Day 5, 31.05.03

On the fifth day, our route took us through the counties of Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary. As part of this route, we stopped at Bunratty Castle

It was a very interesting visit. First, we toured the castle and were able to join an English-language guided tour. Afterwards, we walked through the large park with its open-air museum to see how the Irish lived about 100 years ago. A very worthwhile stop, although walks of this length in motorcycle gear aren't exactly ideal. Although, Detlef and Linde were asked, because of their station wagon, where they were from and whether they were part of the park staff.

The next leg of our tour was supposed to take us to Tipperary, where we planned to attend Pilgrims Rally, an Irish biker-style party, that evening. However, the venue had since changed, and unfortunately, we didn't get to experience Mary Nonaan's B&B , which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful B&Bs on the island. What a shame! I'll have to remember it and visit on one of my next trips.

So we continued on to Dungarvan, where we were also very well accommodated in a beautiful and well-maintained house overlooking the Atlantic. From there we drove to Pilgrims Rally, where the participant with the longest journey receives a trophy. Unfortunately, we didn't quite make it; we were narrowly beaten.

It was incredible how many bikes, bikers, and tents were already there in the early evening. The variety of bikes was impressive; you can see a few in the pictures. The German vehicle inspection agency (TÜV) would have had a field day trying to inspect these bikes. Some of the paint jobs were incredibly creative, but one bike in particular caught my eye; it looked like it had been tarred and feathered. So, some of these highly customized bikes certainly wouldn't have passed our TÜV inspection, but it was definitely a feast for the eyes and ears.

The organization was okay on this scale, but for me the music in the building was too loud to understand the neighbors.