Jun 19 - around Dublin

I went for a bike ride, first thing, heading south from our hotel / guest house.  I was having trouble with the Garmin, that didn't want to charge from the generator ... great.  Once back at the room, however, I disconnected and reconnected the cable at the usb port and it worked.  I guess that some moisture had gotten in there, despite all the electrical tape.  The symptom had been the Garmin "thinking" that it was connected to a computer, so technically it was charging, but putting the unit offline from my standpoint.

Hopefully that's ok now.  

I was also having some problem shifting and checked that out and found that I'd not tightened the rear derailleur down properly ... 

Too many issues; hopefully this goes all right !?!?  I will take it for another brief spin once we get to Midleton, where the ride starts.

We headed out for breakfast around 8:15 and then came back to the room, got organized and left for the bus.  We're old hands at this now :).  Downtown, we found the stand to purchase tickets for the hop-on / hop-off bus and started our tour.  We did the circuit and then took a look at Dublin Castle, which wasn't quite what we expected.  A combination of old and new construction, it was a good place to wander but didn't bother paying to tour inside.  Of course, in European terms, old and new construction  would all still qualify as Ancient, in North American Terms !!

Back on the hop-on / hop-off after having a bite to eat, this time the "red bus", we took the other route so that we could get out to Kilmainham Gaol (that would be jail).  This tour was fascinating, more a history lesson in Irish freedom than simply a tour of the jail.  Even children had gone to jail in those times, convicted of everything from stealing grass (yes, the green stuff) to a loaf of bread.  The older part of the jail had huge overcrowding, at times thousands housed in a facility designed for hundreds.  At 8 per cell designed for 1, no running water or toilets, you might imagine the conditions.  Most of the tour guide's talk, however, was about the later years and the Irish rebellion from the English, executions and so on.  It's one thing to know all this, quite another to see where the prisoners were housed and executed ... a very proud people.

Sandy and I headed back to our room; Jim and Sheryl visited a fire station on the way back.  Once they returned, we walked to a local place for dinner.  

Another day was done.  Now we have to pack the car and head to Midleton ... the fun is about to begin in earnest, for me.

Onward !