The Last Post

I'm back in Germany! Four weeks of cycling in Ireland are over. It was a trip I'll never forget.
I'm pretty tired after getting up at four o'clock this morning, but I still had enough energy to do some calculating. According to Google maps I cycled about 1 600 kilometers in total during 26 days (yesterday included). From those 26, I actually cycled only on 23 days. On active days I cycled in average 70 km and if the inactive days are taken in to account it makes about 60 km/day on average.
Now it's time to summarize my four weeks a bit.

Weather:
The beginning was pretty appalling, but the weather got better steadily toward the end of the tour. The rain during the first ten days really did make the start tough, but at least I learned the secret to why the island is so green: the plants get regularly watered.
The daytime temperature stayed below 20 degrees centigrade with the exception of maybe two or three short moments, but it wasn't colder than 14 degrees at any point either. That's more or less the perfect cycling temperature for me. The night temperatures went down to 5-6 degrees on the coldest nights. That was surprisingly cool and on couple of my camp nights I wished my sleeping bag had been a bit thicker.


Equipment:
My bike did everything I needed it to do. I did wish for disc brakes every now and then though. Especially while coming down the hills on the Rings of Beara and Kerry. I had to replace the rear brake pads once and I oiled the chains once a week. That was all the maintenance needed, which is actually quite amazing. I bought a pump, but I never once used it the whole four weeks.
My Ortlieb bags probably saved my tour. Without knowing that dry clothes are very close, the rainy days would have been much harder to get through mentally. I met a few bikers and hikers during the rainy days in the beginning who were just about ready to go home, because their bags had not been waterproof enough.
My Vaude Power Lizard ultra light tent exceeded my expectations. The light weight was of course very important to keep the load as light as possible. The tent got tested in two very watery nights and nothing came through the two layers. The very quick and easy drying of the tent was a big bonus as well.
My Suunto bike pod (combined with Suunto Quest) was a bit quirky a few times. The receiving just stopped without a warning two our three times during the four weeks. Another problem that I just noticed today is that my Suunto Quest heart rate monitor apparently can't save four weeks worth of trainings. When I uploaded the data over to my laptop today, I only got the last 17 trainings. This means I lost the first 20 days of saved trips. A major disappointment!
My smartphone Samsung Galaxy S2 was the absolute multi-tool on the tour. I used it for navigation, for blogging, as a camera (yes, all the pictures were made just with it) and of course it served as a communication device as well. It survived the rain, the cool and damp camp nights and the very hard use during the for weeks. It's too bad I didn't get the bike charger for this trip. It would have made things easier. I'm ordering it now for future use.


Ireland:
The land that I wanted to visit for so long time already, didn't let me down. The beautiful nature managed to exceed my very high expectations for it. The shades of green everywhere, the rocky and barren landscapes in Burren, the bizarre landscapes of the Wicklow mountains and the amazing coastal sceneries were the absolute highlights for me.
The history, especially the Celtic history, was something I was very much looking forward to learn more about. I have to admit that I expected to see much more remains from the Celtic era than I ended up seeing. The museums in Dublin might have given me more information on the Celts though. Maybe my expectations were to high or maybe I just missed the best parts of it.
People in Ireland more than lived up to their friendly reputation. I got assisted everywhere I went and I had the most interesting discussions with local people. I received many hints and directions to places I would have otherwise most likely missed.
The bad state of the Irish economy and its repercussions to the people especially in the countryside was at times sad to look and to hear about. The quick crash from the Celtic Tiger boom four years ago plummeted the real-estate prices and brought the unemployment rate to a steep climb. People who bought a house five years ago, may still owe a bank twice the amount of money their house is worth now and many have lost their income and are now in big problems with their mortgage payments. Very sad stories, but what amazed me was the attitude of not giving up. I heard of a man who lost his job in a construction company, who then started making granola yogurt and smoking fish. He has managed to make some money with this and the family is at least surviving now. It seems like people try to scrape their living together in all possible ways. Tourists of course play a big role in this. I have to say that I didn't feel bad leaving a lot of my money to the Irish. I could see my money was very much needed there.


Harri:
What did the tour do to me? Well, it showed me that I'm able to do some crazy stuff still. I realized that I still want to do more of "realizing of dreams" -kind of things. I've still got a few waiting...
Amazingly I didn't get any sores or problems anywhere in my body. The first week was rough for my wrists, but that passed after a while. I feel like I could start another four week tour right now. Might be a good idea to get some rest first though...


Thanks:
The last section if my last post will be the part where I say thank you. I'll start with Colin and Jutta (and Goofy). These people (and a werehuman) took me to their home without ever seeing me before and wanted no payment for it whatsoever. I stayed at their place for three nights. Besides the accommodation and food Colin helped me with planning a lot. Thanks guys!
Thanks to some fellow tourists with whom I had very interesting discussions and very much fun. Thank you Marius and Jenny, Courtland, Brad and Tara, Anthony and Kevin just to name a few. I really enjoyed your company and if you ever happen to be coming my way, let me know!
Thank you to all the great Irish people I got to meet during my tour. You really are as friendly as everyone keep telling!

Last Day in Dublin

So guys, this will be my second to last post in this blog. I'm only here for 12 more hours before my flight takes off in the morning. I've got an early wake-up tomorrow so I won't be up for that long tonight. Last night I tasted two lovely new craft beer sorts, but I had to head to bed very early.

Today I got up at nine and had breakfast at the hostel. Then the saddest part of the day: I took my bicycle for a last spin. Instead of heading straight to the bike shop, I thought that I just might go on for a few more kilometers. I made my way to the Phoenix Park. It's one of the biggest walled gardens in Europe (707 hectares, 1752 acres). A comparison: if you've ever been to the Central Park in New York and thought it to be huge, the Phoenix Park is more than twice its size. The perimeter wall is 11 kilometers long. The size is not the only amazing thing about the park. The nature (a herd of Fallow deer live there since 1660), archeology and the architecture of the park are very interesting. For more details, see the link above.

I cycled around the park, but I didn't see the deer. I saw some other nice things though. Take a look at the pictures in the Dublin after tour folder.

From the park I then headed to take my bike back to its home, the Belfield Bike Shop. Before I went in, I did some last minute polishing and maintenance. I wanted to get as much money back for it as possible. I think I did quite well. The end sum for four weeks of bike "renting" went up to 219 euros. That was 19 euros more than I was hoping for, but I took the offer. If I had had more time here, I might have tried selling it elsewhere, but I decided to enjoy the rest of my hours in Dublin instead of getting stressed with searching buyers.

I had lunch after getting bikeless and then planned to go and have a look at the Book of Kells in the library of the Trinity College. When I got there it was 4 pm and the last tour had already started. I was a bit disappointed, since exactly the same thing happened four weeks ago. I remembered seeing somewhere that the last tour starts at five, but I was wrong. Well that's another reason to come again I guess.

I took a walk in the city on the north side of the Liffey river instead. I didn't really have a plan, except to enjoy the nice sunny weather and the Dublin ambience. After about two hours of walking, I went for some groceries and bought a couple of nice looking rolls and a pack of Irish cheddar (I've eaten a lot of that here by the way).

I still saw one craft beer on draught in the Porterhouse last night that I might go after soon. Might even have another Hop Head to finish the beer tasting tour with my favorite so far.

So, for the last time from Ireland (on this trip) bye bye!

The Circle Is Closed

This is it! I'm back where I started from. I'm guessing here, but it took me about 1 500 kilometers to get from Dublin to Dublin. I'll post the actual distance when I get back home on Tuesday.

Today I still did see a lot. After a lovely breakfast of crumpets and poached eggs on toast at Colin and Jutta's I started off in a nice weather toward the town of Kildare. The town itself didn't have much to offer. There is an old round tower that you normally are allowed to climb up, but apparently not on Sundays and a nice church next to it.

I met two French girls earlier in Waterford who had visited the Japanese gardens in Kildare and since what they told me sounded nice, I decided to follow their example. When I got to the entrance, I realized it's not just the Japanese gardens I'm going to see. The same complex holds another garden called the St. Fiachra's garden and the main attraction actually is the Irish National Stud. I didn't understand what it was when I got there (I thought I would get to see "the Irish stud"). I soon learned that the word stud can mean more than just one horse. It's apparently short of stud farm, meaning a farm that holds studs mainly for breeding purposes. Well, horses are not really my thing, but I figured I might as well do the tour, since I'm here. It took only 40 minutes, but I did learn many new things in that short time. I also saw a horse that's been insured for 60 million euros. His offspring have done so well on the race tracks, that now the covering fee (the payment to get mare pregnated by this stud) is 60 000€.

The Japanese Gardens was still the highlight for me. It's been laid out so that it shows the life path of a human from birth to the "Gateway to Eternity". A very beautifully constructed garden with a lot of flowing water and nicely cut trees and bushes. The photos are worth taking a look at.

The other garden in the same area is called the St. Fiachra's garden and it's the newest addition to the complex (finished in 1999). It commemorates the Irish patron saint of gardeners, St. Fiachra. I enjoyed it as well, but in comparison to the Japanese Gardens, it didn't impress me as much.

From Kildare I continued to Newbridge. I just made it in time to a shopping mall before getting drenched in a short but heavy shower. I had a quick break there and continued then southeast towards Blessington. The same story again, heavy rain the minute I entered the town. I took shelter in a restaurant where I had some soup and chips. The weather looked really bad when I was done and I didn't go to see the lake next to the town as I had planned to.

I just got on my bike and continued for the last 30 kilometers to Dublin. I got a bit wet in the beginning, but coming down the hill for the last kilometers to Dublin dried me up again. Now I'm in a hostel in Dublin, getting ready for some craft beer in the Porterhouse.

Tomorrow will be the last journey of our team. Me and my Giant worked well together and it's not easy to let go. No punctures and I didn't even have to pump more air into the tires the whole time. That's something I didn't expect.

But now the beer awaits. Sláinte!

A Whiskey Day

I woke up very early and was all packed and ready to go at eight. I did go to sleep at eleven already, so I guess it's no wonder. I went to the bar last night for one Smithwick's, but the dance course in progress and the non-stop "slow-slow-side step" really isn't that interesting to listen to for longer than you need for having a pint.

Today I got to see some history of whiskey distilling in Kilbeggan. I visited the world's oldest working distillery, the Kilbeggan distillery. Before I entered the museum, I had the biggest breakfast I've had on my tour so far in the restaurant next to the distillery. The tour itself was interesting, but because it was Saturday I didn't see real action besides the bubbling in the fermentation vats. The old distillery has been turned into a museum and it was full of old barrels and equipment. The light was not really good for pictures, but there are still some in my Dropbox folder. The new and working part of the distillery was amazingly similar to the old one. Some things had changed, but the main procedure was more or less identical to the old one. In the end of my tour, I got to taste some of the 5 year old Kilbeggan whiskey. I'm absolutely no whiskey drinker, but that stuff was better than I expected. An interesting experience and learning about whiskey is absolutely something you should do while in Ireland.

A side note: The Kilbeggan independent distillery lost it's independence in January this year when the Jim Beam company bought the distillery. This has been a good thing for the employees and the company so far (a lof of capital that wasn't available in Ireland has already flown in), but how long will it take before the capital starts ruling over the traditions?

My next stop was another place famous for it's whiskey, Tullamore. I wanted to do a comparison with the museums, but that didn't unfortunately work out. The Tullamore Dew heritage centre is closed until August. The town itself was full of life and very attractive. I took a stroll through the city and took some pictures.

After Tullamore, I tried to find an entrance to a nature heritage area called Hawkswood bog about 8 kilometers south of the city. I didn't find an official one, but I just went in from the small road going next to the area. It was not as easy as I thought, but when I got to the real bog area, it really looked similar to Finnish bogs actually. One thing I didn't really understand was why the bog still had ditches if it's a protected area. This way it'll be dried out soon.

I arrived at Colin and Jutta's about an hour ago, took a shower and now the dinner is almost ready. Goofy got used to me faster this time and now he's all love again.

Tomorrow Dublin!

The road back

It started today. The going back part of my trip. No more beautiful coast sceneries and no more holiday thoughts in my head 24/7. The return to "normal life" has already started in my mind. But I'm not completely out of here yet.

I did another walk in Galway this morning and took more pictures. I walked along the river Corrib and visited the catholic Cathedral and the university grounds. I really have to say that I love the city!

I headed off to the east around noon. The wind was giving me a nice push and the kilometers went by faster than expected. Maybe the day off my bike also helped. I took the first longer break on the county border next to river Suck (yep, a funny name). I then continued to Athlone and had another break there in a nice restaurant called the Prince. Since it was just 5.30 pm after I had finished eating, I decided to continue a little further.

Just after cycling through a small town called Moate I stopped at a filling station to ask whether someone could show me a nice spot for putting up a tent somewhere close by. The owner of the station called his friend, who owns  the local live music and country dancing club (or something) called the Well. He then showed me the way and when I got there, the nice owner of the club was already waiting outside. He showed me my options and I chose the field with no horses on it... The owner asked me to come over for a beer in the bar later. I just might do that next.

I'm now 105 kilometers closer to Dublin. According to Google maps I've still got about 140 left. The journey will continue tomorrow.

Galway

Today I chilled. It was quite nice to be separated from my Giant for a day. Don't get me wrong, I love my ride. It's just that after sitting on it on average for 6hrs/day for two weeks straight, you probably can imagine what a day without feels like.

Last night I went for a beer with a nice fellow from Vancouver (yep they're all over the place). Well, it turned out to be four beers and some nice chatting. The problem with just having one was that the Beoir finder app I told you about yesterday was not quite up to date and we "needed" to go to four pubs to find the local beer, the Galway hooker (I'll explain the name later). It would have been extremely impolite to leave a pub without having a pint of another beer first...

I did some walking in the morning after having breakfast at the hostel. I found the Galway city museum and since there was no admission I had a look inside. I spent an hour our maybe two there, but not really because of the local history. They had an exhibition from a German artist called George Grosz. I really enjoyed his satirical drawings that depicted the decadence and corruption of the Weimar era Berlin. I am absolutely no art freak normally, but this exhibition really was something that got me baffled and at the same time it made me laugh a lot. The criticism on the Weimar society and it's authorities, still is fitting today.

I did see other things in the museum as well. The local fishing boat the Galway hooker was one thing I learned about. I also saw some celtic artifacts found in the area and learned how and when the city was founded. All in all not as interesting as the history of some other cities I've seen on my tour.

I decided to take a free walking tour of the city offered at the hostel. It was quite interesting and informative even though our Australian guide was terribly hung over. The city really is as nice and beautiful as I've heard from countless people recommending it during the past three weeks. It's a big student city and I think that's one reason for the liveliness of it. After visiting Cork, I said that I'd rather live there than in Dublin. Now after seeing Galway, I do have to say that I'd rather life here than in Cork. The history of the city might not be as impressive as elsewhere, but the "now" definitely is something very special.

After the tour I had a quick lunch in an Italian restaurant and then came back to the hostel to have a break from the sun (yes, that is something new). I actually fell asleep for a while on a comfy sofa in the reception area.

Two young Germans guys woke me up at five and I chatted with them for a while and they even gave be some of their beer. I shared two of my craft beer bottles with them later, but I don't think I managed to turn then into Beoir fans.

Check out the pictures, there's a bunch of them here.

The last part of the tour starts tomorrow. I'll start heading back to Dublin. I'll still spend the morning in Galway before I start off. There's more to see here still. I "booked" a night at Colin and Jutta's place along the way. If all goes like planned, I'll get to Dublin on Sunday and then I'll have the Monday for returning my bicycle and enjoying the capital for the last time on this trip.

My way to Galway

I'm here! I had a long day on the saddle, but I made it. And besides just making it, I managed to see a lot today.

The first town along my route today was Lahinch (or Lehinch, I saw both versions). It seemed to be very much a holiday town. It's located in the end of the Liscannor bay and it had a lot of holiday homes to rent, two camping areas and many hotels. The beach next to the road was very rocky, but a but further away I saw beautiful sand.

The next town Liscannor, was just a couple of kilometers away from Lahinch. It looked really beautiful from Lahinch looking over the bay, but the town itself was very small and I kept going without a stop.

After some 10 further kilometers of cycling I arrived to one of the "must see" sights in Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher. The view really was something gorgeous (no pun intended). I managed to take a few nice photos. You'll find them along with the other photos from today here.

After leaving the cliffs, my next destination was the Roadside Tavern in Lisdoonvarna. It's a restaurant that brews its own beer. The brewer in Ballyferriter told me about this place and since it was on my route, I decided to check it out. They have three own beers, an ale, a stout and a lager. I had a sip of each and had a pint of the ale with my seafood chowder (a kind of soup). Both the chowder and the ale were very tasty. I had to sit and wait for a while before continuing to clear my head though.

I had read about the Burren area before entering it, but it still managed to surprise me. I had heard an old citation saying: "There isn't tree to hang a man, water to drown a man nor soil to bury a man" There is much more truth in this old citation than I'd thought there to be. Simply barren, stony land with barely enough grass for the cattle to graze.

The last stop I made today was in Kinvara (or Kinvarra, again I saw two variations). I had a cup of coffee there and then continued past the Dunguaire castle. I didn't go in, because it had just closed, but I took a nice picture of it.

I arrived in Galway two hours ago and after checking in a hostel, I had some cheese, bread and soup for dinner. Now since my blogging for today is done, I might see where my Beoir finder app takes me.

Cheers!