Saturday    24.6.2017      16.87km Total: 241.6km

The first thing I do is go and leave a bag of laundry of at a laundromat because it's very sorely needed.
There's been a lot of places with shared bathrooms on this trip so I haven't been able to handwash my clothes like I usually do.
I get a "mini Hogan" for breakfast which in reality is a full English which not only had the to be honest pretty disgusting black pudding also contained white pudding.
The taste and consistency was pretty mush like Swedish pölsa and much like the pölsa I'd much rather remain blissfully ignorant of the contents so I didn't even check that until after I'd already eaten it.
The white pudding gets pretty much the same review as the black pudding.

It wasn't like I'd really intended to head for the Jameson distillery right after (admittedly a very late) breakfast but somehow I still ended up there.
I got confirmation from ticket sales that I would be able to do the tour and still get there in time for my Guinness tour at 2PM.
So away on a distillery tour I go and obviously just to get everyone in the right mood it starts out with a wee dram.

After learning about Jameson history and the manufacturing process we got to try another three drams.
It was a nice tour and it was with easy steps and a smile on my face I went on to the Guinness storehouse.

I'd opted for the "connoisseur" experience so inside they hung a VIP-lanyard around my neck and directed me to a VIP-area of a bar to wait for the start of the experience.
Our guide/bartender for the day greets us and takes us to a hidden away part of the floor where a bar I special built for this purpose, according to Guinness themselves one of the most exclusive bars in the world.

There we for an hour and a half get to learn everything about Guinness history and brewing by a very dedicated and knowledgeable guide.
Thoughtfully the tasting where half pints and to our hosts great disappointment must of us seemed to think that the "traditional" Guinness stout still was the best.
The whole thing ended by each of us getting to pour ourselves a full pint.
The tap is supposed to be fully opened with the glass in a 45° angle to gradually be tipped into an upright position as the beer fills up to about half the harp on the glass.
After that the beer needs to "rest" for a minute before topping up the glass (this time you press the tap backwards instead of pulling it forwards).
A Guinness with a crown is called a proud pint and is supposed to be filled without it spilling over the sides.
I'm pretty proud of myself for fairing better than most of the bartenders on this trip and that's after four whisky's and a couple of pints.

The last pint was "for the road" to bring along on the normal tour.
The standard factory tour was basically just illustrations of what the guide had already said but it was still worth it.
I get lunch in the top floor restaurant since I felt it was time to get something in my belly that wasn't alcohol.
It's just after 4PM and I'm not going to lie, at this point I was pretty damn drunk.

I round up the tour by picking up the two pint-glasses I've ordered with my name engraved.
Quite possibly the stupidest thing you could possibly buy when travelling by motorcycle but I'm pretty sure I'll sort it out.

I make my way back to the hotel through a sea of rainbow flags, there's obviously some sort of pride going on this weekend and that's probably why I had so much trouble finding accommodation.

I rest (and sober up) for a bit before going back out and get dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
I get a Crispy Duck before heading over to Temple Bar.
I practice the same method as yesterday, walking along the street and sticking my head inside the bars listening for good music but to my despair this is pure musical terror.
At one bar I hear la bamba and at another some kind of folkified version of lalala long.
The only reason I would go into either of those places to get a pint is so I could throw it the faces of the band.

I finally find a place where they're playing The Pogues. It isn't live but at least it's good music.
But I just manage to install myself at a table with a pint of... guess what before a band starts setting up on stage and soon starts playing a bit of folk.
It was intermixed with a few crowd-pleasers as well but at least it was in the lines of 500 miles and not La Bamba.

When that band gets off the stage and starts dismantling their gear and another band sets up I get ready to leave, I don't even remember what the new band was playing but it wasn't folk and it wasn't good.
It's about 1PM when I get back to my room and I stupidly thought that by now I'd be one of the last elephants stumbling up the clangy metal stairs right outside my window and possibly also the last to bang the door so hard I actually feel it in my be but no...
A sleep-in it is.

This is humor

Jameson destillery

Guinness storehouse

Our private bar for the connoisseur experience.

I'll have to admit I'm pretty proud of this.

Spire of Dublin

Sunday    25.6.2017       17.86km Total: 259.46km

Last day in Dublin.
I sleep in for a long time since I don't get much sleep at night in this rathole.
I'm going to get the laundry I turned in yesterday at 11 so I time it with breakfast at Hungry Hogans which is the next place over from the Laundromat.
After those chores I go out on the town.

I go to Dublin Castle where I can get a guided tour at 1PM.
The dilemma is that I really want to go to the Christ Church cathedral as well and that closes at the weird time of 2.45PM.
So what to do?
Fortunately I'm not afraid to walk so I go to the cathedral at a brisk pace where I sweep like a storm wind through the place trying to take it all in and get back to the castle with a whole minute to spare until the tour starts.

To be honest the castle wasn't all that impressive but the tour was still very interesting because the guide was very passionate about her subject.
A nugget of information that came out during the tour was that at the tax office on the other side of the courtyard both Bram "Dracula" Stoker and Oscar Wilde worked.
At the same time no less and at one time it's said that they where in a bitter feud fighting over the same woman, a feud that ironically Wilde won.

Next stop is St Patricks cathedral.
But there a mass going on (it is Sunday after all) so I'll have to return when the mass is over in about an hour.
What to do? If there's been a theme for my stay in Dublin thus far it would undoubtedly be alcohol so the Whiskey museum seemed like the logical choice.

The talk about Irish whiskey wasn't exactly delivered with gusto so it really wasn't a very impressive visit.
We did get to taste four different kinds of Irish whiskey though so it wasn't a complete waste.

So a bit warmer and light-hearted I return to St Patricks cathedral which was a very grand and impressive building.
Something that I was completely unaware of is that Jonathan "Gullivers travels" Swift was a Dean here and is buried in the church.

I walk passed St Audoens church on the way back but that beauty is closed so I'll have to settle for admiring its exterior only.
It's gotten to be about time to head back to the Temple Bar district in search of some good music.
I hit the jackpot at the Temple Bar where the same band (ladlane) was playing as the first night I was here and they're playing with such energy it's truly a sight to behold.

I think it's completely amazing that you can just walk in (free of charge), sit down and take part of something like this without anyone even bothering you that you have to buy something.
I obviously did  that anyway but that's because I have a weak character and anyway, the show was over by then because I didn't want to miss any of it going to the bar.
It's not just the beer that makes my steps flow easy on the way back to the hotel to plan for the journey ahead, Dublin has been one of the nicest cities I've ever visited.

In Dublins fair city,
where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone

Christ Church cathedral

Dublin castle

Chapel Royal, the castle chapel

Inside the castle, the salon

There is a mirror under the table. The reason my legs aren't visible is because it's an inspection mirror for others to see.
They are from a time (1800:s) where they felt the need to make absolutely sure that womens ankles where covered because they where considered almost pornographic.

The throne room

This is a courtship sofa. The bride and groom to be where sat at opposite ends while the portion in between was occupied by their respective fathers. This was about as close as they got to each other before the wedding.

Portrait gallery

Winecooler made in 1890 in mahogany

St Patricks Hall

The State Corridor, at the far end of the hall is The Privy Counsil Chamber where the castle was formally handed over from the last English Viceroy to Michael Collins and the free Irish republic.

Whiskey museum

St Patricks cathedral

St Audoens church

Ladlane at Temple Bar

Monday    26.6.2017
  274km Total: 4827km    2.04km Total: 261.5km

It is with a heavy heart I have to bid Dublin farewell but I need to move on.
Despite having set a route west I start out by going south towards a scenic route via Old Military Road - R115.
It was a beautiful bit of road but unfortunately I couldn't go the whole way across because of road works.
It was still a nice detour and lot better riding than the M7.

I make my way for the most part on B-roads to Tullamore and (the old) distillery.
While reading the description of the tour it sounded more like a whiskey tasting so I asked if there was any point to the tour at all if you can't drink and according to staff there still was.
The tasting came last on a pretty extensive tour and I got a "pensioner discount" since I wouldn't be doing any tasting. (Woe is me).

While waiting for the tour to start I got lunch in the distillery restaurant where I got slow roasted pork marinated in... take a wild guess what?
It tasted sublime and for once I actually got something reminiscent of real french fries, for the most part the Irish shares the love of large soft and moist fries with the rest of the islands.
Not even the Scots who deep fry everything eats anything other than large moist fries.

The tour was very underwhelming. The guide was very uncommitted, talked crazy fast and finished all her sentences with okay?
The setting felt very much like a backdrop but nearly everything was authentic according to the guide.
This is the third whiskey tour and even though I love Tullamore nothing comes even close to Jamesons.
Bushmills I rode right past because apart from Black Bush I'm not a fan but I'm not going to pass on Tullamore when I'm in the neighbourhood.
No it was still a memorable stop.

While leaving Tullmore heading for Galway I opt for the motorway since it's started to rain and it just gets worse as I go along until eventually it's pouring down to the extent that I'm having trouble keeping the visor clear going into Galway.
I still manage to find my way to the hotel but the weather isn't getting any better so I spend the rest of the evening cooped up there.
I've suffered yet another setback due to my lack of foresight and the ferry I had intended to leave on is now fully booked.
With so few days left of my trip I now have to lay the final touches to the end of the trip to make sure I make it back home on time.

R115

Wicklow mountains by Lough Tay aka Guinness lake which it's called because the dark waters of the lake and the white sandy beach give the impression of a Guinness with a foam crown.

Tullamore Dew, okay?