Giro D'Italia Videos

Figured out what I was doing wrong with the videos! 

Cyclists at the front. I think they were about 3/4 minutes ahead

The main group

Giro D'Italia 2014

I'm thrilled to say I got to watch the Giro D'Italia today, in my home town!! Today marked the third stage in this year's race. It began in Armagh, over the border, and ran through Dundalk on its merry way to Dublin. I have been looking forward to this since it was announced as I'm a cycling fan. Usually, I just follow the Tour De France, but I think the Giro is growing on me ;-)

It was great tourism for the town and felt like the entire population of County Louth turned out to see these amazing Lycra-clad men. Lots of the businesses in town had painted their fronts pink in honour of the race's pink jersey. Made me very proud of my home town, the atmosphere was brilliant. I took some video for the blog, but it doesn't want to upload for me. I did take some photos...

The Square in Dundalk.

Looking down Park St.

The window display of The Candy Store

Don't let the sunshine fool you, the rain poured down on us a few times! What a downpour!!

The front runners (the breakaway)

The peleton (is it called the peleton in the Giro??)

Peleton

And again

And again

And again

And again

And again

And again

Finally ;-)

I heard there was a crash as they entered the town. Haven't watched the Eurosport coverage yet though. 

Great day for Dundalk.

Vantastival 2014

This time last week, I was sitting in a field cooking sausages on a single ring gas cooker while Beth ran around with her new best friends. We were at Vantastival, a music festival centered round campervans. We stayed in a tent. It was a brilliant weekend, great company and Beth had a ball!

Our tent in the foreground. The area behind was soon populated with campervans. 

I'm definitely upgrading to one of these tents before the end of the summer. My back was killing me climbing in and out of the small three man tent.

That's the main stage with the blue top.

There were loads of activities for children, including this meditation session on the night we arrived. 

Beth, on the far right, had a great time with her new best friends. We were all camped beside each other.

There were still some setting up going on here. Stalls on the left and eateries on the right.

Music workshop. Beth in the pink, with no hat.

Circus skills

More circus skills

Waiting patiently to get her face painted.

Looking a tad rough, photo courtesy of Beth.

Music concert. During the workshop, they wrote lyrics for a song called Best Friends Forever. Still stuck in my head!

Bubbles at the Vanhalla stage

Two cuties

Face painting

Day two as a tiger

Tiger shenanigans 

Being a monkey

Beth with the Cu of Chulainn

We had an absolute cracker of a weekend. I'm now looking for a bigger tent that I can stand up in. I bought an air bed for the festival, but it took up all the space in the tent, making things (like getting dressed) difficult. 

Best buys for the weekend: Beth's waterproof trousers with braces (it rained quite a lot) and the single ring gas stove. So simple to use!

Unfortunately, Beth has a bad cough this weekend and we are confined to the house. Nothing to do with last weekend, the cough/cold has struck a few in my family. Thankfully, I'm ok so far (knock on wood). She is on the mend, but the weather is terrible here so we're not going out anywhere!

I learned how to bleed the oil burner this week. Very proud of myself! Saves me the expense of calling out a plumber :-)

Time to get back to the sick child... The Sylvanian Families are also calling!