Ramble
Quest - A Derry Dove and the Castlerock Curse
Derry/Londonderry has a long history of conflict, including the infamous "Bloody Sunday" killings, the tribunal of which is still ongoing and consistently a local news story. Pretty much everywhere the town's official name is publically displayed, someone has defaced the "London" portion of it. Derry has now calmed itself into an ugly peace, where the town's fortressed police stations have to be seen to be believed and there are more CCTV cameras in place than any town its size. I've already mentioned how the propaganda murals here are better than in Belfast, primarly clustered on good looking buildings near the much photographed "You are now entering Free Derry" sign.
Jarring reminders of conflict aside, this is a pretty town with a nice old historic section high on the hill over a river. The old city walls are the most intact in Ireland and are marvelous for walking, affording both lookouts over the city and close-up views of the oldest buildings.
I popped into a few interesting churches as well as the Guild Hall. I didn't do much else beside wander about, chatting with some locals. There was only one hostel open while I was there, so it was busy, but still quite OK. As I left for the train station, I found a white dove of peace pin, where the dove is carrying an olive branch. It was terrifically scratched up though, almost purposely so. It made me think that Derry is a tough place for a dove of peace, but like Belfast, I think the situation there is improving, if not fully resolved.
I'm first hit by the Castlerock curse on Friday the 13th. I planned a short excursion out to the grounds of the former Bishop of Derry, which has some very nice ruins and superb views. The train stop is Castlerock and I strolled to the door only to discover that I couldn't open it! I quickly tried a different door and got the same result. In fact, I couldn't even discover a method of opening the door! I was just about to resort to pulling the window down to try to open the door from the outside when the train pulled out from the station, as no one else was leaving the train; if that was at all possible, that is! Of all the bazillion train rides I've taken, I've never had this happen, but I guess there's a first time for everything. Fortunately, it wasn't a huge deal as I simply hung around at the next train for an hour and caught a train back.
Of course I watched carefully at the next stop to see what the trick was with the door. Insanely, you're supposed to pull down the window and open it from the outside! On other trains I later noticed a sign with these instructions on it, but for some reason it was missing on this train. And in truth, I've yet to see anyone actually accomplish this! On all the other trains I took, I saw people, at least a dozen, try and ultimately fail to open the door by pulling down the window and pulling the latch from the outside. In all cases they had to wait for someone outside the train to open it for them.
I'm not done with the Castlerock train curse though. On the way out from Derry for good, I'd planned on going to Armagh when I decided to be spontaneous with my train pass, get off at Castlerock and hike over to a hostel I'd noticed at Downhill, up the track a few miles. Preparing myself ahead of time, I tested that I had a window that successfully opened, then stuck my head completely out of the train when it pulled into Castlerock. The door won't open! Fortunately, I'm able to wave to a conductor outside and she comes over to help, except she can't open it either because it's locked! She digs out a key and lets me out. As I'm walking away I notice a kid on the train in a panic because he too can't open the door. I try to help him but his door is locked as well! Just as the train is pulling out, I get a conductor's attention and the kid is released. Clearly, they don't make it easy for people to get out at Castlerock.
To wrap things up in Northern Ireland, the Downhill Hostel was very nice, and the nice people who work there gave me a lift out so I didn't have to deal with Castlerock trains again. From Downhill, I did some great hiking up the river and along the coast from there. I was a good samaritan and helped rescue a car that was stuck on the beach with the tide coming in. I later got to Armagh, where the large St. Patrick's Cathedral was closed for repairs but looked nice from the outside. The small County Museum was free and worth a quick look. Then back to Belfast for a day and a bus out to Dublin Airport for a flight back to Chicago.