Our first day is in the books - with some twists. Here we go:We start off by going in the wrong direction around Dublin - just so we can get a group photo taken in front of the Temple Bar. Here we all are, full of piss & vinegar.
I sucked this in off Facebook, so it may not be great. Note we're front & centre.
We convoyed out through Dublin, meaning Gergo (tour leader) led us slowly out until the traffic chaos was slightly settled.
Here's a castle on the way out of town.
I didn't get the name of it.
First shot of the Irish countryside. Very pleasant. Various crops:
-potatos (I know because I had to take a pee in one of the fields)
-Canola (I think)
-Oats (I think)
Look, if you wanted a botanical tour, hiore a botanist, not an engineer!
Unfortunately, not long after this, things went slightly off the rails as Laura kranged a curb and took a tumble. Bruised elbow & left shin (tibia). The shin swelled up very quickly when we had a look at it at the lunch stop. More on this later.
We passed the portico of the Bellingham Castle. No time to stop.Here's what we didn't see. Apparently, this is the place for your next wedding in Ireland.
Back to Laura: She cycled another 25 km to our hotel (what - do you think I was going to take her as BALLAST?). We got to Dundalk an decided we should have this checked out - so we taxied over to the local hospital's minor injuries clinic. There she got examined and had an x-ray.
The good news: Just a soft tissue injury - no bone damage (the concern due to the speed at which it had swelled up).
The bad news - we got there near daytime closing hours, so we were there for a couple of hours. Not really bad news, but we could have been drinking beer.
More good news - the afternoon shift staff didn't know how to deal with any billing, so we weren't handed a bill. They do have Laura's address, so PAT - don't open any mail from Ireland.(BTW - I saw a sign saying the visit costs started at 100 Euros. Actually, not bad as far as I am concerned)
Our hotel in Dundalk is an ultra modern high rise. We're on the 8th floor. Here's the view from our room. The wind turbine is in the grounds of the local Technical School.
Off to Belfast tomorrow. Laura will be riding the bus to make sure the leg is mending. They'll put her to work helping the morning route flagging crew that leaves early in the morning to show us the way. It's a good system, except today one of the gals had to be rescued off the M1 Motorway when she got turned around.
