Waving a fond farewell to Tralee, we set off for the town at Ireland’s centre, Athlone.
This wasn’t a straight motorway route, so we stopped off at a Spar in Borrisokane for a bag of crisps and bottle of water (no loos). Tractors a-plenty in this part of the world!
There were roadworks in town, and the sat-nav decided we should not under any circumstances take the N52. I wasn’t going to argue, the smaller roads were pleasant to drive along.
Shortly after lunch, we arrived at our home for the night, the Athlone Springs Hotel. It’s on teh edge of town, so no aimless wandering to be enjoyed, but it DOES have a gym and a pool. We booked a slot for a dip at 3.30. You have to book to ensure social distancing, the steam room and sauna were not in use, and there were increased chemicals in the jacuzzi, which my eyes complained about. But I managed a good few lengths, it’s been quite a while since I’ve swum!
As part of the relaxation of regulations, outdoor weddings can now take place with a numbers limit, and we were able to watch procedings from out our window. But the room had no air-con (although there was a fan cooler) and so it wasn’t as relaxing as it might have been .
We had booked a dinner slot for 6.30, and chatted beforehand to a family from Dundalk, comparing the joys of staycationing.
For dinner I had mushroom soup and brown bread which was delicious. The only veggie main was a stirfry with rice, which was OK, rather spicy and far too much.
I didn’t have a great night’s sleep with the fan going all night, but I couldn’t hear any wedding noises.
The breakfast hot and cold buffet were dished out by a member of staff. I had some grapefruit segments, followed by scrambled egg and mushroom.
Into Athlone, we parked by the castle, across the road from Saints Peter and Paul chuch with its twin towers, and set of for some very pleasant aimless wandering. The town is on the river Shannon, at quite a wide point, and there is plenty of activity on the water, including a lock.
It’s also home to what claims to be Ireland’s oldest bar, sadly of course closed these days.
We walked all the way round the barracks, and Count John McCormack’s statue.
The names of some of the shops were reminiscent of Handmaid’s Tale, and there seemed to be many Thai restaurants and meditation retreats.
It’s a charming town, well worth spending some time in, and it does make a great stopover destination.
Dancing At Lunacy 
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