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.