HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYLEY!!!

We were awoken by phone calls from family and friends ringing to wish Hayley a happy 21st birthday. It was all a little overwhelming for the birthday girl (and her Mum)…I think it really struck her how long she'd been away and much she missed her family. She opened the cards that I'd been entrusted with and cried some more.

Our mission for the day was to find some costumes to wear that night and try to find a gold bangle which was to be her birthday present from me. We'd decided when I first suggested this as a gift, that it would make it even more special if we bought it while we were together overseas.

It was true that every second shop in Derry became a Halloween shop in October, they were everywhere…and I think we looked in every one of them! Unfortunately most of the costumes were out of our price range so I settled for some pirate accessories and Hayley bought some gold cat ears and bow tie and a tail.

We found an upmarket looking restaurant for lunch, to celebrate Hayley's birthday and she ordered a nice bottle of red wine. We weren't successful in our attempt to find a gold bangle and decided we might have to leave it until she returned home.

That evening, after donning our costumes over layers of thermal underwear, we met up with the rest of the hostel guests to take photos, then head off as a group to be part of "Europe's greatest Halloween festival". We watched the parade in awe as schools, marching bands and community groups all dressed in costume, some on spectacular floats, paraded along the Foyle River. It felt very strange to be watching a parade at night and also being part of what is essentially a pagan tradition…and that small children were involved in it too.

The huge majority of people watching the procession were in costume and the standard was very high…highlighting the fact that we were very much novices at this. Whole families, including the baby in the pram were dressed up for the occasion and the detail of some of the face painting was incredible. Heath Ledger's Joker character was very popular as were witches, ghosts and skeletons and every scary Halloween character you could imagine.

One of the girls in our group snuck off to buy some chocolate to share…what's Halloween without sweets? It said Cadbury on the wrapper, but it wasn't at all like the Cadbury chocolate I knew, it tasted awful! It was then that I discovered that Cadbury chocolate has different recipes for different countries, who knew? It tasted so bad in fact that I ended up secretly throwing it in the bin.

Once the parade finished the fireworks began, and as with fireworks the world over, drew lots of "ooos" and ahhhs" from the crowd.

The group then set off to find a pub to continue celebrating Halloween, and Hayley's birthday, pushing our way through the sea of people. Guess where we ended up…Peadar O'Donnell's…the place recommended to us by the people on the bus! It was obviously THE place to party and was packed full of people, but we managed to push our way to a back corner which we claimed as ours. It was here that I experienced one of the joys of backpacking…people keen to hear your travel story and tell you theirs, and to share recommendations of where to go and what to see.

Part way through the night our group began singing Happy Birthday to Hayley and in the end the whole pub was singing! It was funny watching outside of our group looking around to see who the birthday person was and hearing them mumble when it came to "happy birthday dear (mumble mumble)". What an incredible birthday for Hayley, turning 21 while overseas and being part of a huge Halloween celebration…I'm so pleased I was able to share it with her.

Feeling comfortable that she was safe with a nice group of people who'd look out for her, I thought I'd head back to the hostel (it was just up the street) and let Hayley get down celebrating without her Mum cramping her style. What a sweetheart, she asked me if anyone had said "You're too old, you shouldn't be here." and when I said "No", she said "Well why are you going then?" Knowing that she was happy for me to stay I did, and we had a great time celebrating this huge milestone in her life until the wee hours of the morning.