April 25th

Our first morning in Derry began with a guided walking tour of the famous "Derry's Walls" and the Guild Hall area. We met our wonderful tour guide Ronan MacNamara, whose mother is Chinese and father is Irish. He claims to be the only Buddhist in Derry. He gave us great incite into Derry's history, from the Jacobite wars of the 17th century, King James against King William on up to the infamous Blood Sunday massacre in Derry in 1972, which really rocked the North and brought on a civil war between Catholic and Protestant not finding peace until 1998.

We were rained on a couple of times but the sun came through for most of the rest of the day. Our driver Paul and I had discussed a surprise visit to an ancient fort Grianan Aileach in Co. Donegal just across the border from Derry. After an hour break we set out on the bus into Co. Donegal and gave the group a splendid experience that few tourists ever see. Paul told us most busses will not risk the assent and turns but we did. Ken O'Malley goes where nobody else goes.
Built between the 6th and 7th century on top of a much older defensive structure, the fort stands at the top of a hill overlooking the counties of Derry, Donegal and Tyrone. You can see for miles in every direction, truly spectacular.
We arrived back to our hotel mid afternoon and some went on another walking tour of the Bogside and the Bloody Sunday history. For myself, I took a rest prior to my impromptu concert in my suite at 6pm. Fourteen of the group showed up with drinks from the bar and I sang and talked for an hour. By then it was time for dinner in the restaurant and catch the second half of Bayern Munich losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League soccer semi final, on the hotel TV. Time to retire and write my blog...catch you all again tomorrow night from Belfast...