Working Out & Planning Ireland

A great thing about staying in a foreign location for such a long time is the lack of pressure to run around and see everything; we can do this on our own relaxed schedule. And we can take any number of days and just relax.

We joined a gym in Henley which is part of an international chain, LA Fitness. This is a fully equipped and state of the art facility. Even though Henley is a small town, it draws from an area crowded with various villages and hamlets. It doesn't run into competition until you get closer to Reading. Therefore this gym can attract a membership in the thousands and provide services otherwise not possible. It can offer more equipment, better facilities and more classes that our local gym in Gualala. However, it does not have Kenny, Eileen, Denny and the crew; nor does it give you a view of the Pacific Ocean while you work out.

The gym also has a small kitchen and offers a selection of food for breakfast and lunch. They have a full English breakfast for only four pounds; you can't beat that! Let me describe an English breakfast. You get two eggs on toast, bacon, a fried tomato and baked beans, along with a pot of tea. The bacon is more like a piece of ham. The bacon we get at home, the call "streaky rasher" and is considered inferior. At that price, it's hard to turn down, so I don't. Several times a week, we get to the gym at eight o'clock (after the before work crowd leaves), eat breakfast, then work out. Claire does some work on the machines then hits the Body Pump class. Bill does his machine work then weights. Gotta work off those pub lunches and beers!

This afternoon, we did the final planning of our trip to Ireland in May. We'll spend two weeks there and we've been researching our itinerary and various guest houses. More about that another time.

Tomorrow we plan on trying the Pangbourne area again. Since colder weather and heavy rain is forecast, we might have to change that.