Madeira

Recently Roma and I spent 10 days in Madeira to get away from the dreary Irish winter. We stayed in a rented apartment in São Martinho just outside the capital Funchal and it was nice to have warmer weather for a few days. The temperature in Feb/Mar gets up to 18/19 C and while it was not sitting out in the sun weather, it was nice and warm despite a few short showers.

Madeira is a beautiful island full of middle-aged and older couples at this time of year.  On our first day we took a Hop-on-Hop-Off bus which gave us a nice start to see interesting places, and also to see just how small the island is. The village of Câmara de Lobos was the highlight with its cute harbour and poncha bars. We had a lovely lunch in Restaurante Vila do Peixe overlooking the harbour before getting back on the bus. Funchal itself is a nice town and it does not take long to get around - everything of interest is easy to walk to. 

We took the Funchal cable car up to the Monte Palace garden which was covered in cloud and wet. We enjoyed the garden despite it not being the best time of year for flowers. We thought about taking the well-known wooden toboggins back down, but it was a little bit of a relief that we found out that they were not operating on that day. On another day we took an open-top jeep tour to Porto Moniz. There were eight of us in an old Land Rover and it was a bit crowded making standing up a bit uncomfortable. Nevertheless it was great fun and our guide was super.

They are very proud of Cristiano Ronaldo in Madeira - he grew up there. I visited the museum in the harbour dedicated to him and found it very interesting. He certainly won a lot of trophies and medals and they are all there, though it is hard to make out was is original or a replica. I am a fan of Ronaldo and this was certainly an unmissable experience for sports fans.

We treated ourselves to a cocktail in the posh Reid's Palace hotel on our last day. We had hoped to go to the terrace bar (and dressed up for it!), but we were too early. Instead we went to the pool bar where for €16 I had the most delicious rum and Bailey's cocktail

Overall, Madeira is a lovely place to visit. It is very relaxed and the people were very friendly - tourism is their number one industry. We will be back!

At the CR7 Museum.

Some of the fantastic food in Madeira.

One of many waterfalls in madeira.

Japanese Garden!

Madeira.

Solar Power in 2024

2024 was the first full year that we have had solar power running at our house. We have sixteen 400 watt panels on our roof - eleven facing south, and five facing west. Combined, they are capable of generating up to 6.4 kWh, but this is rare since they don't all get direct sun at the same time. In 2024, the highest was 4.7 kWh on 23rd June, which was a very sunny day. 

From the chart below for 23rd June you can see that we generated 37.84 kWh (green line) which covered almost all consumption during the day. 80% of what was generated was fed back to the grid for which we are paid €6.41. You can also see that there was very high consumption during the night - this was from charging my car. I don't charge during the day because we get approximately 19.5c/kWh for excess fed to grid, but are charged at night rates for 9.65c/kWh from 00:02 - 00:04, and 16.44c/kWh from 00:00-00.02 and 00:04 - 08:00. The consumption rate below is just under 8 kWh, or 64 kW for the night. 

The total cost of charging the car was €9.43 approx. 64 kW should do just over 400 km in range in the summer - this equates to about €2.36/100 km. Compared to today's prices for petrol (€1.88/litre), and using a rate of 5 litres/100km, 100km in a petrol powered car would cost €9.40 - almost exactly four times the cost of my electric car. Charging at 02:00-00:40 only would bring my cost down further. Clear evidence that charging at home saves a lot of money!

For the year, the chart below shows the figures for the year. Not surprisingly, power generated in the winter months was very low, and much better in the summer months. Our yield from solar power for the year was 4.50 MWh, nice that we did not have to pay for this! Our consumption was 7.33 KWh, which is very high compared to average households, but charging the car accounts for a huge amount of this.

We get 19.50c for each kWh from micro-generation - for the year this total amount was just over €700 (unfortunately this is taxable). This, combined with not having to pay for electricity when the sun is shining and car-charging economies, means substantial savings are being made. We expect the cost of the solar panels will pay for itself in another 2-3 years. 

Looking back

It's just over a week since I finished my series of short interview clips with my late father Joe O'Loughlin. I have received very many kind and thoughtful messages from folks who have listened to the clips. Many loved hearing his voice again and his stories from years past. 

It's not easy listening to Dad's voice so soon after he is gone, but I found it very comforting to go through the series of 24 posts on my Blog/Facebook pages. I consulted our family first and all agreed that it would be OK to publish. The interview was recorded in 2011 and I regret not coming back at a later date to record some more. Like all families nowadays, we do have lot of clips of videos and photos to remember our Dad by.  

We also had memorial and thankyou cards done. So many people sympathized with us and we are very grateful for all the messages we received. They are so comforting and supportive - I have resolved to be a lot more aware of others going through the same grieving experience. 

Interview with my Dad - Part 24

Today's audio clip is the 24th and last from an interview I recorded with my Dad in 2011. In it he discusses joining the Kilrush Drama Group, and how much he enjoyed the company and the acting in this fantastic group of people, who became great friends for the rest of his life. He also tells us about joining the Askamore Church Choir which began with an RTÉ Mass.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Kilrush Drama and Askamore Choir

Interview with my Dad - Part 23

In today's second last post from my series of clips from the Interview with my Dad series, Dad talks about events in 1992 which started him winding down from farming. In 1992 he fell off trailer and spent a week in hospital. By this time he felt under pressure to get farm work done when he was in his 60s. At his last harvest, he decided that he had had enough and more or less stopped farming - he let his land for others to farm. He also talks about what kept him going and about how much he missed farming, especially driving a combine harvester.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Winding down farming

Interview with my Dad - Part 22

In the late 1980s, my Dad still encountered financial issues - particularly during the months before being paid for the harvest. Over pints with his late son-in-law Jim Kelleher, he started a bedding plant business with my Mum. Initially this was to simply earn "50 pounds a week" to keep him going, but it turned out much better than this.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Plants

Interview with my Dad - part 21

In today's short (1 minute) audio clip my Dad answers a long question by me about how the education of his children came first ahead of any financial problems. At various stages in the late 1970s and early 80s he and my Mum supported their four children through boarding school and college. We were not blind and could see that there were financial problems, but not for a moment does he and my Mum regret investing in our education.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Value in Education

Interview with my Dad - Part 20

In the 1970s after joining the EEC, there was plenty of cheap money available from the World Bank to modernize farms, and Dad tells us in today's clip that he took advantage of that. Later, high interests (18%) hit him hard - the 1980s was a tough time for him financially.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Farm loans

Interview with my Dad - Part 19

While busy with the Carnew Musical Society committee, Dad also found time to get involved with musical societies at national level with the Association of Irish Musical Societies (AIMS). He first took over the running of the AIMS Bulletin, and then he became national president of AIMS for two years (1980 and 1981). He talks about seeing musicals all over the country, and seeing The Merry Widow five times in the one year. when his term as president was over he took over the running of the AIMS Choral Festival in New Ross, Co Wexford.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Association of Irish Musical Societies (AIMS)

Interview with my Dad - Part 18

My Dad's great passion was singing, it was never a bother to get him to sing a song on any occasion. He was blessed with a fine voice and we have several recordings of him. He started out with the Gorey Operatic Society, and in today's clip he tells us about how he moved from GOS to the then Carnew Choral Group for a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury. He also played many lead roles such as the Pirate King, the Mikado, his most enjoyable role was as Wilfred Shadbolt in The Yeomen of the Guard.

Dad also busied himself with musical society committees, and in the clip he describes how he (and others) set up the southeast region for the Association of Irish Musical Societies.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Carnew Musical Society

Interview with my Dad - Part 17

Following on from yesterday's post about my Dad representing farmers on the Beet Grower's Association and the Irish Farmer's Association, Dad discusses with me about how the uncertainty over grain prices led him to join the Bunclody Farmer's Co-Op, which had been set up by his friend Rory Murphy. He later joined the board of the Co-Op and became its chairman for one year.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Bunclody Farmers Co-Op

Interview with my Dad - Part 16

Dad represented farmers in Wicklow, Wexford, and Carlow for many years. In today's clip he tells us about the Beet Grower's Association (BGA) in Carlow, and his involvement with the Irish Farmer's Association (IFA). Part of this was taking part in the national march to Dublin in 1967 - the Wicklow farmers marched from Arklow. All of this took a lot of time and eventually he had done enough - you can hear in his voice that there was his own work to be done and he ended his involvement with the BGA and IFA.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Representing farmers

Interview with my Dad - Part 15

Today's audio clip sees my Dad telling us about his early life in Ballingate in the 60's, and his faith - especially when my Mum got sick. He found this time (mid-1960's) hard going, but his "get on with it" attitude saw him through.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Early family life in Ballingate

Interview with my Dad - Part 14

As I recently discovered, when your father dies it is not an easy time. Dad's father PJ O'Loughlin died on 19th June 1965 at the young age of 60 years. In today's audio clip Dad talks about his relationship with his father, which he describes as "formal" and his sadness surrounding his passing. 

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Death of father PJ O'Loughlin

Interview with my Dad - Part 13

In today's very short audio clip, my Dad explains how the family farm that he grew up on in Tomacork had to be sold as debts piled up. His father PJ's auctioneering business also suffered and had to be closed. This must have been a sad time for all the O'Loughlin family in the early 1960s. While Dad stayed behind  on his own farm in Ballingate, his family moved to Shankill in Dublin.

Click below to listen.

Eugene O'Loughlin · The End For Tomacork

Interview with my Dad - Part 12

Dad spent most of his life living in Ballingate from 1960 until 2024. In today's audio clip he tells us about how he acquired the farm in Ballingate from his uncle Pat Hurley. He goes on to tell us about his move from Tomacork to live in Ballingate and the "sense of freedom" he felt being out on his own. He needed help on the farm and Son Holmes came from Tomacork to work with him.

Click below to listen: 

Eugene O'Loughlin · Moving to Ballingate

Interview with my Dad - Part 11

The late 1950s was an eventful time in my Dad's life. At this time he was working on both his father PJ's farm in Tomacork, and his Uncle Pat Hurley's farm in Ballingate. He also got married!

In today's audio clip you can hear about when he proposed to Mum, going to Spain on their honeymoon, and living in Tomacork during the first two years of marriage.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Getting Married and living in Tomacork

Interview with my Dad - Part 10

Some of my Dad's fondest memories from his time as a young man was when he was threshing corn around the Carnew and Gorey areas. It was a big piece of team work to thresh, Dad's main role was as the tractor driver, but he mucked in with all the tasks of the day. He usually started in August and almost always it was Doyle's in Ballingarry (near Gorey) that the first threshing of the season took place. He loved this work and you can hear it in his voice on today's recording.

Click below to listen.

 

Eugene O'Loughlin · Threshing

Interview with my Dad - Part 9

Travelling during the 1950s was not a common thing for Irish people to do, but my Dad managed a couple of trips to see a little bit of Europe still suffering after the end of World War II. In today's clip, my Dad tells us about travelling to Lourdes on a Dublin diocesan pilgrimage with his Uncle Charles (Mons), and to Paris, and Arnhem in Holland with Macra na Feirme. During the latter visit he and the Macra lads went to see the still bombed out city of Essen in Germany.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Traveling to France, Holland, and Germany in the 1950s

Interview with my Dad - Part 8

In today's clip my Dad talks about his love of singing. He tells us about singing in the Shillelagh Courthouse before joining the Gorey Operatic Society, where he performed in The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. He also tells us about meeting a chorus girl named Phil Byrne!

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Singing and meeting Phil

Interview with my Dad - Part 7

In the 1950s, my Dad joined Macra na Feirme. This was the making of him as a young man as it brought him out of the shyness of his teenage years. In this clip he talks about how he joined Macra (by accident) and how he quickly became Chairman of the local Carnew branch. He became Secretary and then Chairman of Co Wexford Macra na Feirme - a position he held for five years (1959 - 1963). This is a record number of times that has not been bettered!

Click below to listen.

Eugene O'Loughlin · Macra na Feirme

Interview with my Dad - Part 6

Once my Dad had left school it was time to start working full time on the family farm in Tomacork just outside Carnew. In today's audio clip he talks about delivering milk to Carnew, milking cows every day, and later driving to Dublin to deliver vegetables and eggs to hospitals. His father PJ was an auctioneer and it was assumed that Dad would follow in his footsteps, but Dad tells us why he turned against auctioneering after selling just one house.

Click below to listen:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Home to farm work in Tomacork

Interview with my Dad - Part 5

In this very short clip (part 5 of 24) my Dad talks about leaving secondary school in Roscrea at the end of 5th year in 1948, and his regret at not going on to complete the leaving certificate or going to university.

Click below to listen.

Eugene O'Loughlin · Leaving School

Interview with my Dad - Part 4

Dad lived through the Second World War - he was eight years old when it started, and fourteen when it finished. In this audio clip he tells us about seeing German war planes on their way to bomb Belfast, sleeping though the North Strand bombings by the Germans, sentiment towards both the Germans and the British, how the war united Irish people for the first time since the Civil War (which had only ended 16 years earlier and was still fresh in people's memory), and petrol bombs in Tomacork! There is also a lovely story about listening to The Archers radio programme with his sister Breda.

Click below to listen. 

Eugene O'Loughlin · The War Years

Interview with my Dad - Part 3

In part 3 of my series of short clips from an interview with Dad in 2011, he talks about sport (he was not sporty) and his time in secondary school in Cistercian College Roscrea in Co Tipperary from 1944 to 1948. He also tells of cycling, with his father PJ, all the way from Carnew to Roscrea and back!

   

Eugene O'Loughlin · Sport and secondary school in Roscrea

Interview with my Dad - Part 2

In this second of my 24 part series of interviews with my Dad to mark his 80th birthday, he tells a story that he told us many times about his father's involvement with Jim McCrea and Arthur Quinn in the opening of a cinema in Carnew in the 1940s. The local parish priest, Canon Prandy, had "sex on the brain" and fiercely opposed the cinema. 

Here's Dad telling the story:

Eugene O'Loughlin · Carnew Cinema Opening

Monsignor Charles Francis Hurley - 40th Anniversary

The Mons.

Today is the 40th anniversary of the death of my grand-uncle Monsignor Charles Francis Hurley who died on 16th January 1985. I remember his funeral on a very cold day - he is buried in Deansgrange cemetery just a few hundred metres from where I live. My second name (Francis) is in honour of him.

Charles Hurley was my grandmother Kathleen's older brother. He was from Newmarket in North Cork and attended Cistercian College Roscrea. He was ordained a priest in the Irish College in Rome on 28th February 1920. Later that year he attended at the execution of Kevin Barry in Mountjoy Jail on 1st November 1920. In the photo to the right you can see that his photo is stamped by the British Consulate. It may be that the photo was for a travel document or an early passport (these were only first introduced in 1920). I can't tell if this was for the trip to his ordination in Rome - I'm sure the wide white collar means something, perhaps not a full priest yet. 

One of my favourite walks is through Deansgrange cemetery, and I often stop by his grave to remember him. I tidied it up a few days ago in advance of his anniversary - he is the only close relative that I know of buried in this cemetery. His headstone states the he was Parish Priest (PP) for the St Kevin's Harrington St parish, which is just off the South Circular Road in Dublin. He also served as parish priest in Ballybrack for many years. The VC on the headstone stand for "Vicar of Christ". I have no idea why he has this title as it seems to be mostly used for bishops. I also know that my late father was very fond of him, and that he was treated like royalty by everyone in the family anytime he visited.

Rest in peace Uncle Charlie.

Interview with my Dad - Part 1

Several years ago I sat down with my Dad and talked to him about his life. I recorded our conversation (with his knowledge) and have chopped it up into 24 separate short audio files. This post shows the first of these files which is about his parents PJ and Kathleen and his early days in Tomacork - it is just under seven minutes long. I plan to post the remaining 23 audio files on a daily basis over the next few weeks.

 

Eugene O'Loughlin · DadInterviewPart1 - EarlyDays

Hosted by SoundCloud.

Eulogy for my Dad

At my father's funeral in Tomacork church I was kindly allowed by Fr Casey to give a short eulogy at the end of the requiem mass. I have to admit that I had written a lot of it some time ago and refined it as the end for Dad drew near. I ran it by family before the mass and modified as requested. 

The mass was streamed live, but this broke down after 30 minutes - Storm Daragh was having its way on Dad's final journey. Luckily, I still got a recording. I thought for a long time (it's five weeks since Dad died) as to whether it would be appropriate to publish it here, but a lot of people could not come on the day due to the storm. I am also very proud of Dad's achievements and his life - so here goes:

Many thanks to KMcE and LDMcE for recording.

Joe O'Loughlin (1931 - 2024)

It's been almost a month since my Dad passed away, and in the meantime I have put this video tribute to him and his life together. The song he is singing is If I Can Help Somebody originally composed Alma Hazel Androzzo in 1945. Piano accompaniment is by Lar Duffy. 

If I Can Help Somebody was one of his favourite songs. This recording was made in 1990, when he was 59 years old, as part of an Askamore Sings collection - his voice is at its best. We played this at his funeral Mass, not many people get to sing at their own funeral!

 

Dad

 

Joe O'Loughlin

31st March 1931 - 4th December 2024.

Oh no - I am 5% English!

I have my family tree on Ancestry.com, and a few years ago I did their DNA test which has been very interesting to investigate and discover relatives I didn't know I had. A few years ago, back in 2014, I did the National Geographic DNA test which told me that I was mostly European, but also that I was 2% DNA match to Native Americans. When I did the ancestry test it showed me as 97% Irish, and 3% Welsh. Not a big surprise, so far I have not found Welsh cousins - but given the proximity of Wales to Ireland I guess some DNA crossed the Irish Sea many years ago. 

In the past few days, Ancestry.com has sent me "updates" to my results which tell me that I am now just 94% Irish, but that I am also 1% Icelandic, and 5% English. I'm sure today's DNA research is much better than back in 2014, but I think I would think I would prefer to be 2% Native American than 5% English!

Geneva

To wind down after our Italian Job Tour, we decided to spend a few days in Geneva on the way home. We took the train from Milan to Geneva (about 4.5 hours) through the mountains and valleys of the Alps - a very nice comfortable way to travel, and not much longer than what a flight and airport checks would take. We stayed at the Hotel 9Paquis near the city centre and settled in for a few bike-free days. I had never been to Switzerland before. Roma had been there years ago and warned me that it would be an expensive place to stay. Boy was she right! On our first afternoon we stopped at the Pitstop Donut café on the Quai des Bergues overlooking the Rhone river for an aperol spritz (fast becoming my go-to holiday aperitif!) and I was shocked to discover that one would cost 16 francs (about €17).

We did a lot of walking and also used our free travel pass on the trams/trains/buses/ferries to get around. We went to the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire which was a great way to spend a couple of hours. We also went to see the Musée International de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge where we were fascinated by the archives of millions of records of missing people in war. Most shops were closed on Sunday, and a lot of other attractions were closed on Monday too. Eating out was expensive, so we went to the food markets where we got sandwiches and much cheaper wine. We also had to try a Swiss fondue - it is just an expensive way to eat a bit of steak.

We also enjoyed taking the free ferries across the lake to get a good view of the Jet d'Eau - one of Geneva's best known landmarks. 

Geneva was never on my Bucket List, and I think this is a been-there-done-that experience that I can tick the box on. It is a lovely city, very multi-cultural, very friendly, easy to get around - but soooo expensive. Not so sure that I will be back - I'd need the Lotto for another visit!

Enjoying an aperol spritz overlooking Lake Geneva.

Steak and chips - fondue style.

Jet d'Eau

Outside United Nations offices.

Rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville.

The Italian Job - Reflections

Back home in a cold and wet Dublin, I already miss Italy and its roads. Some thoughts on our ride and experiences:

The Bike
The bike we had for the tour, a Harley-Davidson Road Glide Ultra, was excellent and comfortable for two. This was our second tour with Eagle Rider and I highly recommend them to all bikers.

The trip was 2,970 kms according to reading on my bike. We had every type of road and conditions that tested us all. Only four riders out of the nine bikes were Harley-Davidson owners, and many of the others struggled with the weight of the big bikes. It took me quite some time to get to grips with the many hair-pin turns in the mountains, but after a while I was having so much fun - bring it on! On the rainy days we stuck to the motorways for safety and comfort.

There was a lot of motorway riding. Even allowing for the rainy days, I felt there was far too much of this type of riding on the trip. All the motorways we were on were tolled, so each time the group had to enter and leave one-by-one - by the end of the trip I was fed up with this. I appreciate that we have to get from A to B (with hourly breaks for comfort stop) but riding on a motorway at 130 km/hour is hard work. 

The Sights
Italy is the place to go for sights and marvels, and we saw lots of them. Highs for me were: the Leaning Tower of Pisa, driving by Mt Vesuvius in Naples, the streets of Sorrento and Amalfi, the caves in Matera, the trullis in Alberobello, the Greek and Roman temples in Paestum, and of course Florence where we got to see the world famous statue of David and the Birth of Venus painting.

Food/Restaurants
We had too much food! The food in Italy is delicious and plentiful. Some days we would have a simple lunch at a motorway service station, other days we were dining on the street in style. Lots of pasta and pizza of course, with delicious wine to wash it all down (not during day!!!).

Hotels
All the hotels we stayed in were good. The best was the Trullo in Alberobello - brilliant restoration work for a unique place to stay. Incidentally, an aperol spritz here was €3.50 - later in the week when we were in Geneva, the same drink cost almost €17! Some hotels were quiet as the holiday season is at an end. We stayed in 10 different hotels throughout the tour. If I ruled the world I would make every shower unit the same in hotels!

Toilets
Why can't there be more toilets in Italy? Men are not used to queueing, but us guys had to wait a lot in restaurants where there was just one toilet for men and women. The women on the tour just said "welcome to our world". Motorway service stations were fine, but everywhere else seemed to leave us a bit short. Now that I am a Senior, I have learned never to pass up the opportunity to use the bathroom!

Group
Probably the best thing about the tour was the group we were with. With folks from Italy, Switzerland, Scotland, England, Australia, the United States, plus us from Ireland - we were a very multi-cultural group that seemed to gel and get on great right from the start. Strangers on Day 1, great friends by Day 15.

The Italian Job - Day 15

Our Italian Job trip is now over, and after 2,970 kms on the road it is time for us all to head our separate ways. We had an early start and thanks to our wonderful tour guide Stefano, we made it to Treviglio station for a 07:05 train to Milan Central. We had just 10 minutes to spare to get our train to Geneva, but we made it and have nice comfy seats to enjoy for the next 4 hours.

Day 15 is the official last day of the Italian Job, but it is really a departure day. We had a fantastic time over the past two weeks with a wonderful group of people with whom we had so much fun. We are off to Geneva for a few days to wind down before going home. I have never been to Switzerland before and am looking forward to getting there. I will write a reflection on the trip over the next couple of days.

What a bunch!

The Italian Job - Day 14

Our final day on the road started out in Florence in light rain. We set out early to try to avoid downpours, with partial success. Mostly dry today, but we needed the wet gear on for most of the day in case of showers. Our big stop today was at the Ferrari museum in Maranello. Not that many cars on display, but nonetheless fantastic to view. Our guide seemed keen to tell us how much each car on view was worth (up to to eight million euros). Some fantastic cars were on display - I especially enjoyed the old cars.

We continued on our way with many toll gates for the next few hours until we reached Treviglio where our tour started two weeks ago. Our farewell dinner was so much fun as we said goodbye to all the friends that we made over the past two weeks. Day 15 is the official wrap up - more tomorrow.

Some photos of the day… 

Roma with her new car!

Beers at the end of the ride.

More beer!

The Italian Job - Day 13

What a fantastic day of art and culture in Florence, or Firenze as the locals call it! This city is totally over-crowded with tourists, but well worth the effort to shuffle past thousands of people all visiting Firenze for the same reason as us. Our motorcycle free day started out with a three hour tour of the city centre. This was interesting in parts, but our tour guide was boring for most of the time. There is only so much about the Medicis that I can take, and after a while - one building’s architecture was just like the next. Firenze is beautiful with the magnificent Duomo at its centre. We crossed over the Ponte Vecchio bridge to see the Royal Palace, and came back to look at the outside of the Uffizi Gallery (I thought our guide had said “Graffiti Museum”!) I didn’t realise that this is where some famous Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Raphael paintings are held. Our tour ended in the Accademia Gallery where Michelangelo’s statue of David is located. Nothing prepares you the magnificence of this statue - I along with everyone else, stood in awe looking up at one of the world’s most famous statues. Amazing!

For lunch we moved away from the tourist spots and enjoyed Coccoli and an aperol spritz at the La Petite restaurant. Later we went back to the Uffizi gallery and to our surprise the queues were quite short, so we went in to see Botticelli’s Birth of Venus painting, plus many more magnificent pieces of art. By the end of the day we had culture overload, but we were so thrilled to get to opportunity to see this art in just the one day we had here.

Some photos of the day:

In front of the Ponte Vecchio bridge.

The most stunning backdrop to a selfie - ever!

Beautiful!

Eagle rider group photo in front of the Duomo.

The Duomo again.

Another glorious backdrop.

The Italian Job - Day 12

You meet the nicest people in Launderettes! Today was laundry day as I was down to my last jocks and socks, we spent nearly two hours in the launderette close to our hotel. First we had to wait for a free washing machine, and then needed two drying cycles. We had a great conversation with Jill and Dave from Ohio while we waited. I write this because this was basically the most exciting thing that happened today!

Watching our clothes dry.

We set out from Gubbio a little early, and we agreed as a group that we would go directly to Florence because there was going to be a lot of rain. We stopped on the way at lake Trasimeno near Perugia for a delicious coffee and cake. At first the rain stayed away, but the further north we got, the light rain started. It was only towards the end of the ride that the heavens opened. At least my arse remained dry because I used the old stuff a big cloth (we used t-shirts) under your crotch trick. It absorbs the water and keeps your arse dry. A little water did get into though my suit, so I hung out on the shower to dry.

Hung out to dry.

We had a nice lunch in Trattoria Il Giardino near our hotel - I have begun to really like gnocchi. The service was slow, but the food was great and worth waiting for. Later we went to a sushi restaurant and took a short break from Italian food.

At Kikkomi sushi restaurant.

Tomorrow is a free day in Florence and we have a group tour booked for the morning. We can’t believe that we have just one day on the road left, the holiday is going so fast. But we have enjoyed so much so far.

The Italian Job - Day 11

At 50 kms, today was a reasonably short day on the road. We left Montegranaro at about 09:00 to make the short trip to Harley-Davidson Civitanova and of course a chance to buy some H-D merch. I got a t-short and Roma picked a nice hoodie. It’s was a very expensive place to buy H-D merch, but then every H-D shop is the same. We enjoyed looking around the shop and they had some nice bikes to drool at. Most of the group made some purchases, so it was a nice start to the day for H-D Civitanova.

New t-shirt!

At Harley-Davidson Civitanova, Montegranaro.

We had a nice stop for coffee and fantastic cakes in a town called Foligno where our group leader Stefano‘s Dad lived - it was nice to see him meet so many family and old neighbours. 

At Stefano’s Dad’s gaff.

The highlight of the day was a visit to the city of Assisi (along with hundreds of other tourists). We had reserved parking close to the basilica, which was welcome. We walked up to the basilica and almost gasped at the beauty of it. Inside we saw the tomb of St Francis of Asssi where I placed prayer notes for family and friends. I also remembered two Franciscans in our family: Frs Theophilus and Hugh Murphy who were Capuchin missionaries in Zambia. Regardless of anyone’s religious beliefs, one cannot be but impressed with the beauty and simplicity of the church. Later we had lunch in a side street off Via St Francisco, and I bought a souvenir fridge magnet to bring home.

Via St Francis in Assisi.

Finally for today, it happened that I officially became a Senior upon reaching the age of 65. The tour group were fantastic in helping me mark the day with plenty of Happy Birthday wishes. It was also the birthday of Betty from the tour party, who is a little younger than me. In the evening we had an excellent dinner in Osteria dei Re in Gubbio old town - a great end to a fantastic day.

Happy birthday Betty and Eugene.

The Italian Job - Day 10

Today we travelled from Vieste to Montegranaro - a distance of over 350 kms, our second longest day on the road. Despite several thunderstorm warnings on our phones from the Italian Met service over the past few days (take note Met Éireann) we had escaped all the rain and had nothing but sunshine and blue skies on the tour so far. That all changed today with heavy rain all morning. We delayed our start by an hour, but when we got on the road at about 10 o’clock, it was pouring - for the next two hours we rode through the lashing rain. At the beginning of the ride there were lots of hills and hairpin bends - thankfully the pace was a lot slower, as riding conditions were very difficult. We were well protected with our rain gear, but despite this (and hundreds of euro spent on rain gear over the past 25 years) rain got though my suit - where else, but the crotch. I had a damp arse for the rest of the day.

Yellow alert - setting out from Vieste.

Waiting for this to pass.

We had no sight seeing stops or interesting places to visit today. Most of the ride today was on the A14 autostrada, and our stops were for comfort breaks and coffee/lunch/petrol. There were a lot of road works on the way, and we were also caught up in a serious incident that meant a lot of stop-start on the motorway. Eventually we reached our hotel at about 6 pm, and we were very releaved to finally arrive. Most of us made for the indoor swimming pool before a late dinner and early to bed.

Tomorrow promises much more interesting things to see and do - today (day 10) was unfortunately forgettable. Some more photos from today’s ride…

That’s Roma and me on the blue bike at the back of the line.

Going to the pool in our hotel.

A smiling Roma at one of our (dry) stops.