Ballymena & Derry

We spent a week with mum's family here.  It was sunny and not a cloud in the sky, surely this must qualify as a Northern Irish miracle?

We've just been scooting around Ballymena and the surrounds to visit family. 

One of the days we drove to Derry via the Sperrin Mountains (which was a stunning drive). The Sperrins are gorgeous, rolling green hills that look more perfect than any watercolour painting could ever depict, white ponies grazing and frolicking in the lush wild grass, abandoned grey stone cottages and stone walls in varying states of disrepair and neglect, old men in tractors tipping their tweed hats as you pass them on the laneways...what a perfect start to my holiday with my parents :)

Derry was somewhere I had been before and suggested to my parents would be a good day out

We were only planning to spend a couple of hours there, but after wandering around the walls and visiting the little cafes that lined them, decided to make a day of it. We wandered through the markets, grungy cafes along the walls, visited the famous murals, and had one of the most interesting days out of the trip.