| on our way to Berlin airport early in the morning of Sept. 4 |
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| Berlin airport: the first leg of our journey is completed |
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Just after arrival at Dublin airport: I am confronted with my mission: bring the 3 of us to Clogher Strand,
a fascinating beach on Dingle peninsula, only with support of the following:
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| So first we decided to have a Guinness at the airport lounge to give me some time to think through the mission. I first bought a map of Ireland which reduced the 15 € to 9.85€. This amount was not even sufficient to get the 3 of us to downtown Dublin by public transportation... |
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| ... hence I decided to try my best in hitchhiking. So we went to the pay machine at the exit of the car park... |
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| ... where I tried to convince people to take us along. The story usually went as follows (since I had to repeat it many times I present it here extensively once and for all): I started by telling that I am going to get married on Sept. 9. However to be able to do so, I first have to get the 3 of us to Clogher Strand in Dingle with nothing more than the previously mentioned things. So if they do not support me, I might not be back in Germany by that date and they will bear the blame for the canceled wedding! I also mentioned that we had been to this beach before and that it was the place we most liked. |
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| Luckily, I was able to convince a guy from Egypt to take us to the intersection of the the M50 and the N7 southwest of Dublin (unfortunately, he did not want us to take a picture of him, so he is the only supporter not presented here on this web page). |
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| Unluckily, we found ourselves on the middle of the motorway...
So we walked to a bus station while trying to hitchhike along the way. And then our hero, legendary Diarmuid O´Flynn, sport reporter at the Irish Independent, came along... |
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| ...He just wanted to drop off a friend of his at the bus station on his way back from the final of the All-Ireland Hurling Championship to Cork. I approached him with my story and he and his son agreed to give us a ride. Driving in his car, we extended our story and Diarmuid was so intrigued that he phoned a friend at the radio station Limerick Live 95 FM. In the end I had an interview with a radio reporter and our story was on air a few minutes later! Since Diarmuid could only bring us as far as to Adare (which was about 2/3 of the total distance from Dublin to Dingle!), the message was that if somebody saw 3 big guys from Germany walking along the road then they should give us a lift helping me to accomplish my mission and finally enabling me to get married. |
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| We were really happy that we found someone who took us as far as Diarmuid did - we did not really expect to get to the West coast on Sept. 4! |
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| So a very special thanks goes to you, Diarmuid - without your help we would probably still stray around in Ireland. |
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| Back on the street we walked to the next petrol station (I finally figured out that I needed a chance to tell my story to convince somebody to take us with him. Nobody would voluntarily give 3 big rough-looking guys like us a lift without knowing the story that's behind!) |
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| We were lucky again and a business student from UL on his way home took us with him to Abbeyfeale. Unfortunately, we do not know his name either. There he dropped us at a petrol station where a taxi was just about to leave... |
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| ...This time I did not even have to tell my story, since Pat Murphy , a taxi driver of shamrock cabs, had listened to Limerick Live 95 FM and was familiar with the whole story. He took us down to Castleisland from where we headed to Tralee. |
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| Unfortunately, dusk set in and our chances of a ride diminished. So we decided to walk back to the centre of Castleisland to look for a B&B (I have to add that Robert and Lars took care of food, drinks and accommodation - I was only responsible for transportation!). |
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| This was when two wonderful women came along the way. They came from a big festival and had listened to Limerick Live 95 FM, too. When they saw us walking along they even made a U-turn to shout at us that we must be the 3 guys from Germany and to ask us to join them! |
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| Special thanks to you, girls! |
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| In Tralee we had a déjà vu with a further petrol station;-) |
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| This time, Alan Boyle of Boyle Bros. Building Services, a craftsman from Castlegregory, agreed to take us to Camp. |
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| Although our luggage did not fit into the car, we really appreciated to ride at this late hour. |
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| He found our story so funny that he invited us for a beer in Michael O´Neill's Pub pub in Camp. There we got to know Michael, the unique owner of the pub. He offered us to give him a call if we would not be able to find someone for the last leg for this day. In this case he had picked us up and had offered us accommodation at his pub. |
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| However, at the petrol station in Camp we met Thommy, a mechanical engineer on his way to Dingle to go kayaking (as you can see). |
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| So finally we arrived around 10 p.m. in Dingle overhappy that we had been able to make it all the way to the West coast within one day... |
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| ...but tired of all the exertions. |
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| However, we still had to get to Clogher Strand the next day....
Consulting our map, I decided that we try to go the final 20 km by bike. |
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| Our first trial was at a bike rental on Main Street in Dingle. Since I got only 9.85 € left I tried to negotiate him down to that price - I did not succeed. |
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| Neither did I at the second bike rental... |
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| ...so we were back on the street trying to hitchhike. |
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| We even asked a crystal ball whether we would be able to make it to our final destination;-) |
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| At the next petrol station we had the luck to meet Helen O´Riordan of Ballyferriter, who was on her way back to work. First, she was a bit anxious, but then she found our story to be hilarious. |
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| Lars and Robert were also happy not to be forced to walk all the way to the beach;-) |
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| Intrigued by us, she decided to make a detour to deliver us right at... |
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| ...Clogher Strand!!! |
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| Mission accomplished! |
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| We were more than happy to arrive at our final destination. This needed to be celebrated with a few Guinness... |
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| ...and... |
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| ...a refreshing jump into the ocean! |
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| Then we just enjoyed the beauty of this place... |
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| ...sitting around and watching the waves. |
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| Since this was not a one-way trip, we needed to get back to Dingle and further on to Shannon airport. So we first walked back to Ventry... |
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| ...because we could not find anybody to give us a ride. |
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| Lars was not really happy with this decision... |
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| ...so I asked around for a lift to Dingle in a pub in Ventry. |
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| Nobody was willing to do so. Hence, we ordered a Guinness and called a taxi... |
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| ...which was a good decision, considering that Lars was knackered. |
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| On the next day we took the bus from Dingle to Shannon airport. |
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| Thursday early in the morning... |
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| ...it was time to say good bye to Ireland. |
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| In the evening we arrived in Dresden - tired, happy and full of great impressions! |
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So now it is time to thank all of you supporters for the incredible assistance we encountered in your beautiful country. You all made this stag week an unforgettable experience, which we will long remember. We will definitely come back one day! |
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| And the good news is: Kati, my bride, and I got married! And it was a wonderful day. If you are interested in some pictures, please visit our website. |
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