6/17/05 Today was just an easy ride from Belfast to Limerick. The plan is to spend the night in Limerick and then head to Athea in the morning to catch the motorcycle races. Well there was some excitement on the way to Limerick but that will be a story best saved to be told over a pint or two in a pub. In the end the Gaurdia (police) turned out to be quite a nice fellow and even wanted some pics of me on his bike. Once I finally made it to Limerick I headed for the tourist office which was closing in 7 minutes. The lady at the counter was busy closing out her paperwork and really didn’t want to help me. I politely informed her she still had 7 minutes before she was off work and I would really like to make some reservations for a hostel. After a couple minutes of arguing if she was going to help me she gave in and made me a reservation at the only hostel in town. The hostel was quite nice, more like a hotel really and cost 30 euros. After checking in I met some people in the common area, an American, a Scottish guy, and a German fellow (sounds like a start to a joke huh) who all wanted to go out to the pubs. Limerick had a much better nightlife than Belfast, the German and Scott couldn’t keep pace with the two Americans so they threw in the towel about midnight. The European headquarters for Dell is near by so Limerick has supposedly grown allot over the last few years. I would say it is the most American of the Irish cities I have been to. Today’s Specs Weather: Cloudy 70F Distance: 190, Belfast to Limmerick