.
We did get an opportunity to see the British side of the peace line too and I found it rather disturbing to find a mural that celebrated a man for the fact that he had killed so many Catholics.
Certainly an eye opening day and one that I will not forget for a very long time.
On the plus side, progress is being made in Northern Ireland and who knows, maybe sometime in our lifetime, the peace line may come down and both sides can live in peace. I think this particular mural covers hat most would like to see (you'll need to click the picture to enlarge and see the poem).
Besides the high winds, there were occasional breaks in the rain revealing warm sunshine and after consulting our lonely planet guide decided a trip around the city finding the murals wouldn't be so tough.
Having never ridden in 70mph gusts of wind before with a passenger and luggage, it came as quite a shock when shortly after leaving the hotel, a gust hit us so hard it nearly blew Nikki off the bike and felt like someone had given my helmet an almighty slap on the side! Maybe we should have taken notice of the branch that snapped off the tree above us as we were preparing to leave as a sign it wasn't really safe... You live and learn!
After a short journey into the city centre, we found the cathedral and tried to find our way through the one way streets to the main square. This determination to go looking round on the bike was short lived however and 5 minutes later we were parked up in a multistorey car park and dialling to arrange a tour in a black cab to see the murals!
The tour was carried out by the taxi driver, which it turns out isn't abnormal and in my opinion quite refreshing. It may have been a little one sided but interesting nevertheless to hear about the trials and tribulations of the catholic community in Northern Ireland. To see some of the areas where what I can only describe as attrocities took place such as Bombay Street were a massive eye opener. I always liked to believe that the British media were a free media reporting from all sides of a story but as we toured the streets it seemed to me that over in England, we only receive a one sided story. The murals not only depicted events from Northern Ireland but also events ongoing around the world which I found fascinating.
We did get an opportunity to see the British side of the peace line too and I found it rather disturbing to find a mural that celebrated a man for the fact that he had killed so many Catholics.
Certainly an eye opening day and one that I will not forget for a very long time.
On the plus side, progress is being made in Northern Ireland and who knows, maybe sometime in our lifetime, the peace line may come down and both sides can live in peace. I think this particular mural covers hat most would like to see (you'll need to click the picture to enlarge and see the poem).
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