Adios Madrid

July 27

Home from Madrid! Ahh. . . Well, home to Prague I should clarify. Madrid was amazing although I think one of my highlights was the day trip to the town of Toledo that we took. Jan and I spent Wed. exploring the amazing park in Madrid - Retiro Park. We literally spent hours walking through the park (and of course some of the sights in town) before meeting our 2 new friends, Nisha and Amelia from Canada. We ended up enjoying a glass of Sangria with them that afternoon, before visiting Jan's friend Victor, and then the 5 of us went out again for drinks after dinner. A Hawaiin bar complete with drinks served in smoking volcanoes!

Thursday Nisha, Amelia, Jan and I met in the town of Toledo where we spent the day wondering around this truly amazing town visiting cathedrals, mosques, and synagogues. According to Wikipedia: Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive cultural and monumental heritage as one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire and place of coexistence of Christian, Jewish and Moorish cultures. As you can see from the pictures - the town was breathtaking! And of course that night we ended up back in Madrid with the girls enjoying tapas and drinks on one of the outside terraces. My new favorite hobby!

Our last day in Madrid was spent visiting the final sites, such as Palacio Real and Cathedral de Almudena, before meeting with our new friends for one last early dinner of yummy vegi paella before it was time to make our way back to the airport. A quick day - as time flies when you are having fun.

My final full day in Prague was spent doing the usual . . . ya know like bobsledding! How cool is that!? Jan, Marek, Elishka and I woke up and decided to try bobsledding before I promised to make burritos. (Not an easy task when missing such Mexican essentials like cilantro and friojoles.) After the successful lunch, our day continued with minigolf and beer garden before a final dinner together complete with homemade American chocolate chip cookies (an exotic luxury around these parts) and homemade Czech dumplings (and exotic luxury around my parts.)

Today has been spent on such unfun things like packing, but I hope to visit a few last sites around town before I head back to Dublin and on home. I also guess this is my last and final update from abroad. Wipe the tears away, I know how much it pains us all to think my travels are over. But fear not . . . we all know I will be headed somewhere new and exciting again sometime soon. Japan? Australia? Egpyt?


Retiro Park


Retiro Park again


Puerto del Sol in Madrid


My new hobby - sitting outside enjoying drinks and tapas with friends. And I am bringing home a paella recipe! (me, Nisha, Amelia, Jan)


Jan, Victor and I in Madrid in the Hawaiin bar.


The amazing town of Toledo.


Another view of Toledo - very Mediterranean feeling.


One of the cathedrals in Toledo.


Bobsledding! I made it up to 44 kilometers per hour!


Here we go! Only 1 person died at this particular track last year. Not too shabby!

Trouble in Madrid

July 22

Madrid you say. Well yes! Jan and I decided to head out of Prague yesterday and here I am, now in Madrid - thank you cheap flight on Whizz Air. But before Madrid (and the trouble) first my last couple of days in Prague.

I spent last Saturday visiting the famous town of Kunta Hora, just outside Prague - most famous for the bone church. Not surprising given my morbid fascination. Over 40,000 people have been buried and turned into art at this church. (Ya know . . . the Black Plague and all.) It was surprisingly unsmelly and not too gruesome really. As you can see from the pictures below, it wasn´t like there was ded body parts hanging off the bones. That would have been gross!

On Sunday, I took another day trip to another famous town, Terezin. Truley, not the happiest day of my trip, but some things are good for the soul. Terezin was a concentration camp during WWII which is famous for the children´s art work that came out of the camps and for tricking the Red Cross into believing that Hitler was treating the Jews kindly. It was a tough day filled with tears, but I am glad I went.

Ahh . . . and now Madrid. So after spending Monday mostly traveling, I arrived at the hostel last night to find my wallet stolen. I had just used it at the Metro Stop to buy a bottle of water and when I went for my wallet minutes later at the hostel - it was gone: $400 in US, 2 credit cards, 1 ATM card, drivers license, and my Kaiser card. Bummer! Not only was my wallet stolen but another American, Lindsay, who I had been heading to the same hostel with was stolen too. And what´s worse, I know right when it happened. (A group of men crowded into the Metro with us, I mean beyond full, squished on all sides, and then they all got off at the next stop. I wonder how many wallets they got in total!) Although spending today at the police station wasn´t much fun, the real hassle has been trying to get more money. Turns out you can´t wire yourself more money, even if you know your bank account info. Also turns out you need a non-closed CC account to be able to get a cash advance. Ahh . . . the challenges in life. :)

Just money . . . right? And they didn´t get my passport, which is probably what matters most. Anyways, other than the police station this morning I had a lovely day at the Prada Museum enjoying works by Goya and Velaquez and Rembrandt, just to name a few. Tonight was an intimate flamenco show with just one dancer and guitarist crowded together into a small room with a few others there to enjoy the dancing. It was fabulous. Afterwards it was an enjoyable evening night drinking mojitos and tapas at one of the many outdoor dining areas that are everywhere in Madrid.


Bone Chandelier


Bone Art


I´m not actually touching the skull - it just looks like it. But Jan on the other hand . . .

The cemetary outside Terezin


Where many a person was shot . . .


The outside of the women´s barracks.


Other than art, Terezin was known for it´s underground magazine that boys contributed to. Here is a poem that survived, written by a young Jewish teenager.


Pavlina´s birthday party. I made her an American style birthday cake - yum! This was one of my last night´s in Prague and my new friends.

Prague Castle

July 18

So after 3 days of trying to visit Prague Castle, I can finally check it off my list. A wise old Irish lady [with hairs growing out of her chin] once told me not to make plans because life always changes anyways. And she was right! My first attempt at visiting the castle was thwarted by a late start and amazing Moravian wine at a local wine cellar. It made for a fun day all the same though! Attempt 2 to thoroughly see the castle came closer to accomplishing the goal. However, renting the paddle boat on the Vltava River slowed us down enough, that by the time we made it to the compound most of the buildings were closed. Still a great way to spend the day. This was also the day I tried the traditional drink of Czech - Slivovice - a plum vodka. Not the tastiest, but it gets the job done. :) I also got to wander around the Jewish Quarter yesterday so I did accomplish another To Do. Third times a charm! and I made the final visit to Prague Castle today where I finished admiring the sites I had missed the first two times. St. Vitus's cathedral was the highlight of the day!


One of the amazing stained glass windows inside St. Vitus Cathedral. Note the Art Nouveau style.


A view of Prague from the Castle.


Jan and I at the castle with another view of Prague below.


Prague Castle looming over the city.


Paddle Boatin' on the Vltava River.

Lovin' Prague

July 16

As strange as it feels to not be cycling endlessly every day - I don't think my quads and butt could be any happier. I spent my last night in Dublin enjoying dinner and a cabaret show with some new friends from the hostel and then spent Monday packing my bike and camping gear back into a new box. I made it to the airport, no problem, and arrived in Prague right on time! Jan was even at the airport waiting for me. (With a beautiful bouquet of flowers I might add.) It was a quiet Monday night enjoying some wine, before the real sight seeing started on Tuesday. I spent the day walking around the city center of Prague being a diligent tourist - visiting all the must sees. It was incredibly humid and hot on Tuesday, so after dinner we spent the night swimming with friends and drinking beer in the local beer garden. Who know Czech beer was so good?! Wednesday was a leisurely morning reading, thanks to the torrential downpour, but the day cleared by the afternoon- in time for me to explore Wenceslaus Square before the BB King concert last night. The show was superb, especially considering BB King is 83 years old now! He had to sit down for his performance, but his guitar and vocals were still dead on! I had another one of my famously bright ideas - running up the down escaltor out of the tube station. I didn't take into account however the length of the escaltor (longest in the world - I swear!) and as Jan and I was nearing the top, extremely fatigued and starting to stumble) the nice escalator operators took pity on us and stopped the escalator so we could make the final few stairs. All this to loud appluase and cheers from hundreds of onlookers. Today is now Thursday and after another leisurely morning, I am off to Prague Castle - largest in Europe.



The Cabaret Show in Dublin - my last night!


The Astronomical Clock in Prague. The figurines (that you can't really see) move every hour when the clock strikes. Again - visualize the picture horizontally.


A marionette shop - apparently quite popular in Prague.


A picture in the Old Town Square.


Jan and I on the Charles Bridge.


Wenceslaus Square. Note the rainbow in the backrgound - aaahhh.

Tragedy and the End

Ron got hit by a car today . . . only kidding. Read below to find out about all the flats we suffered - now that's a real tragedy!

July 11

Back in Galway today after our last day of cycling . . . in the rain. 26 miles today. So sad yet so happy at the same time! We are running such fun errands, like laundry, today and are getting ready to cook dinner in the hostel before Karin arrives. Afterwards I am sure there will be some celebrating having successfully completed the bike tour - almost 800 miles total. Tomorrow I am off for Dublin and then Monday to Prague. We'll see how well I manage to keep the blog updated while I'm galavanting around Europe with new friends.

July 10

Another day of rain. At least we had an enjoyable morning relaxing and changing reservations for the weekend inside the hostel, where we had pitched our tent. Ron's friend is now meeting us in Galway Sat. night and I am heading back to Dublin on Sunday by myself. We left Killary in the rain and heavy fog headed towards Cong, famous because the movie Quiet Man was filmed there. (Never heard of it.) We had a long stop along the way for Ron to fix another flat - but at least this time he found what has been causing all the flats - hurray! I think being wet and cold finally got to me - I wasn't feeling great so I went to bed early and didn't even venture into town. Our last night in the tent together . . . 28 miles today.


July 9

We basically moved into the bike shop this morning. Especially after I woke up to a flat back tire. I got my second new tire and 2 new tubes while Ron got screwed - they didn't have his size. We left Cliffdon after lunch and headed for Killary to spend the night. Along the way we stopped at the Kylemore Abby and again at a raspberry patch for some yummy free berries - my favorite. We got in free to the castle - the poor, dirty biker look really has it perks. :) 23 miles today.


Sheep butts.


The walled Victorian Garden at the Abby. They grow tons of food here too!


Kylemore Abby - currently used as an all girl's school. However, the school ends for good next year.


July 8

So Ron woke up this morning and said no more! He said he couldn't handle 3 more days of 40 miles each trying to make our way up to Sligo intime to catch a bus back to Dublin. So we looked at a map and planned a new route around Connemara that meant 3 easy days of cycling and then back to Galway for the 5 Euro bus back to Dublin. However, we awoke to a new flat tire and Ron had to use his last new tube to fix it. So we make it 4 miles down the road when he suffered a 2nd flat, same tire. Since he had to find the hole and patch it - I enjoyed my book for 30 mins. 3 more miles down the road and I suffered a flat. This time Ron kicked back and ate lunch while I had to patch my hole. Fair is fair. But, no, oh no! the flats weren't done yet. Ron suffered another flat about an hour later (yep - same tire and yep we were completely out of tubes). He was able to bum another tire from a cyclist, which although wasn't the right size, was better than nothing. We eventually made it into the town of Cliffdon, where we set up camp for the night and decided to walk into town for dinner and music. Thankfully, Cliffdon does have a bike shop - it was just closed for the night by the time we eventually rode into town. 25 miles today.


Ron and I at a view point above the town of Cliffdon.


Ron fixing flat 2 of the day.


The endless peat bogs. We spent quite a bit of time around here with all the flats!


July 7

Ron and I enjoyed Galway so much, we spent the whole day walking around the city. And then at about 4 pm we realized we better get a move on! Our plan was to cycle the 23 miles to the ferry building and take the 6:30 ferry to the Aran Islands to spend the night. However, by the time we got the bikes ready and pedaled as hard as we could for 2 hours - we still missed the last ferry by 10 mins. So we just sort of kept cycling aimlessly. Panic set in around 9 pm when we were in the middle of peat bogs and nothing around. Lucky for us, we found a nice local who pointed us in the way of a pub who let us a pitch a tent. Right on a lake and next to a pub - a pretty good ending to the day! 32 miles today.


The view from the pub and our campsite for the night.



Walking around Galway.

My first flat!

July 6

After getting a ride from the nicest locals ever, I got my new tire and had the bike up and running again before lunch. We left Doolan and continued up the coast road for 50 miles having soup with a nice little, old lady along the way, and stopping to explore the rocky landscape of the Burren Coast. The Burren Coast looked like it could have been another planet - very strange looking. We didin't get into Galway until after 7 with all our stopping and the rain slowing us down a little, but once we were showered we headed out for dinner and live music. I broke down and ordered a burrito - not bad for Ireland, but clearly not as good as a CA burrito. We also ran into some friends from our Dingle Hostel, and spent the night with them - 2 teachers from a Charter School in Minnesota. 50 miles today.



The bizarre beach on the Burren Coast.


If I only could stop eating all that damn Cadbury's chocoalte . . .


Galway at night - it was 10 pm when I took this picture and still completely light out.

July 5

Needless to say, we had sort of a slow start this morning. Although we both got up early enough, we were seriously dragging. If there had been a shower in tent city, we would definitely had stayed another night for the music festival but instead we decided to move on. We spent hours walking around the Cliffs of Moher, which were truley amazing! (See pic below.) However, we only made it 20 miles to Doolin before I suffered a flat - so bad that the tire also had a gaping hole in it. So we found a cute hostel (turned out it was voted the best in Ireland in 2008) and made it home for the night. Thanks to all the help from the locals, we were able to track down a new road bike tire in the next town over where a biking enthusiast happened to live. If he hadn't had that tire I would have had to bus to Galway with my bike to a bike shop - that's how small the town of Doolan was. We had to wait until Monday though to get the new tire, so we spend the night listening to more live music and heading to bed early.


An Irish traffic jam.


The Cliffs of Moher - our photographer kept joking just back up a few more steps.


Our new friends: Jan, Katarina, Jan, and Micheal. Micheal is from Boston but now lives in Northern Ireland along with the rest of new friends.


July 4th

You won't believe our endless good luck today!!! We had our usual late start out of Tralee and rode straight to the ferry in Trabert where as we rode onto boat, they shut the gate behind us. (We decided to skip riding through Limerick.) Once across the River Shannon, we jumped on the bikes and kept heading north. As we were passing through the small town of Milltown/Mal Bay we noticed a tent city by the beach. Upon asking a fellow what was going on, we found out that it was the start of the Willie Clancy Music Festival - the largest week long musical festival in Ireland! So of course we joined the tent city on the beach and headed into the small town where we hands down, heard the best traditional Irish music of our lives. There were roving musicians everywhere and 100's of people in the town for the music and it was one big party. We met the nicest 3 Czechs who now live in Northern Ireland and spent the night partying with them. One of the town locals got us into what's called a "lock in" where a pub secretly reopens after it closes and once you get back in (really locals only) you have to stay in until the closes the second time. I ended up staying out to 4 in the morning and even then I had to wait for a taxi the streets were still packed with people. Best night in Ireland - yet! Oh - and I now I am off to Prague sooner than originally planned to meet my new Czech friends who will be there for the next 3 weeks! 60 miles today.

The ferry ride - we barely made it on the boat - Indiana Jones style.


Tent City at Spanish Fort, just outside Milltown. There were all sorts of signs that said no camping, but clearly they were making exceptions for the week.


The Trad Session at Cleery's Pub, where we spent 4 hours as musicians wandered in and out and joining the music session. Sometimes they would stop for a song - awesome!

July 3

I guess I deserve what I got after mocking Ireland's mountains: Connor's Pass. We left Dingle and Fungi the dolphin mid-morning and ending up spending half our day cycling up Connor's Pass, well 45 mins and 4.5 miles uphill . . . nonstop. The views at the top were awesome though and there was a sense of pride at the view spot when the cars couldn't believe we had peddaled the whole way up. The down hill was just as good too! I also almost killed Ron today when my left panier fell off at high speeds almost taking out Ron who was riding behind me. Once arriving in Tralee, we decided to live the lap of luxury and we spent the afternoon at the Aqua Dome going down water slides and relaxing in saunas before heading back into town to catch a performance at the National Folk Theater of Ireland . . . before returning to our glorious tent! Only 33.5 miles today


The view from Connor's Pass. Yep, we cycled up here from that ocean you see below!


The Aqua Dome . . . of fun!


My illegal photo of the National Folk Theater - all performed in Gaelic.

Lovin' Ireland

July 2

Ron and I loved the hostel we stayed in so much last night, that we decided to stay another night and do the Slea Head Loop today without our bags on. 40 miles on the dot. Today was truley some of the best landscape we had yet, un til the super heavy fog rolled in blocking our views. LOL There were tons of ruins along the way to visit - we spent almost as much time off our bikes as we did on.


Down the pier at the tip of the Dingle Pennisula. This is in lots of postcards - but with sheep coming up.


The landscape before the fog rolled in.



An ancient bee hive hut!



July 1

Despite starting our ride this morning in the rain, after about 20 miles it cleared up. Yeah! We had a surprisingly quick ride into the town of Dingle today, only about 45 miles and less than 4 hours! You can tell - not a lot of hills. We decided to stay in a hostel to get out of the rain from our previous night and day in it. We took a walk along the bluffs before supper and actually saw Fungi, this lone bottlenose dolphin that lives in the bay here at Dingle. He has been here for 26 years so far and there are boats that take people out to see him. He's guaranteed to visit or you get your money back. People can even go swimming with the dolphin. I think the town bought him from Sea World.



Fungi - the local dolphin and unofficial town mascott.




Dingle



The beach at Inch. Those vans rent surf boards and all sorts of people were surfing!



June 30

Today was supposed to be our "off" day from cycling, but we still managed 25 miles of cycling between all our exploring. We tried to start the day off exploring the National Park, but Ron got his bungee cord stuck in the sprockets so bad, we had to abort the trip and head into town and a bike shop. So we spent the morning walking around town and then went back to the park to ride around the lake and find the waterfall. By the time we got done with all our exploring it was time for dinner and then back into town for a movie - Year One - and then of course to a Pub for some more music.



Torc Waterfall, inside the National Park. Again flip the picture in your mind.



Muckross House, the old manor that sits in the National Park. It was pretty impressive.



An old yew tree in the Abby inside the National Park.


June 29

So Ron and I left Kenmare at a pretty reasonable hour, expecting the absolute worse heading up the mountain passes with all the warnings we were given. However, much to our shock and delight, the mountain passes were not steep at all. There was climbing and amazing views - but not the treacherous steep road we were expecting. In fact we made it to Killarney in such good time that we set up camp and hopped back on our bikes to bicycle the Gap of Dunlow, another mountain pass, that was beyond beautiful. By the time we had dinner and walked around town, we called it a night and went to bed pretty early. 50ish miles today.





On our way up to the Gap of Dunloe - you can see the winding road we cycled up in the background.

Kenmare, the town we left to cycle over to Killarney.

Me cycling thru a rock tunnel on the way into Killarney. Notice I don't yet know how to rotate images.

Ron and I at Moll's Gap - our first mt. pass that was not very steep at all.