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!
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