We woke up today and showered and got ready then met Darren and Joshua downstairs and had a chat in the lounge about a bit of Irish history, then we all walked together down the street. Daz and I stopped at a bakery for some food, so Darren and Joshua kept walking to find a cash machine. When we met up again Joshua had gone. Apparently he had gotten an invite to the sound check of the classical orchestral performance he was attending that night, so he'd gone off to that. So the three of us went into the city and went up on top of the city walls. We walked along the walls, following the route we had gone with the paddywagon tour last June, and Darren gave us some history on the town, the troubles, religion, politics and everything. He had a surprisingly objective view and was able to give an honest opinion without being biased towards either side, despite coming from a Catholic/Nationalist background. The way he explained it made it a whole lot clearer, with each side having a bit of a triangle system. On one side, some people are Protestants. Of those Protestants, some people are Unionists, who have a strong sense of connection with the UK, and of those unionists a small percentage are Loyalists, who are the people who will use violence and fear to get their point across. On the other side, most people are Catholic. Of those Catholics, some people are Nationalists, who have a strong sense of Irish pride and want a united Ireland, and of those Nationalists, a small percentage are Republicans, who will use violence and fear to get their points across. So that pretty much sums up who's who, and why it was always so confusing, as there are so many different names going around! So we walked along the walls, looking over the cannons and out over the bogside, where all the murals are, then kept wandering further along the walls than we had gone last time. We looked out at the English/Loyalist side of town, then left the wall to wander through that neighborhood, The Fountain, for a bit. We walked through looking at the few murals they had around the place, and saw how all the curbs and poles and things on the sidewalk were painted red white and blue. They had a statue of a man holding the keys to the walls which was supposed to represent freedom or something, and the whole neighborhood was surrounded by a huge 'peace' fence. Crazy. We went back up onto the wall and walked the rest of the way, then went inside the walled city to the craft centre, which was a couple of cool old streets and alleyways filled with different types of arty shops. We found a craft/souvenir shop where we went in to look for stickers, but couldn't decide between the selection they had there. We had a chat and a laugh with a bunch of Irish people (and one South African) who were also in there. So after being very indecisive there, we headed off without a sticker, and Darren took us around to another place that sold stickers. They had some cooler designs there, but we still didn't buy one, thinking we'd try get to another place we'd heard about for a look first. So when we were done there we headed out and walked down to the bogside, where Darren walked us around to look at the amazing murals close up, and gave us much more history and information about what they meant. We wandered slowly past all the murals, and past the Bloody Sunday memorial, then after we'd looked around at the murals for ages, we headed down the street and stopped at a little cafe for a hot cup of tea to warm our bones. We chatted more about Irish history, then got into a conversation about Irish sports, the Gaelic football, and hurling. They sound very interesting. Pity it's the off season, with no chance to see a game of either sport! After that we started heading home, stopping at a supermarket for some groceries, then chilled out a while watching TV and chatting. Ciaran came home after a bit and we had a cuppa together before he went in to cook dinner for us all. He cooked us stir fried veggies and rice which was quite tasty, then after a while, Darren's friend Emma came over. We watched TV and played guitar for a while, and showed everyone Tim Minchin's 'Prejudice' song (because Ciaran has almost-red hair) then after a while we all walked into town together and went to a bar called Masons, where there was a Thin Lizzy tribute band playing. We got a beer there, and stood watching the band. At one stage a couple of girls went up to Darren jumping up and down in excitement yelling "Dean McLaughlin!!" We thought they must have known him, but had he name wrong (its pretty close to Darren McLennan!) but then they turned around when Ciaran walked over and did the exact same thing to him! And then to Daz as well!! Crazy girls! But at least they were having a good time! When we had finished our drinks, we decided to head off, and went up onto the city walls and walked around to the cannons with the view over the bogside, which looked really pretty at night! (As did the trees overhanging the walls.) We hung out there for a little bit and got some cool photos, and Darren and Ciaran had a smoke, then we wandered back down to the city centre and went to another pub called the Gweedore Bar and got a drink there. This place was packed as well, and there was hardly anywhere to stand, let alone sit down, so we ended up going through a side door that took us into Paedar O'Donells, the pub next door. We had a few drinks and a chat there, while listening to some traditional Irish music, then after they finished up we headed down the street and went to Hillbillies for some more chicken. I got some curry chips which were really yummy, then after we ate we headed back home. We had some more drinks and more chats, and Joshua came in and told us a bit about his classical show he'd been to, which was apparently amazing, then we listened to some more music, played some more guitar then went up to bed.