Scotland: Another Epilogue

I guess I need to complete the story about the fractured ankle.  On Thursday, June 20, I see Dr. John Elton (not Elton John) at the Vail Summit Orthopedic Canter.  The doctor says he's been hearing for days about a patient coming from Ireland.  I hope he wasn't disappointed to learn I am from Texas.

Looking at the x-rays from Mallow, he says the fracture is somewhat unusual and he wants another x-ray. Previous x-rays had me lying on a table. Dr. Elton wanted to see what it looked like with me standing and putting weight on it.  Low and behold: in this position many of the bones self aligned.  So Dr. Elton doesn't think I need surgery!!!  I'm scheduled to wear the boot for 5 weeks and have physical therapy for the same length of time.  'Hope that works.

No more blogs for  a while.

Scotland: An Epilogue

On Friday, immediately after the Scotland ride I managed to gracefully (not) fall down three steps in front of the hotel.   My left leg was under my right leg and my left foot twisted in an unusual manner.  This was on Friday and I limped along all weekend with pain when I put weight on it.

Our Irish guide Tony Boyd never anticipated this job.

Irish medical system.  With all of the discussion these days in the US about Medicare For All and the Single Payer System, it will be interesting to see how the Irish medical system works.  Prior experience with the public health system in Italy was very good.

Health care in Ireland is two-tier; public and private sectors exist.  The public health care system is governed by the Health Act 2004 which established a new body to be responsible for providing heath care and personal social services to everyone living in Ireland.  There is also a large private healthcare market.

On Monday I decided a doctor should look at it.  The hotel made a call and I had an appointment with a sports doctor 3:30.  I was charged 50 pounds sterling for this “consultation”.  This doctor was concerned and said I should have it x-rayed, but there is not an x-ray facility in Killarney.  So, taking this doctor's letter of recommendation, we hired a taxi, driven by Kerri, to take us to Mallow and return (64 km).  The taxi waits for us for 4 hours while we are in the hospital.  We don’t get back to Killarney until 9:30 pm.

After looking at the x-rays, the doctors in Mallow were pretty sure I needed surgery and they scheduled an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon in Cork at 7:30 the next morning. No charge for this consultation, the two sets of x-rays or the special ankle dressing which must have used 10 yards of tape. We had another letter of recommendation.

So Danny, who owns the taxi company which Kerri works for, picked us up at 6:00 to took us and all of our luggage from Killarney to the University Hospital in Cork (80 km).  Our 7:30 appointment time came and went; they take patients in order of the severity of the injury, or that is supposed to be the process.  I finally see "the Doctor" around 9:30.  But I quickly find out this is not just a doctor; this is "the Professor", head of the orthopedic department at the university and everyone on the staff bows to him.  He doesn't look like my doctors in the US.  He's dressed in what looks like a fancy Italian suit, complete with a complimentary shirt, tie and breast pocket handkerchef.  No stethescope for this doctor; he has a leather brief case in his hand. After a cursory examination he declares that I need surgery, but that timing is not critical.  They can do it today in Cork or I can have it done in the US.  We discussed the pluses and minuses; we decided to have it done in the US.  They converted the x-rays to a CD for me to take to the US, gave me a walking boot, crutches and a letter for the US doctors.  There are no charges for the consultation with The Professor or the other services.

We're then sit in the small waiting room of the emergency ward at Cork University Hospital, Ireland with  5 pieces of luggage and no place to stay, wondering how are we going to get from Cork to Dublin, change our existing tickets on Aer Lingus from July 1 to tomorrow and schedule surgery in Colorado in the next day or two.  Now I know how immigrants feel, although we have less concern about finances than most of them.  Another cab ride from Cork hospital to Dublin airport is 260km.  We’ve probably spent $1,000 on three taxis in two days.. But we've got everything arranged through Brenda 's brains and tenacity.  We got to Dublin, spent the night in the Raddison and I'm currently sitting in the American Airlines Admiral Club with a free but poor gin & tonic.  We have an appointment with a highly recommended ankle surgeon at 2:30 tomorrow, Thursday in Frisco, Co. - 6 days after the accident.  

Life is sometimes strange and unexpected.

I've made a couple of observations through this process.

The first is how wonderful the Irish people are.  Everyone we had contact with; waiters, bartenders, taxi drivers were all Irish - intelligent, articulate, thoughtful and kind.  Their names were Irish - Danny Sullivan and Thomas Murphy.  For an example of thoughtfulness - remember the taxi driver to Cork? He texted Brenda that evening to see how we were doing.  I'm sure there are people from 3rd world countries working in Ireland, but we never saw them; we saw the real Irishman and they were a pleasure to meet.

The other observation is from the wheelchair.  Most of us have no idea of what it means to be disabled.  No one knows how helpless you can feel.  On the other side we don't realize how society is helping those who need help.  For instance, in the Dublin airport there is an organization OCS, Outsourced Customer Service, who accompanies wheelchair bound through the boarding process.  If you're flying from Dublin to the US this requires 2 security checks. Your      OCS guide gets you through all of the steps using their position to get you in front of the lines.  I was first on the airplane...A similar service at the Philadelphia airport is also by a contractor.  Until you’re in a wheelchair yourself you don’t realize how many disabled persons there are and also don’t realize the support they get.  But I hope not to have this learning experience again.

The conflict between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is known over here as “The Troubles”.  That may be a good name for this trip,

I’m supposed to be leading a bike ride in Ireland at the moment.  I’ve turned over responsibility to friends Glenn Guenterberg and Patrice Van Vleet, two experienced and competent bike tour leaders.  Of course I miss not being there, but I’ve cycled Ireland 8 times and am glad that others are enjoying it for the first time.

to Edinburgh

The 60 mile ride to Edinburgh has beautiful scenery and the weather is good.  Our last hotel for this tour is near the airport which means it's on the other side of Edinburgh.  Many of us are concerned about riding through downtown with all of the traffic so several schemes are devised.  One is to walk a mile through the busiest section.  Other alternatives involve trains. Glenn and Patrice and Brenda and I are riding along on a cycle route; at about mile 40 we pass a train station.  What is this? It's not the station we're looking for.  But we discover there is a train to Edinburgh Waverly (main) station in 12 minutes.  We quickly buy tickets at the kiosk. Luckily two of the four train cars are each equipped for 2 bikes.  We're in the city in 15 minutes.  The information desk tells us that our next train to the airport leaves from track 12; but it may not carry 4 bikes.  Fortunately it does and we're near the hotel in 5 minutes.  So close but so far; we're within a half a mile of the hotel and have difficulty finding it.  Several locals help us.  UK trains are great - clean, efficient, smooth -  although scheduling is complex since they decentralized many years ago.  Photos along the way are shown below.

Although the ride is over, the blog is not.  There is a large epi-blog to follow.

in Cardona

This was an off day for everyone, the penultimate day of the tour.  A few took the bus to Edinburgh.  Most of us just hung out, catching up on email and reading.  Brenda and I went to nearby Peeples for lunch and visited a couple of churches.  We saw a third church, but it had been converted into a theater.  Supposedly there is a house in town which was constructed 900 years ago and has been inhabited by the same family for 300 years.  I didn’t know what to look for and of course didn’t find it.

Our hotel / spa / golf club.  Apparently rain doesn't stop golfers.

Downtown Peebles.

St Peter's Church

Church of Scotland - Peebles Old Parish Church

It drizzled most of the day despite forecasts of heavy rain.  This seems to be a pattern; the rain is never as bad as forecast.  Only light rain and light winds are forecast for tomorrows ultimate ride to Edinburgh.

Setbacks

No blogs lately and may not be any for a while

1. Immediately after the Scotland ride I fell and sprained my ankle.  At least that's what I think; I see a doctor at 3:20 today (Mon, 6/17).  I am supposedly leading the Ireland bike tour which started this morning but I can barely walk much less ride.

2.  When we flew from Edinburgh to Dublin on Saturday Aer Lingus lost our luggage and it has not been found 48 hours later.  Missing are my laptop, my BiPAP machine, all medications for the next two weeks, name badges for the Ireland riders, etc,

Future blogs are probable at best.

to Cardona

Once again rain and 20 mph winds and another taxi.  I’ve been on around 100 bike tours and never had weather this bad.  Previously we’ve had rain all day every day but never with cold and gale force winds.  Our taxi driver commented on the weather: “Three cricket matches have been cancelled because of weather.  If a fourth is cancelled that will set a record.  We’ve never had a June this cold; February was better.”  The taxi driver stopped for us the take a photo at the “Scottish Scene”.  As is fitting there was mist in the air.

It was a beautiful drive and a beautiful ride for those who braved it.  Most of the roads were tree lined.  Occasionally we get a glimpse of green meadows.  At one point we could see the cycle path high above us.  Then they descended and rode along River Tweed.  We are staying for two nights at a golf resort – spa somewhere out in the country.  (see photos below)  This is one complaint about this tour, the hotels are remote.  We’d prefer to be in a town so we could shop, get a cup of coffee and get to experience and interact with the locals.

Speaking of locals, everyone here is super-nice.  But this is not unusual; we’ve found friendly people wherever we go.  A long time ago I thought the French were too arrogant and snooty but in recent years I’ve found even them to be friendly.  I don’t know if they have changed or if I have.  Probably the former.

Tomorrow we cycle to Edinburgh, the end of the tour.  But two days later we meet another group for a two-week tour in Ireland.  We are leaders of this tour.

to Dryburg

Dryburg probably has an official name of Dryburg-upon-Tweed.

The River Tweed, or Tweed Water (Scottish Gaelic: Abhainn Thuaidh, Scots: Watter o Tweid, Welsh: Tuedd), is a river 97 miles long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England.  Tweed (cloth) derives its name from its association with the River Tweed.  The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers of Britain and the only river in England where an Environment Agency rod license is not required for angling.  Tweed is an Old Brythonic (Celtic) name meaning 'border'.

Because of the weather we took a taxi to Kelso.  In addition to a good coffee shop - Cream Chimney, filled with the locals and all of our cyclists - we visited the ruins of Kelso Abby.

One of the tombstones from the mid 1800’s had this quote:

Remember man

   As you pass by,

As you are now

   So once was I:

As I am now

   So must you be:

Prepare for death

   And follow me.

Well maybe later.

We cycled to Dryburg and the Dryburg Abby Hotel.  The Lonely Planet says this is their favorite Abby ruins but I don’t know how they made the choice since there seem to be ruins in every town.

The hotels for the last two nights, Marshall Meadows Country House in Berwick-upon-Tweed and Dryburg Abby (not in a town) were both country estates converted to hotels and were pretty nice places to stay.

Oh, someone told me we're back in Scotland.  

Blogging Software Sucks (Ranting and Raving)

My blog is through BLOGGER, free software from Google.

• Blogger is an internet based service which allows writing, editing and publishing blogs.  It requires internet connectivity.  It is not friendly and does not provide much in the way of formatting.
• Ever since my first blog in 2009 I've used Microsoft's Open Live Writer (OLW), a PC based software which allows preparing blogs off-line - and then sends the blog to BLOGGER.   It also provides much enhanced formatting, particularly for photos.
• When I started to blog for this trip, I discovered that when I attempted to publish a blog with OLW which has photos I would get a meaningless error message.  A little research revealed that everyone else experienced this starting in January.  People proposed solutions to this but none worked for me.  So I've been writing this blog with BLOGGER instead of Open Live Writer.  People who have been following my blog for some time may have noticed that there are never 2 photos on the same line this time - a result of using BLOGGER.  
• Last night I wrote yesterday's blog including photos.  I was almost ready for Brenda to edit it but decided to add one sentence. I typed the first word "For " and the screen went blank, the blog disappeared.  The backup copy which BLOGGER keeps was also blank.  So my hour or more of writing the blog was for naught.  I'm not sure I have the energy to rewrite it.  Maybe I need a drink.

to Berwick-upon-Tweed

Before leaving Bamburg we visited the Maritime Museum.  A waste of time I you ask me.   But before we left town I took a photo of the church.  Brenda:  I thought the Maritime Museum told a story about a brave family, particularly a young girl, that exemplified extreme bravery is a high wind rescue. John: I thought it was a waste of time.

The main “attraction” today is the Holy Island, a holy place of prayer and pilgrimage, founded by St. Aidan in 635 AD.  There are remains of a Priory and church, St Mary’s, which was founded by St. Aidan in 635 SD.

 Today’s ride was challenging, if only 36 miles.  The primary difficulty was the pavement, or lack thereof.  As I told a couple of riders “If I wanted to cycle on cow paths, I could have stayed in Texas”.  Brenda:  We rode on rock, dirt or grass for at least 10 miles today.  It was exhausting.

to Bamburgh

I don't think I've mentioned that we have no problem riding on the left side of the road.  Even the clockwise roundabout's seem easy.

Everyone got an early start today due to the distance.  The weather was good - even got hot around noon and I took off my jacket for the first time in a week.  The roads were pretty good also, except for a patch of mud, and the terrine rolling.  We saw mostly cow and sheep farms; not many crops.  Most of the land seemed unused but it was difficult to see because of the hedge rows.  We were paralleling to shore but didn't see it much.

These National Bike Routes stay away from cities and towns.  No Starbucks here, not even a cup of coffee.

The main (only?) attraction to Bamburgh is the castle.  There have been castles on this rock since prehistoric times.  The first stone castle was probably built in the 13th century.  It was rebuilt in the 1800's and most recently the 1900's.

We're staying at the old Victoria Hotel which has many convoluted staircases.   We're in room 40, 48 steps up from the lobby.  Please remind me to pack lighter next  time.

Dinner service was terrible.  We were supposed to eat at 8:15; by 9:45 our desserts had not arrived so we left.

Wi-fi is poor also. But tomorrow's weather forecast is great.

to Gosfort

We leave Twice Brewed  but not in the manner we anticipated.

What do you do if you're travelling by bicycle, it's raining, the temperature never exceeds 55 degrees and the wind is blowing 19 mph?  You hire a mini-bus with a trailer and an extra cab.

Only 5 of our 25 rode their bike today.  We were not among them.  I may not be smart, but I'm not stupid.

You won't find many references to our destination, Gosfort.  It's only claim to flame is as a suburb of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

BTW the day before yesterday I neglected to tell you we had left Scotland and entered England.  Can I be blamed?  They look a like.  But fear not, we'll be in Scotland again in a day or two.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  commonly known as Newcastle, is 133 miles south of Edinburgh, 277 miles north of London and 8.5 miles from the North Sea.

I'm sure I've been to Newcastle before but can't remember when.  In the late afternoon we took the taxi to Newcastle and wondered around.  I was intrigued by the many bridges over the River Tyne, a few of which are shown here.

We found a pretty good Italian restaurant, ZIZZI, for dinner.  There is a wood fired pizza oven in the background.  Tomorrow is the longest day of the ride, 61 miles.  Some of us are going to shorten it by 20 miles with a train ride.

at Vindolanda

We visited Hadrian's Wall today but we didn't.  There were forts along the wall about 5 miles apart.  Other fortifications were built in between the forts.  Vindolanda is the site of a major fort that was occupied for over 300 years and has been excavated for 48 years.  In fact there have been 9 forts on this site, beginning before Hadrian's Wall was started in 122 ad.  We spent a couple of hours at the site and museum.

Water supply

Note hills in background.  Not an easy place to build a fort. 

Or ride a bike!!

Largest room in the fort is the tavern.

Sewer system.  They also had hot and cold running water.

to Twice Brewed

The other day our guide mentioned another town.  "Once Brewed".  I thought he was joking but apparently not.

The weather today was excellent but that's all that was excellent.  I got lost.

At a "T" I turned right; apparently I should have turned left.  Brenda knows I'm somewhat directionally challenged.  So here I am in Scotland, or maybe England (we're close to the border) totally lost, with no cell phone (I lost it in Glasgow.) and no water (Brenda is carrying my water because my bike doesn't have a bottle holder).  Eventually I come to Carlisle, probably 20 miles from our route.  So what do I do?  Find the TI and ask for help.  The clerk suggests a bus but can't find out if the bus will take bicycles. So I walk to the bus station and find out they don't.  Back to the TI and he calls a Black Cab.  They agree to do it for a reasonable price and I end up at Twice
Brewed Inn four hours before the others.

One of the paths today was what mountain bikers call "single track".  In our case it was less, maybe one-third the width, of a single lane road.  And because of yesterday's rain the route is primarily dirt/mud.  It's a good thing our rental bikes have wide tires.  Not much fun.

As we get near Hadrian's Wall the scenery gets really beautiful and dramatic.  The hills are large and the valleys very green.

Tomorrow is not a riding day; we hike part of Hadrian's Wall.

to Gretna Green

We woke to wet roads and cloudy sky's - but no rain at the moment.  This being probably the easiest day of the tour there is no reason to leave early.  Weather forecasts are mixed so no help here on when to leave.  We're on the road by 9:45 and may have missed a turn by 9:50.  It makes no difference as long as you're going downhill.

We did encounter a number of showers throughout the day.  Most were light, what the Irish call "an Irish Mist."

Due to the weather, I only took two photos all day.  The one below should be titled "An Old Phone Booth, Repurposed"

Our destination is Gretna/Gretna Green.  They are separate towns but not separate.  You can't tell where one ends and the other begins.

In the early 1700's England was facing serious social problems by the large number of irregular marriages. The solution was the Parliament Act of 1754 which restricted the places  where marriages could take place, and outlawed marriages of people under 21 without permission of both sets of parents.  But that did not apply to Scotland; here anyone over 16 could get married without any permissions.  Since Gretna Green is the first place you reached in Scotland travelling north from Carlisle, it became the center of runaway marriages.  Anyone could perform the ceremony; it was most often the village blacksmith.  Even today, Gretna Green is a center of marriages.

When we came through Annan most of us were hungry and I think the whole group discovered Café Royal.  The biggest problem was parking the bikes.  Tomorrow is a more difficult  day but the weather looks good.

to Dumfries

As mentioned yesterday we took the bus to Dumfries.  But we probably need to get back on the bike tomorrow, even if it's raining.

Dumfries is like most of the towns we've been through.  They seem prosperous; there are no empty storefronts.  We visited a bike shop and had lunch at Ms. Greens Tea Room.

We're staying at the Holiday Inn, but not like any HI you've been to.  It is located on a well landscaped campus which used to be a psychiatric hospital,  The hotel, church and other buildings make a large and impressive event center.

Have you ever seen black and white stained windows?

In the photo of the church you saw rhododendrons.  These seem  to grow wild in Scotland and Ireland.

to Kirkcudbright - Part 2

This wasn't designed as a two-part blog but some software gremlin decided that's how it's going to be.

Our destination is the Selkirk Arms Hotel in Kirkcudbright. The name of the town comes from "Kirk of St Cuthbert."  It is pronounced "kir-koo-bree" and is a fascinating and attractive Scottish town.  The businesses and houses are painted, mostly pastel colors.

A monastery had been established here by 1000AD, and in the 1100s the area was also home of a Cistercian nunnery and an Augustinian priory.  A Franciscan friary followed in the 1200s

But not everyone thinks this is a great town.  Daniel Defoe - an 18th century English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer, spy, and most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe - had this to say about Kirkcudbright: "A pleasant situation, and yet nothing pleasant to be seen,  Here is a harbor without ships, a port without  trade, a fishery without nets, a people without business."

But the town has a history of being a home for artists.  In fact the town seal proclaims "The Artist Town".  And art is coming back.  The Town Hall (see next photo) has been converted into a contemporary art gallery.  The 600 first floor exhibits are all from local artists over the years.

We also visited Kirkcudbright Parish Church, "The Church of Scotland".  The humorous lady care-keeper told us about what she called the "many lies of the church".

1. It's big, originally designed for 1,500. But these days they're lucky if there's 150 in attendance.
2. Concerning the organ, the pipes on the sides are fake, to make it look like a big organ.  
3. And it hasn't worked in over 20 years because they can't afford the 37,000 pounds to repair it.

It's supposed to rain a lot tomorrow so we're planning a bus ride to Dumfries.

The bus service between Scottish towns is excellent.  On the second leg of our ride to Dumfries all seats were full; it was standing room only.

For two of us on a two hour ride the fare was less than $12 US dollars.