Derry

Today we visited the city of Derry. It is the site of the Bloody Sunday killings, the home of the Irish volunteers who participated and died in the prison hunger strike, and the center of  many protests and bombings of the 1970's and 1980's. It is a central point of what some Irish call "The Troubles". 

There is a real sense of struggle and an independent spirit that lingers here. Skateboarding punks and musing youth seen throughout the city now seem to fight boredom more than anything else.

There was (at the risk of appearing fixated on this horrible advertising campaign), yet another tasteless Coors Light ad here featuring the wrinkled up, denim clad, grisly Jean-Claude VanDamme. This swill has apparently broken the confines of Belfast and spread as far as the Maiden City. To its credit only one ad was spotted, but did feature VanDamme pictured on top of an ice and snow covered mountain wearing white socks and very expensive nice looking Italian loafers. Truly a tragic footwear choice, and probably an oversight by the crack advertising team in Golden, Colorado.  At least there are classy (if not completely out of place and impractical) shoes in the ad. Let's hope he waterproofed them...