Red Bull gives you wings!!!!

Today in Dun Laoghaire harbor in South Dublin was the 2011 Red Bull Flugtag Competition, where teams put together crazy flying contraptions and get-ups and jump off of a platform to see who can "fly" the furthest.  We made it an all day affair.  Courtney and I grabbed a DART down the coast to see our friend Vikki, who lives near Dun Laoghaire, in the morning.  We drove around Dalkey and Sandycove areas (we saw the gate to Bono's house, you can't see the house from the road, and he bought the neighboring houses as well to prevent people from being able to see his property) and then we drove out to Bray, to walk along the cliff walk there.  Following tea and an Irish breakfast at Vikki's house, we went down to the harbor to watch some of the craziness.

There was a wide variety of flying machines.  One was themed like the movie Avatar, there was a team that did a spoof of the movie Up! and Cool Runnings, a flying cow superhero, a Frankenstein, and some more traditional planes.  What was also crazy was the weather, which changed every five minutes from nice and sunny to cloudy to lashing rain to sunny while raining.  Despite all of that, I managed to get sun burn, but o well.  They estimated that there were around 100,000 people at the event, and we all had a great time, though I was very disappointed by the lack of free Red Bull.  Despite the fact that I do not drink the stuff, I enjoy free giveaways, and alas, there were none.  The evening was capped off with a pint at a local bar and then I made my way back to Dublin city proper to start thinking about how much I have to do in the three days before I fly home.  Time to start packing...

Bray Head and Co. Wicklow

Me, Courtney, and Vikki

Bray Head Cliff Walk

Bray

Flugtag

Flugtag