Day #: 58-74

Date(s): 22JUN – 08JUL2025

Location(s) Visited: Newgrange, Balbriggan, Ardgillan Castle, Dublin, Rosslare, Ireland & Pembroke, Tenby, St. Davids, Wales UK

Overall Impression of Location(s): Newgrange = 3, Balbriggan = 3, Ardgillan Castle =3, Dublin = 3, Rosslare = 2, Ireland & Pembroke = 3, Tenby = 2, St. Davids = 4, Wales UK

4 -added to our favorite list and we would return again
3 – a great place to visit
2 – OK for one visit, but we would not return again
1 – we wish we hadn’t wasted our time here  

Distance Driven on Leg/Trip (km): 443

Weather/Temperature (°F): Glorious! The weather was for the most part cool and sunny albeit quite windy. Daytime temperatures were in the high 60’s and nighttime temperatures in the mid-50’s. We have had some sporadic rain and gray skies, but mostly we feel very lucky to have had such lovely weather. Temperatures back home are over 100 degrees and the heat waves hitting both the US and Europe have not impacted us at all. The highest daytime temperature we have had is 72 degrees. These are Tony’s ideal weather conditions.

Road Conditions: Roads are much the same in Ireland as we have been experiencing thus far. We drove quite a bit on this leg on the wide M roads and where we could drive the speed limit. The roads in Wales are like those in Ireland; however, the drivers are more laid back and less in a hurry than in Ireland. We have had a few tight squeeze adventures due to Waze taking us down “roads” that seem to be more tracks cutting through farmer’s fields than actual roads. We haven’t figured out the nomenclature quite yet for Wales as all the rural roads we are on are skinny roads.

Chickpea Mechanical Status: No issues. Our plan is to give Chickpea a good cleaning both inside and out while in Wales during our month long stay at our Airbnb.

Highlights:

• We stopped for a few days to stay with Tracey’s friend, John, and his husband at their home in Balbriggan. Tracey and John met almost 20 years ago in Chicago at massage therapy school. John and Owen have 2 delightful dogs named Archie and Bueller so we also got in some much-needed dog time. John and Owen were wonderful hosts and showed us all around their area and we even got a quick trip into Dublin for dinner. Tracey’s leg was still bothering her quite a bit so our plans, sadly,  had to be curtailed but we had fun with them regardless.
• Tony said one of his favorite parts of this leg was the time he and Owen took the dogs for a long walk. Tony forgot how much he missed going on nightly dog walks as he used to do with our dog, Emma, 15 years ago(!). In addition, Owen showed Tony a number of interesting local sites and provided a local’s perspective regarding current events in Ireland.
• Since Tracey’s leg was still bothering her which made walking any distance painful, we took a short stroll through Ardgillan Gardens. The gardens were lovely, especially the herb garden, but Tracey had to walk so slowly that bona-fide people with disabilities and mobility devices were passing her.
• On our way to Rosslare where our ferry was departing from, we saw dozens of farmstands all selling local strawberries and local Queens New Potatoes. We couldn’t resist the temptation so we stopped and bought both. The strawberries were bright red, sweet and juicy and the New Potatoes had roughed up thin skin which roasted beautifully in the oven. Delicious!
• Tony took a lovely bike ride near Rosslare following a Norman Pilgrimage route which led past a number of ruins. Rolling terrain, few cars and a cool sunny day completed the package. Sadly, this would be his last ride before his cycling accident the following day (see lowlights below) 😔. Our Airbnb in St. Davids in Wales UK is nothing short of spectacular. We are out in rural West Wales where the only sound we consistently hear is the wind. Our Airbnb is a converted barn/buttery ruin. The building has an entire wall of sliding doors which open completely to provide panoramic views of the ocean and across the 18 acres of farmland the property sits on. Timbered ceilings, multiple patios, a sun soaked interior and beautiful attention to detail completes this Airbnb. This is easily one of the best Airbnb’s we have ever stayed at and we are glad as we are here for an entire month. It was a stroke of luck that we booked this place a year ago as it will be the perfect place for Tony’s shoulder rehab.

Lowlights:

• The Irish Ferry was a disappointment. We arrived 2 hours early for our booked ferry and check-in was a breeze. We were the first vehicle in our queue line so we were anticipating being one of the first to board. Boarding was delayed for over an hour so there was a lot of sitting around but our spirits were high as we were excited to visit Wales for the first time. We had purchased Club Class tickets which gave us priority boarding the ship and access to a special lounge. What transpired was the opposite. We were the 3^rd LAST vehicle to board the ferry. When we arrived at the special lounge there were no seats left for us to sit anywhere as they had massively overbooked access to this space. The staff on the ferry were rude and quite unhelpful so we ended up finding a seat in the dog-only area for this 4-hour crossing. After much “follow-up” on Tony’s part, Irish Ferries have refunded our Club Class upgrade but it took lots of time and effort on Tony’s part and he wasn’t letting it go “on principle.”
• Tracey’s unknown leg injury has put a damper on our plans and activities we had scheduled for this portion of the trip. She has self-diagnosed herself with either hamstring tendonitis or sciatica and she has been resting and elevating her legs. She recently started some targeted exercises and she thinks she is already starting to see some improvement as she was able to walk about 2 miles relatively pain-free yesterday.
• The REAL injury belongs to Tony as he fractured his humerus on June 28th during a bike race near Tenby, Wales UK. He was only 3 miles from the finish line in a race with 7000 other riders and feeling good. He swerved on a skinny road to avoid a large van parked on the shoulder while braking as there was a steep descent ahead. The side of the road he swerved to was wet and moss covered and his bike slid out from under him causing him to fall. He guessed he was going about 20 mph at the time of the fall. He has lots of “road rash” injuries to his face, chest, arms and legs, a mangled toe (he slid across the pavement which wore a hole through his shoe causing this injury) and lots and lots of swelling and bruising to his arm. It looks like somebody beat him with a baseball bat. The ambulance took him from the crash site to a medic tent and Tracey drove him to the A&E. The x-ray at the ER showed a stable fracture in his humeral head and he had a subsequent CT scan a few days later which showed the fracture was non-displaced and doesn’t require surgery. He has been to see the Orthopedic doctor at the “Fracture Clinic” and told he must be in a sling for 4-6 weeks. The Fracture Clinic doctor provided him with some home PT exercises until he starts out-patient PT in a few weeks. Surprisingly, after just a few days he doesn’t have any pain. As anyone who knows Tony would guess, he is faithfully doing his exercises 4 times a day to try to prevent a frozen shoulder. Incredibly, all this medical care has been provided free of charge by the NHS. Incredible and thank-you NHS!
• We are in rural Wales so there were limited A&E (ER) options for us and we followed the advice of the staff in the medic tent on our selection. When we arrived at the A&E the sign stated the wait time was 5 hours. Tony had a triage visit and an x-ray within the first hour but then we waited and waited and waited. 5 hours, 6 hours, 10 hours, 12 hours and finally after 13 hours we saw an ER doctor who showed his x-ray to us, along with providing a sling, pain meds, antibiotics, extra bandages, debriding his mangled toe and providing a referral to the Fractures Clinic. We are happy with the care Tony got, but the wait time was crazy and there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for whom was treated first. It was rough to have him not have any pain medications. When we asked for some after many hours they tried to give him a syringe of oral morphine! The waiting room was packed and many patients left after waiting hours and not being seen. We learned this rural A&E is at risk of closure due to difficulty finding staff and this indeed was the case as there was only 1 treating doctor in the A&E while we were there.
• Some kind but unknown person brought Tony’s bike from his roadside crash area to the finish line as he was not allowed to take it in the ambulance. Tracey recovered the bike for Tony and noticed that the carbon fiber frame had been badly damaged. The frame was cracked and no longer structurally sound, handlebars gouged and shifters broken. Tony has already taken the bike to a local bike shop in St. Davids to be stripped down so the frame can be sent to another UK company that is going to repair the carbon fiber and possibly repaint it. He has already ordered new handlebars, shifters and brakes and shoes. He is anxious to get back on his bike when cleared to do so but has vowed not to do any more races as he has just had too many accidents at these events recently.

Up Next: We have another 2.5 weeks at our Airbnb in Wales and we are looking for another Airbnb to extend our time for another 2 weeks to allow Tony’s shoulder to heal and get him out of the sling. We are considering changing our travel plans and instead of heading to Sweden, Denmark and Norway we may stay in the UK and explore here for the remainder of our time. Our flight home isn’t scheduled until mid-October and the UK allows for a 6-month tourist visa so this probably would be the best option due to our current situation.

Onwards!