The BIG day (still not complete but it need posting ;-)

Yesterday I met Seamus & Jemma at an Irish pub in Sligo.  This is Jemma who can sense cameras while they're still in a shirt pocket. Since it's almost impossible to take pictures of people who can sense cameras, this is the only picture of her so far. Given I was falling asleep and the lighting was dark, I'm quite happy with it ;-)

After a delicious dinner at Seamus's and Jemma's house, I collapsed in bed at around 8 pm and didn't wake up until 3. I wrote some of this post, went back to bed, and slept until 6 am!  Ireland is relaxing ;-)

At 6:45 I get my bicycle out of the basement chapel with the help of super-friendly front-desk staff and start pedaling along the river. The river is much easier to explore on bike than on foot, in particular since there is not a single car on the roads at this time (Remember, for the very first time in my life I participate in left-hand traffic, and on a bicycle no less!).  Here are some pictures of the scenery along that ride:

Yeats vs Glass

The infamous Glasshouse

At 7:45 I arrive at the hotel breakfast showered and hungry.  The breakfast at this hotel is 10 Euros and for that you can eat all the cereal, bread, jam etc you want and the staff will bring you a 'full Irish breakfast', thankfully sans beans, but with blood pudding (that is what the little black hockey pucks are called, as I learned from Jemma yesterday. I guess I won't have to worry about iron deficiency while in Ireland ;-)  On another note: The breakfast is attended by Germans (I would not be surprised if  75% of the guests at this time are German). After a while I just push through people blocking the bread rack AND coffee bar just because they are waiting for their slice in the toaster and shut my ears to the constant "But I ordered ....". If the server asks again whether everything is OK, I'll tell here something like "I'm one of the most easy to please German guests you will ever encounter. But only because I've lived in Canada for 26 years!"

After breakfast the weather turned nice and I decide to go for a bike ride. The young that had to unlock the chapel for me, where the bike was stored, recommends Strandhill. I have no idea what it looks like there but start heading into the proper general direction.

A park that soooo reminded me of the movie Blow-Up!

Strandhill. This it?

Not quite ;-)

After climbing the sand dune.

At 1: 35 pm Seamus and I commence a car trip to Bray, where I booked a hotel for the night. From Bray we will then somehow get back to Dublin to see Neil Young in concert and after the concert we'll hopefully make it back to the hotel.

But the trip to Dublin is interrupted by me remembering that I told my foremost ferry consultant Alan that I would visit Lough Allen when in Sligo. I remember this on the motorway to Dublin and Seamus' crazy iPhone  actually informs us that we have not travelled too far yet. So off the motorway we drive .... and after a while actually manage to get to the shore of the Lough. The Irish hide their loughs well. No signs indicate what they might be called or where a road might be located that reaches the shore. But we prevailed. Alan, here are pictures of the Lough named after you ;-)

He's neither little nor green. So it's no leprechaun but must be a Seamus

Lough Allen

A bit of  a Pixie (He just inquired about a group picture)

Back on the motorway, we try to make it to Dublin quickly, because we want to check into the hotel in Bray before heading back into Dublin to the concert.  We arrive in Bray, a small seaside resort and quickly locate the hotel. Right at the Strand, from which one has a gorgeous view of the Irish Sea.


We take the DART (Dublin Area Rail Transport?) to get to the RTS Arena. I pretty much sleep through the entire train journey. If Seamus had not woken me I would've ended up god knows where! At 8:30 pm we arrive at the RTS arena and only have to wait 15 minutes for Neil Young & Crazy Horse to start. This is an outdoors venue and while the rain has plagued the previous groups, it is quite chilly. Karma to the rescue again: On the Neil Young merchandise web site, I had ogled a black hoody with a galloping horse on the back for a few months now. On my first pee-break I discover the concert T-shirt stand right next to the washrooms. Since we arrived quite late, there is only one black hoody in evidence. But when I inquire about one in my size, the kid manning the stand takes off the one he's wearing, checks that the size is the one I need, and I am subsequently prepared to brave the chills!

Hint: The man in black is not Johnny Cash!

When it gets darker I sneek closer to the side stage to do some wiggling (dancing) and am amazed how close the players are. Any attempts at photographic reproduction are hampered by the low light though ;-(

Back in Bray at midnight. The hotel is still CRAZY at 1am when I collapse in bed . That was a HUGE day.

I write most of this (still incomplete) at 5 am the next day but have to stop writing because Bray Head needs climbing ;-)

He who rests, he rusts!