Day 2: Dublin -> Kildare -> Newgrange (Meath)

Today I get the motorcycle! After some technical and self imposed difficulties I was able to make my way via bus about 40 minutes outside of Dublin to Kildare, Kill co. There, I met up with Paul at Celtic Rider. I had had trouble with my phone and decided to walk down to his place, but was a bit turned around. When I did get reception, I contacted him and said I was standing in front of some free range chickens, he told me to sit tight and immediately found me, quite quaint when you can use fowl as a reference point.

When I got to Celtic Rider Paul showed me some of the horses on his property, the land and the history of his location. We proceeded to talk about the history, tourism and values of the Country. As excited as I was to have the motorcycle, I was more grateful to have Paul (and his wife and daughter) make me feel at home, offering me delicious home-made stew and bread. Paul is a small business owner, and he took the time, despite my late arrival, to tell me a bit about himself and his country, I felt very fortunate. He was kind enough to provide me with a GPS that had favourites of places he visited to help me get the most out of my trip. We went over the bike and Paul went out with me for about half hour, stopping at the castle where he was married, and onto a historic university. With a handshake and the advice of keeping the left shoulder to the ditch (this was very helpful) I parted ways with Paul and headed towards Newgrange.

I am currently sitting in the Newgrange Lodge, it is almost 4am locally, but my head still feels like it's in Nova Scotia (close to midnight there) I was set up in a beautiful room and had a very nice conversation with the lady at the front counter. I told her of my trip and could tell she genuinely enjoyed listening, it's a rare thing to have so many kind people, Canada is known for this, but I ink the Irish have us beat in the gift of gab and authenticity of character. I hope to see part of the Boyne Valley tomorrow, a very historic area of Ireland!

Total Km: 150km