London Sightseeing: Day One

We spent 2 1/2 days sightseeing in London. We really enjoyed the city and all felt a little more "at home" with getting around by public transportation and walking. It was very nice, after full days of sightseeing, to have time to catch up with the Lams (thanks, you guys, for everything)!

Heading to the Golders Green Tube Station from the Lams' for the first day of sightseeing.

First stop: National Gallery. Perfect timing, too, since it was beginning to rain.

All of the excitement put little dude to sleep. We were then able to catch lunch at the Lams' recommendation, Pret a Manger. We enjoyed it so much that we had lunch there the next day (and in the airport on the way back).

Then we did a bit of walking...down by Parliament and Big Ben...

...across the river to check out the Eye...
...then we looped back over the Golden Jubilee bridge and back towards Westminster Abbey (if you are familiar with London, yes, we did pretty much do a double loop).

After Westminster Abbey, we headed to St. James Park where we did some grass therapy. I am happy to report that Hamilton doesn't seem nearly as scared of grass anymore!

Family photo op at St. James Park.

We went to the front gate of Buckingham Palace...
...where Hamilton tried to find his way in.

We pried him away and took a stroll through Green Park and ended at Piccadilly Circus.

All in all, a very enjoyable day.

Day Nine: Wrapping Up Ireland and on to England

Day nine was our last morning in Ireland . . . we flew out of Cork to London that morning. Jenny and Hamilton took a taxi over to the airport, but Freeman completed the airport-to-airport challenge by riding up to the terminal at the Cork airport. As you might guess, it was at the top of a hill. A mile and half long hill that we had been warned about since at least Cashel. Thanks for the goodbye kiss, Ireland!

The final miles tally for the trip was 236.49 and our top speed was 31 miles per hour.
We then got the bikes prepared for the flight, checked in, and took off for London. We arrived in London and Jenny set about figuring how to use London's numerous systems of buses and trains to get into the city and where our friends Phil and Janice Lam live. After several transfers, we finally arrived in Cricklewood and found the Lam's house. It was good to catch up with Phil and Janice along with their two boys, Christian and Sebastian. Unfortunately, we forgot to take any pictures, so you'll have to use your imagination for this day!

Day Eight: Onward to Cork

Day eight saw us heading south out of Mitchelstown to Fermoy and then on to Cork City, around 30 miles. We had noticed that the mornings had less rain than later in the day, so we hit the road earlier than usual hoping to make it into Cork without too much trouble. As was the theme, we were warned about one particularly nasty climb right outside of Mitchelstown, but our determination to get on with it helped us blow right through over the ridge.
As usual, Hamilton was very excited about the whole enterprise.
We made our way to Fermoy and crossed a long bridge over the River Blackwater.
We were now in County Cork (where Jenny's Murphy family traces its Irish roots from) and some names started to look very familiar.
Ireland was coming up on elections for something or another, and we kept seeing signs for this guy. He easily had the best haircut of any Irish politician.
The weather ended up getting pretty bad between Fermoy and Cork . . . lots of rain. Thankfully, there are plenty of trees in Ireland, so we took shelter a few times and did our best to wait for a break in the weather. We eventually made our way into Cork.
Yes, there are palm trees in Ireland.
We made our way through the city and on to the hotel, the nicest of the whole trip. We brought our swimming suits and headed to the pool . . . something Hamilton enjoyed.

Day Seven: Dark Times in Mitchelstown

Day seven of our Irish odyssey was the roughest day we had. We did not start the day planning to finish it only twenty miles from where we started. As it was, an unexpected cold snap, rain that was starting to get slick on the road, and a very miserable Team Whitney ended up seeking shelter for the night in Mitchelstown at 2:30 in the afternoon.

The day started with the prospect of going up and over the other side of the Glen of Aherlow--that is to say, a long climb.


It ended up being not as bad as we expected, although still a nice climb for a team of midwesterners. As was the norm, we also came across a picturesque and long-abandoned abbey (apparently no one in Ireland believes in demolishing stuff they don't use anymore). This was is called Moor Abbey just outside of Galbally.
We made it up and over the pass and descended on a sweet downhill into Mitchelstown, where stopped for lunch. As we ate, we discussed heading onward to Fermoy (our intended destination) and decided to stop for the night and see if the morning would hold better weather. We found a hotel, found some dude who worked there who tracked down some pizza for us, and watched several hours of the Eurovision song contest on TV while Hamilton slept. The winning country for 2009 was Norway, and the song is catchy.

Day Six: Happy Birthday to Hamilton!

Day six of the trip coincided with Hamilton's first birthday! We started the day in Cashel by touring two historic sites within walking distance of our room. The first site was Hore Abbey, dating back from at least the thirteenth century.From there, we walked over to the Rock of Cashel, which is, appropriately enough, a large rock that stands alone. Here's what it looked like from inside Hore Abbey.

The Rock of Cashel was the fortress home of old Irish kings of Munster and was later visited by St. Patrick before becoming the site of a cathedral. Like many things we saw in Ireland, it really went downhill after English troops in the seventeenth century showed up with torches and swords. Needless to say, getting to the good stuff involved a climb.

From Cashel, we hopped back on the bikes and headed southwest on the road to Tipperary, turning off of at Golden on our way to the Glen of Aherlow.

The Glen lies between two ridges of mountains (or hills as the Irish prefer to say) and was very pretty--the pictures don't really capture it. Plus, it was raining and uphill, so photography was not the first thing on our minds!

We arrived at our bed and breakfast and decided we would have dinner at the restaurant housed there. We were eight miles outside a tiny town by this point, so trekking around for dinner did not make much sense to us. As it was, we had a lovely time and they prepared a special birthday treat for Hamilton.

Happy birthday to our precious boy!!!!

Day Five: Sightseeing and Biking in the Rain

We started off Thursday with a little sightseeing. First we walked up to Kilkenny Castle and did a self-guided tour.

Then, we grabbed our bikes from the hostel and headed over to St. Canice's Cathedral, which was built in the 13th century. It's a very pretty medieval style church that's still in use with a 9th century tower on its grounds. Unfortunately, because Hamilton was too young, we weren't able to climb the 110 steps to the top for the panoramic view of Kilkenny. Two notes about that:

1. Yes, we would have climbed it just before a 35-40 mile bike ride in the rain that day...we're just that crazy.
2. Anyone who has seen Hamilton climb stairs knows he would have made it to the top with no problem!

There aren't a whole lot of pictures from the ride today because it really was pouring for a good bit of the time that we rode. In fact, here's the only one, from a water break as we entered Tipperary County (yes, Hamilton's asleep).

We arrived in Cashel and completely shocked the owner of the lodge where we were staying. We must have been quite a sight--covered in grime from the road with a sleeping baby on the bike! Fortunately, he allowed us to hose off our outerwear and gear in the shed and moved them to the boiler room to be dry by morning. He also drove Jenny into town to grab food for dinner in breakfast (not far, but who wants to walk in the rain). In fact, he was so kind, he completely assembled a crib for Hamilton to sleep in that night before it was time for bed!

We slept so well.

Day Four: The Scenic Route to Kilkenny

Wednesday's route, from Carlow to Kilkenny, was about 25-30 miles on relatively flat land. So, we anticipated an easier day. In fact, Freeman found a river path called the Barrow Way advertised in a pamphlet in Carlow that would take us most of the way there. So, we agreed, let's avoid the big roads and take the scenic route.

Let's Go! It was time for a ride on Jenny's bike.

The path was very scenic. (Notice the decidedly grayer hugh to the sky--that will come into play later.)

What we discovered, though, was that the path went from this...


...to this...



...to this...




... at which point our plans for a leisurely ride turned into a bit of a hike. (But, as with other points on the trip where it didn't go quite as planned, we did notice that is was quite beautiful!)

Anyhow, by the time we hit the next road, we decided to take it, which led us to...


...this cool old church where (if I remember correctly) the date for Easter was reportedly set.

It was at this point in the journey that Freeman and I had to pull out our rain gear.



We also decided it was time to stop for lunch and at the advice of several locals, we ended up at a nearby hotel, where we were definitely lost in translation. Every question we asked was answered by the phrase, "No, it's carvery." Although I am still not positive, I believe carvery is cafeteria-style. Anyhow, regardless, Freeman and Hamilton shared some yummy chicken and I enjoyed some brown bread and soup.



After lunch, we decided just to take the largest, straightest, quickest road for the rest of the trip and were quite happy to arrive in Kilkenny. You can catch the full effect of our rain gear in our arrival picture.


Even with the delay, we arrived at our hostel early enough to clean up and walk the streets of the town centre.






And get some Indian/Nepalese food for dinner--yum!