Retirement trip - Day 35

 Left Killorglin on a slightly drizzly morning and rode to my first destination of the day, the Lartigue Monorail at Listowel, Co Kerry. This is a truly bizarre raiway with a raised monorail built by French engineer Charles Lartigue. I believe the raised centre rail was to allow the railway to be built in the Sahara desert where conventional rails would be covered in sand. Why it was built in the west or Ireland and not Morocco or Algeria is a bit of a mystery. Unfortunately, it was still morning when I arrived and it doesn't open until the afternoon, so I could only make a video standing outside! Website

Undaunted by that disappointment I headed to my next destination, the Flying Boat Museum at Foynes, Co. Limerick. However, when I arrived I found that it was partly closed due to refurbishment! However, the control tower and restored flying boat were open and they were showing videos in the cafe.

I carried on and saw signs for the town of Adare. I had heard this referred to as 'the prettiest town in Ireland', so went for a look. The pretty part is certainly true, but it also appears to be 'the busiest town in Ireland' with the main street being a two way, slow moving traffic jam! I also totally failed to find anywhere to park the bike, so had to leave without stopping.

I headed on to wards my destination for tonight, the city of Limerick. I had rented a room in a large house for three days, but when I arrived I found the gates locked. I managed to contact the owner and they texted me the code for the gate, the front door, and which room I should take. The room was very nice and I carried my luggage in, got changed, hung my wet clothes out to dry and wandered into the city centre. I made my way to King John's Castle and managed to sneak in and take a look at the stage that had been erected for the concert I was attending tonight.

I had a wander around the city centre, got something to eat then headed back to my accommodation, a short 15 minute walk away.

At the accommodation there was another bike parked, a British registered Royal Enfield 350. I didn't see the owner and it left the following morning.

Back to the castle and remember the hassle I had over tickets I mentioned yesterday? About half the people in the queue had printed their tickets onto a piece of paper, and those that had bought their tickets from the local promoter had paper tickets and they all got in OK. So what was all that panic about having to use the new app all about?

We all got in and I managed to stand at the barrier at the front. The band were Kraftwerk and they put on a fantastic set. Unfortunately, I forgot to put a new battery in my camera and it ran out very quickly!

Took another bit of video using my phone, so quality is a bit poor.

Approximate map of today's journey.