Ahh... finally I had the best sleep ever since the start of my journey. Refreshed, I went down to get some breakfast provided by the hostel. It's just something simple i.e. cereals, bread, butter / fruit jam and coffee. After having a quick meal, I ventured out to the city. It's already about 8.30am but the city was still very empty with only a few cars occasionally speeding past, and there are almost no pedestrians in the town. It almost felt like having the town to all to myself. I walked towards the heart of the town, where 'The Diamond War Memorial' stood. The Diamond War Memorial was commissioned on Friday 7th February 1919 and paid for by public subscriptions. It was designed and built by the renowned architect and sculptor, Vernon March and was unveiled on 23rd June 1927 when ownership was handed over to the Londonderry Corporation. The purpose of the erection of the Memorial was to honour those who died as a result of The Great War (1914-1918). 
I then make my way to the Museum of Free Derry to join the 'Free Derry Walking Tour' at 10am. I just made it on time to the museum but there wasn't anybody around. The museum is closed on weekends during the winter months so I wasn't sure if there is a tour on Sunday. After waiting for 5mins, I decided to go off on my own, to check out the murals nearby and also the Bloody Sunday Memorial. There were a total of 12 murals, called the People's Gallery, painted by the Bogside Artists (Tom Kelly, Kevin Hasson and Tom's brother William Kelly) representing the Bogside and its people's troubled history. The Bogside is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry. The area has been a focus point for many of the events of the Troubles, from the Battle of the Bogside and Bloody Sunday in the 1960s and 1970s. The large gable-wall murals by The Bogside Artists and the Free Derry Corner have now become popular tourist attractions. On Sunday January 30, 1972, 13 unarmed civilians were shot dead by British paratroopers during a civil rights march in the Bogside area. Another 13 were wounded and one further man later died of his wounds. This event came to be known as Bloody Sunday. Free Derry was a self-declared autonomous nationalist area of Derry, between 1969 and 1972. Its name was taken from a sign painted on a gable wall in the Bogside in January 1969 which read, “You are now entering Free Derry". Although the building is now torn down, the wall still remains standing.
Afterward, I went back up to the walls for another quick round around the walls before deciding to return to my hostel since there isn't anything going on. Back to the comfort of my hostel bed, I started planning for my entire Europe tour. So far I've only planned until early April to Brugge, Belgium. Now that I have bought my flight ticket to return from Istanbul on the 10th June and then going back to Malaysia on the 13th June, I need to work out the whole itinerary. I ended up spending the whole afternoon and night doing it. It wasn't easy as I haven't done much research on all the places. I just have a rough idea of the places I wanted to go and trying to squeeze in as many places possible, but at the same time not to wear myself out by keep changing places every other night. Initially I thought of visiting the lavender fields in Provence France, but after some research, I realized that the lavenders are best viewed in July. Well, that gives me a good reason to come back next time ;p
Around 5+pm, I went out for dinner. Since I haven't spent a single cent today, I decided to eat at the Ice wharf (equivalent to the JD Weatherspoon in UK), a pub cum restaurant. They are having Sunday Roast today, so for ￡5.59, I get roast beef, mashed potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding, 2 sage & onion balls, vegetables and a pint of beer. That's a pretty good deal I think. I waited for about 15mins before my food was served and it tasted pretty good. The whole pint of beer was making me just a little tipsy but nice and relaxed. With a full stomach, I went back to the hostel, pack up my luggage and continued on my research.
Photos of Derry
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