June 3 - Edinburgh

A day off today, but first things first.  We have a logistical problem - no nearby laundry open on Sunday.  Two choices - search far and wide for one that is open or do it yourself, by stomping on it as you have a shower.  Guess which option we chose.









At breakfast a bunch of us were joined by Michael & Catriona, who were in Edinburgh & dropped by.
Here's a photo of the group.  Left to right: Kate, Catriona, Dan, Shirley, Brett, Laura, me, Henry (owner of TDA Cycling) and Michael. 
All of us, including another couple on this trip (Tony & Michel) were on all or part of the 2015 South America tour.



Onto today's activities:  First, Edinburgh Castle.  Second, an apology for any facts I get wrong.  The castle is total historical overload.

The Portico.  A moat (behind me), heavy doors and the spiked gate.  









I  believe this is on the highest part of the hill, and is one of the oldest parts of the castle.

The oldest parts dated from 1170, with additions through the 19th century.  As late as WW2, German & Italian POWs  were here.






 This part is where the Scottish crown jewels are housed.  No photos & they wouldn't let me put on the crown.  Note the date on the tower.  No photos allowed inside, either













Meet Mons Meg - the ultimate weapon of her Medieval day.  She shot 300 pound cannonballs up to 2 miles.  She was a siege cannon, designed to knock holes in castle walls.

Part of another, later gun battery.  There were at least two major batteries  within the castle.











Structures at the top of the hill. 














This is part of Queen Mary's Chapel.













Part of the Royal Apartments.  The Royals preferred Holyrood Castle down at the other end of the Royal mile, as it was rather dull and chilly up here when the fog was around.

Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to her son James VI in the closet next to this room (I dunno why the closet).







We popped over to the prison area & had a quick look.  This is one of the doors.















Last photo of the castle is the Governor's Residence, which is still private.

That's enough for Edinburgh Castle.  One two hour visit doesn't do it justice and only makes your head spin.
Make sure you rent an audio tour if you come here - it is well worth it and super informative, but I'd need multiple visits to soak it in.

We've just finished a short nap and are heading out for a while.  I'll try to add some more pix of our walk down the Royal Mile later, if I get time.

Back after dinner.  The laundry has dried nicely (I know you wanted to know that) and we're well fed.  

After the castle we tripped down the Royal Mile, named because the distance between Edinburgh castle & Hollyrood Palace is about a mile and presumably becuase it was an occasion for the locals to watch the Royals travel by.

Remember the church that I said I would find out the name of?  It is called the Hub and is a cultural & event (weddings, for example) centre.  It was used by the church of Scotland, but never consecrated as a church.  Here's a view of it from the other side. 













My other chore was to find out about the walkway two stories above the street.  Its called Victoria Terrace and was created when the street was re-designed to allow easier access to the Grass Market Square.




The Royal Mile has shops, restaurants & pubs both sides, similar to what I've shown you already.  One of the more interesting aspect ts are the "Closes," hallway size openings in the continuous lines of the buildings.  They extend back, with doorways to shops or apartments each side, and a small courtyard with 4 - 6 story buildings all around.  There is one of the closes to the right in this photo, behind the red car.

Here's one of the courtyards - quite claustrophobic.


















And a doorway off to the side - check out the date!




At the end of the Royal Mile is Hollyrood Palace.  We didn't go into it ($$) and we were both getting footsore.












 The fountain just inside the entrance.











After a break we went out to the Fiddler's Arms for a beer (Joker IPA) and dinner.  The menu had "Locally caught Haggis, Neeps, and Taters."  After a discussion with the waitress, I found out that Haggis caught early in the morning is best.  So, why not - there it is.  It was actually quite good.  Even the Neeps were quite edible (my Mom wouldn't believe I ever said that!)Warm goat cheese salad on the side.  Laura had a Steak and Guinness pie.  Since it was too much for her, I helped out with it as well. 

126 km tomorrow - our longest day.  I'll try to do a report if I can sit down after that long in the saddle.

June 2 - Kilmarnock to Edinburgh

104 jaunt today.  Started off misty.  We had a few sunny periods, enough to require sunscreen, and threatening rain towards the end of the day.

Here's a misty morning scene.

And some of the locals - they looked to be a different breed than the classic sheep.

I bleeted at them, but they didn't reply.  Must be Gaelic sheep ?








We basically crossed Scotland today - Kilmarnock near the west side and Edinburgh on the east side.  We had to traverse 2 'lofty' hills of about 300 & 250 meters high.  Not like crossing the Rockies, but still a bit of a  grunt. 

Not sure what this was.  We saw these hills on the east side after the hills.  Guessing they might be man made and might be old coal slag heaps.

There was coal mining in this area, from maps I looked up.








My other fun picture - a cow controlled stoplight (sorry about the poor quality of the photo).  Well, Bossy doesn't actually throw the switch, but according to a sign just up the road, when the light is on there will be cows crossing.









We rolled into Edinburgh and found the hotel (I made one navigation error  for a 10 minute delay), got our stuff put away.  Our hotel is right downtown on the Grassmarket Square.  Nice place - the rooms are smaller than last night but very nice.  Right outside the hotel we get this view of the castle.







Wandering about, here's a couple more shots nearby:

The square itself











One of the streets nearby.  Note above the painted buildings - there is a walkway there.  You can see the railing.  I'll try and find out about this tomorrow.











Not sure of the name of this one - will check again tomorrow.

That's it for tonight.  Tomorrow is the Castle, strolling the Royal Mile and other sights nearby.  Probably won't go far as there is too much right down here.

June 1 - Belfast to Kilmarnock

We're in Scotland now.

Today's journey in a nutshell:

-up @ 0500 & out the door @0600

-6 km ride through Belfast

-2-1/2 hour ferry ride.  

-104 km bike ride,  clouds, rain, sun, clouds, a bit more rain 

The best news - Laura was able to ride all the way.  It was a tough day, because of the ferry ride that didn't allow riding until 1015.

For all you BC people - what the hell was the ferry like?

Nicer looking interior than BCF.  Breakfast - soso.  Full Irish I think

This is the vessel docked on the Scottish side.  All the decks had tie-downs for vehicles.  Their loading and unloading wasn't as efficient  as BCF, but was better than the Newfoundland ferries when we took them way back when.

The Internet is way too bad for me to continue.  I'll try to finish this when we get to Edinburgh tomorrow.

It's tomorrow now, and we are in Edinburgh.  I'll finish this quickly before I do the next installment

Back to the ferry - here's one of the many lounges on board.  The main cafeteria is almost as nice.  They were already serving beer on this run (0700 - 1000).

When we cycled off the ferry we pulled over and waited until all the vehicles & their possibly imbibing drivers went by.






We climbed the hill from the ferry dock.  One of the first impressions was the number of Rhododendrons and Azaleas in bloom along the roadside.  They seemed to be wild.  Can one of you gardening types tell me if Rhodos & Azaleas are native to Scotland?

Look at the size of this Rhodo!











And, they have lots of Broom & Gorsch over here.

 



The misty countryside with well tended fields separated by rock walls.

The walls and bush frequently go right up to the road, with no clearance at the sides for things like bicycles.  In general, the car drivers would be somewhat patient and hold up behind cyclists until there was clear passing space.  





Here's a 'typical' farmhouse.  White stucco or painted brick walls, a slate roof with no eves.   Of course, there are all sorts of styles and ages, but this seemed like the one we all imagine Scotland to be like.












A stone railway trestle over the highway.  
This kind of construction fascinates me.









This is a close-up as I cycled under another one.  There was just enough cleared brush that I could poke my camera out and try to get an 'artsey' photo.











More one lane road through a tunnel of forest.  That's Laura, by the way.

And, the village where the lunch van was set up.  Very 'typical' houses.

I took this photo because I was impressed that the little church had gone high tech with solar energy.  But looking at the door in the side of it and the fact that there was no sign on the building, it may be a barn now.

I saw a lot of buildings constructed of what looked like a red sandstone, so I guess that is 'typical' as well.




Enough.  We got into Kilmarnock wet & tired around 530 - 6 pm.  Clean up, showers, a beer, dinner and off to bed.We stayed in the Park Hotel, so named I believe because it was situated beside the city's Rugby Park, which is quite large, holding 15,000 people.  No games on thankfully.  The history of the rugby ground goes back to 1899 (Wikipedia!).  No photos in the rain.

That's it.  We're off to explore Edinburgh & I'll do some more later tonight or tomorrow.

May 31 - Around Belfast

Got up to a drizzly day in Belfast.  After breakfast the first order of the day was to head to the Titanic Belfast attraction.

Quite a remarkable looking building.

Inside is a lot of history of Belfast from the mid 19th century, when Belfast became the largest manufacturer of linen in the world.  The city also became a centre for building industrial / manufacturing machinery, first for the linen trade and ultimately heavy industry including ship building.  

Unfortunately, photos taken inside the exhibit didn't turn out well as everything is inside glass.  Here's one that did.  These are the locations where Titanic and her sister ship Olympic were built.

The dry dock was between the two sets of poles and went as far back as the dock extends.  Huge!  The other ship was built in a similar dry dock to the right.  There was a huge gantry frame with traveling cranes to build the ships.
 







This is a mock up of a first class cabin - as I said it isn't good quality.  You'll have to go to Belfast and see for yourself.





This photo did turn out - the business end of the Titanic.  Note that the centre screw was 4 bladed.  That propeller was driven by a turbine, whereas the two outboard propellers were reciprocating steam driven (triple reduction steam drives to be exact)









Another photo - a menu.  It was tough being rich.

Other really interesting features of the exhibit included a  cable car ride through the hull construction showing the riveting and plate bending required to fabricate the outer hull and frames.  Very noisy - apparently, a lot of the workers ended up deaf.

Also, there was Imax film of the underwater expeditions onto the Titanic.  Seeing debris on the sea floor belonging to passengers was eerie.

Definitely a worthwhile visit.  The Belfast history was a bonus.


Back outside, nearby is the "Nomadic,"  White Star's only surviving vessel.  At a mere 220 feet long it is 1/4 the length of Titanic (882 feet).  I was particularly interested in the old dry dock the vessel was in and how it was constructed.









After lunch I trotted out to get a look at a section of the "Peace Fence," part of 34 km of fences built to try and separate the warring factions during the 'Troubles.'

This is a quiet, peaceful looking neighbourhood not far from the city centre.  To the left, blocking the street is the fence.







A closer view.  This section was about 16 feet high, with a higher section to the right (I presume to protect the houses).

I have read that there are plans to begin dismantling some of the walls, with completion in 2023.  A poll not long ago resulted in feedback that it was still to early for dismantling as there are still concerns.








On the way back, I had a look at the Belfast City hall. A very impressive structure.











There was no way I could get a complete shot of the rotunda.  More exhibits about Belfast and its history.

Two interesting facts:
-Belfast was bombed a few times during WW2 (I thought it was too fart away). 
-In 2014 & again now the 3 highest ranking members of the Belfast council (Lord Mayor, Deputy Lord Mayor & High Sheriff) have been women.

Downtown still - a pedestrian shopping mall , going off in 3 directions













Before dinner we dropped into the Duke of York Pub.  It isn't too busy until later.  This back room was empty except for us and two Aussies.

On the wall behind me was a news story about how the pub was badly damaged in 1973 by terrorists.  Apparently, the bomb was intended for the High Court but went off prematurely as the terrorists tried to evade police.

At dinner later, I saw this beer on the list - if it had the name Maggie on it, it must be good, eh Judy? (It was)










Last photo today.  We have to catch the ferry to Scotland tomorrow which necessitates an abominable  get up time.  Yawn!

May 29 - Dandalk to Belfast - 95 km

Got going this morning and had brekky on the 13th floor of the hotel.  Nice view from up there.  

Very green and we are so lucky to have good weather.  








Still in Dandalk when I came across this church.  I should not have found it as I drifted off the planned route, but got back on soon afterwards.

One of 3 churches I snapped photos of today.  No castles and for sure I could have bored you silly if I took photos of all the churches we passed.







An interesting looking abandoned cottage in the woods.  Windows and doors are missing and I assume the roof is gone.











In the Cost of Living department:  How do these prices for coal compare with ours.  Can somebody check?












I don't know how they did it, but the staff found this "road" for us to cycle on.  It wasn't much more than a driveway, but wasn't too long - a couple of km.











This was a typical country lane today - narrow, no shoulders, but little traffic.  Actually, very pleasant to cycle,

We passed by a lot of open farmland.  There were a lot of hay fields & cattle.  A couple of fields already had their first cut of hay laying down and drying.

There was a particularly "farmy" smell alongside many of the farms.  Not yummy!

Oh, and these two photos were taken in Northern Ireland.  We've crossed over the border and there was no check or even a sign.  The only ways we knew we had crossed were:
1) A sign at a gas station advertising changing Euros to Pounds
2) Those with cell phones received a text message telling them that they were now in Northern Ireland  and new Roaming rates applied.

Second church today, the Newry Cathedral.  Again, it caused me to go off the planned track (easily distracted, I am).  Apparently, lots of other cyclists did the same.

This is where the lunch truck stopped to feed us today.  Beautiful spot, although I'm not too sure I'd like to swim in this river.

The procedure for lunch is for one of our trucks to drive ahead and set up sandwich makings and drinks for us at (usually) slightly more than half way along the days journey.  Sometimes, we're in a dusty cow pasture and this is one of the other days.





I included this photo to make the point that there are a number of houses installing solar arrays on their roofs, and that they are also installing wind turbines where it makes sense.  This should probably be happening in BC more than it is.








The gastronomical corner: In addition to lunch we will often stop for a coffee or snack along the way.   This was my snack today at the Pheasant Restaurant and Bar just past Annahilt.
 Sticky toffee pudding & a Latte.  Everybody with a spare spoon loved it (grumble, grumble!).

That's Karen from Edmonton in the background.





On the outskirts of Belfast we left the roadways and traveled a bike path through Bevlan Park Forest and Lagan Meadows.  This old scow was moored in a side channel of the Lagan River.  There are 2 or 3 locks along here, but no good photos.

A pleasant ride through the forest and park before the traffic of Belfast, which wasn't too terrible, but it is a busy town.




In Belfast now, in our hotel, showered, laundry done (stomped on in the shower as I washed myself)
 and then out for a walk.

I took this artsy shot of the Dublin Cathedral - last for today.




Across from the cathedral is this sign with the upper arrow pointing to the cathedral and the other to the coffee shop adjacent.

Updates:  I re-read my post from yesterday and I apologize for all the spelling errors.  Too late at night.

Laura is mending nicely, although upset she couldn't partake in today's ride, which most riders agreed was beautiful.  

Unfortunately, another crash today - the fellow has very sore ribs. 

And I have spotted 2 more rotating doors:  One at our hotel last night and one at the Dublin Library.  These both turn counterclockwise (like North America), so the score is 3 to 0 for CCW rotation (I'm sure you are all very interested in that).

Day off in Belfast tomorrow, then Scotland on the 1st.  Time for bed.  I need to rest my slightly saddle sore butt.