Hey, hey Monday!
IT’S JULY!!
J-U-L-Y!
Speaking of which…
You guys, I apologize that the June Book Review isn’t out yet. It will be published TOMORROW! I finished up the last book on Friday afternoon, and it was so cute that I certainly wanted it included in this review. I know many of you are looking forward to it, and I apologize for the delay!
Today though…
I have PART ONE OF OUR TIME IN DERRY!
I mean, let’s all thank…
…the Netflix show Derry Girls for the inspiration behind this entire trip 🙂 .
Here’s the deal, I loved this show and had a sincere appreciation for the funny/witty/light hearted/comedic way the creator of it tried to share teenage life during the 1990s in Northern Ireland amongst their revolution but y’all…MY APPRECIATION IS JUST SO MUCH DEEPER NOW.
I certainly cannot speak to every resident of Derry when I say this, but everyyyyyyyyy person we ran into asked us the same two questions “Where are you from and why are you visiting Derry?” (in a very nice and curious way, they were all happy to see tourists) and then “Did you watch Derry Girls?”. After we said yes to the second question, they allllllll proceeded to tell us how much the show meant to them and how thankful they were that we watched it and then visited their beautiful city.
Our family really liked Belfast, but we LOVED DERRY. Here’s a little look at our first day there…
A little map of Northern Ireland in case you were curious about the drive. We left Belfast that morning at 10:00 and a driver took us the 2-ish hours to Derry, Northern Ireland (it’s formally/technically/historically called Londonderry but no one calls it that any more). We dropped Andrew off to grab our rental van, and the kids and I headed to the hotel to check in. After we checked in, we met him at…
…a tavern for lunch. #winning. We were super hungry and excited to get there and explore.
After lunch, we bundled up and headed out to officially check out Derry…
…that’s beautiful Guildhall (pics below inside) which felt like the heart of Derry.
Geez, I love them all.
We explored this central part of Derry a bit before…
…heading up to tour the wall. If you go to Derry, this is a MUST! These historic city walls (built in the early 1600s) make a circle around the original town of Londonderry. It’s free, it’s a nice walk, and there are various “exit” points should you wish to end your journey before you make it all the way around. You’ll not only see restored cannons and original city gates, but the views are spectacular. We did the entire one mile walk and loved it!
A photo by Smith 🙂 .
A great view of Guildhall from the wall.
And this can be seen from the wall too…
…I mean, yes.
More of our wall tour…
…views and history. We loved it!
When we completed the walk, we headed across to…
…check out Guildhall.
The coolest part was that in 2010, a time capsule was found there that had been completely forgotten about after it was buried in the 1800s. You can see the capsule and the contents inside Guildhall. There was a newspaper, coins…I took a video but forgot to take an actual pic to post here, but I thought it was just really amazing that over 100 years later, it was accidentally discovered.
After Guildhall, we walked over the…
…The Peace Bridge!
The Peace Bridge in and of itself was beautiful, but the river below made it extra pretty.
Oh look, Mom finally made it into a picture 😉 .
We walked over the bridge because we heard that visiting…
…Walled City Brewery was a must! They have tours for those over 18 of their brewery (it’s a must when in Derry!), but we made a reservation for appetizers and to test this famous Derry beer. It was a great stop!
Back over the bridge we went after we were done…
…like I said before, because we went in mid-June, the sun stayed out almost 24 hours (we never saw it get dark).
We wrapped up our night…
…in Derry with dinner and then headed to bed. The people, the history, the architecture…Day #1 in Derry was perfection.
How cute is our hotel?! We stayed at the Shipquay Hotel, and it was just one more jewel in Derry.
That wraps up PART ONE!
Don’t forget, you can see these posts from Belfast as well: NORTHERN IRELAND PART ONE, NORTHERN IRELAND PART TWO, andNORTHERN IRELAND PART THREE.
My travel agency would LOVE to send your family on vacation too!! From Europe to Mexico, Asia, Africa, Australia, Hawaii, Walt Disney World, Universal and of course, cruises too, we would love to connect with you today about your next vacation. Contact us now!
Happy happy Monday! I’ll see you back here tomorrow with my JUNE BOOK REVIEW! xx
Elspeth says
So fun!! And such beautiful views too!
Can’t wait for the next part!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
Jess says
Random question – when your at a brewery what is your favorite type of beer? Do you have any you recommend from Cisco? We have a lot of their brand at our local package store and want to try some! Thanks!
Mix and Match Mama says
I am personally not a big beer drinker, so I don’t ever even really know what I’m ordering or why. When I’m at Cisco, I drink their flavored vodkas (they have so many including a pepper one!). I have tried their beers before though and thought they were good (but I don’t even know that I could tell you which was my fave).
Katie Compton says
I’ve loved following along on your trip! My almost HS senior (EEEK!) daughter and I are looking for a new show to watch together. The trailer for Derry Girls looks so fun! Did you watch it with Kensington?
Also, can’t wait for your June Book Review tomorrow!! Yay!
Mix and Match Mama says
I watched the first season by myself and then watched with her. I would suggest you watch at least one episode first before you decide. The show has some foul language but never any violence or sexual content. It’s really witty and the music is AMAZING!
Katie Compton says
Thanks for the tip, Shay! I don’t worry as much about the language b/c unfortunately it’s probably not worse than what she hears in the halls of high school. But I always like a heads up! I’m going to start it tomorrow. Yay!
Ann Walker says
I am old AND obviously need to get new glasses…every time I saw you post that pic of the people on the mural wall, I kept wondering why the Irish were such big fans of the show “Facts of Life” LOL
Mix and Match Mama says
I am laughing so hard! I will never be able to “un-see” that again!
Lauren Sheaffer Sims says
Annnnnnnnnnnnnd now I want a beautiful piece of fried fish for breakfast.
K.K. says
Making me want to travel, brush up on Ireland history, AND watch that show!!
Also, glad to hear about the book review.. I was looking back through posts last week, wondering if I missed it! 🤩
Sarah Shaneyfelt says
I’ve now added Derry Girls to my watchlist!!
MeetTheShaneyfelts
Anne says
Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos!
Kathy says
Mushy peas!! These are a family favorite and not all pubs in the middle of the US serve them.
Wendy Benjamin says
We loved “Derry Girls” – even my husband is watching it now and laughing so hard! It’s so cool to see what a wonderful place it truly is! PS. What is the brand of Kensington’s jeans? Beyond cute!
Mix and Match Mama says
They’re Abercrombie 🙂
Jaime says
Hi! Did you do a June book post last month? Did I miss it?
Mix and Match Mama says
Tomorrow!!! 🙂
Debra says
My husband and I spent a month last year touring the entire island of Ireland. It was spectacular and your posts of Northern Ireland have me reliving our incredible experience, and missing it so much. We did so many of the same things as you. We were in Portrush a few days, and took the train from the nearby town of Coleraine to Derry. It was lovely to sit back and enjoy the views of the gorgeous countryside, and we absolutely loved Derry. The walk on the wall was the best possible way to tour such a historical city. There is still so much we want to do and see in Ireland. I have to say one of the most enjoyable of our experience are the people of Ireland. They are some of the most engaging, good humored, and kind people we’ve ever met. We can’t wait to go back!
Mix and Match Mama says
Thank you for this comment! They were just the most endearing people. We loved every minute of it.
Alexa says
We loved our visit to Derry. Walking old city walls is such a cool experience! I did not follow along on Instagram, but I hope your next recap includes a visit to Giant’s Causeway!
Mix and Match Mama says
It did!!! 🙂
Alexa says
Woo hoo!! Such a cool spot!
erica says
Love Derry (or..Londonderry to the Protestants 😉 ) . My ex-husband is from there, so we’ve visited a fair few times to visit family that is still there. His grandfather was one of the casualties of Bloody Sunday and his face is on many murals around town. Devastating, fascinating history and beautiful city.
Mix and Match Mama says
There were only 14, wow. Oh my goodness, that is so very significant! Thank you for sharing.
Tera Knepp says
Love the recap! We stayed at the Shipquay Hotel when we were there in 2022! I was going to say that we could see the Guildhall from our hotel & then realized you stayed at the same place! My husband plans all of our travels so he’ll feel proud he chose the same hotel a travel agent did. 😄
Carole says
Did you know the stars of the Derry Girls show were on a celebrity episode of the Great British Baking Show? They were fun but I had no idea about their show when I watched. LOL I’ll bet you would all enjoy!
Mix and Match Mama says
I need to watch that! I love Great British Baking Show. I have missed so many seasons of it though, so I need to find that one.