Wicklow National Park

Beautiful Ireland

 

On Grace's second day in Ireland I didn't have a final and Grace wanted to see more of the beautiful country so I booked us a tour a the Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough (I had actually already gone to Glendalough once before but didn't ge a tour of the Wicklow Mountains). The one downside is that we had to wake up earlier in the morning than jetlagged Grace would have preferred. We started our day by making our way down to the city centre to catch the tour outside the toursit office. Our vehicle for the day was a mini-bus so that it could navigate the turns and small roads of the Wicklow Mountains.

 

Mannis was our guide for the day and he was a cute old Irishman who made us tea at our first stop. It was a good tour and here were the highlights:

• Blessington Lake
• Guinness Lake
• Waterfall
• Sally Gap (filming site for PS I Love You) and Wicklow Gap
• Grace seeing sheep

Grace at Guinness Lake which looks like a giant pint of Guinness

 

And after lunch at a classic Irish carvery we went to Glendalough monastic settlement.

 

Round Tower at Glendalough

 

Grace at the Upper Lake of Glendalough (meaning "valley of the two lakes")

 

Walking down a path at Glendalough

 

We also met the cutest French girl on the tour. She must have been about four and didn't speak English and we did not speak any French but that didn't stop her from talking to us. She just kept chatting away, despite our attempts to tell her we didn't understand. It was tremendously cute.

 

After arriving back in Dublin we invited the Wolf Pack over for a pasta dinner. I had a final the next day so after Grace went to bed to try and recover from jetlag I studied late into the night.

Glendalough and Wicklow

Glendalough and its famous cylindrical tower that is 100 feet tall.

Today was another daytrip that was organized by the Study Abroad Office, this time to Glendalough, a monastery founded by St. Kevin in the sixth century, which is nestled in the Wicklow Mountains, one of the most beautiful places I've seen in Ireland.

I coerced the organized of the trip to let me bring my Aussie roommate Laura to the trip (she was the only one not from the US out of about 50) and Brittany came too. We met at 10:30 (Carolyn and Kristina left at 6 am) and drove about an hour to Glendalough where we went to the visitor center and watched a movie about monasteries in Ireland and the history of Glendalough. As I mentioned, it was founded by St. Kevin in the sixth century who wanted to become a hermit. After spending some time alone in the wilderness people began to move around him, forming a settlement. The settlement grew and at that time it was larger than Dublin and the premier monastery in Europe. I suggest a visit if you have time.

After the presentation Brittany, Laura, and I wandered over to the remains of the settlement before our lunch of a sandwich, water, and a chocolate bar which was provided for free and therefore amazing. Once we were finished with our sandwiches we went on a mini-hike by ourselves and then came back to the visitors' center in time to meet up with our tour guide.

Our tour guide took us for a two and a half hour hike around Glendalough then through the Wicklow Mountains. Our tour guide was an older man who has five generations of his ancestors in the Glendalough cemetery. He told us the history of Glendalough and then we were off to the mountains.

I am a softy for a good graveyard. And if you know me well you know that is the truth. But seriously, out here you can really rest in peace.

Gates to Glendalough. Nerdy me loves to think about the people back 1,000 years ago entering in the settlement.

Cathedral (or what's left of it)

Those lambs are so adorable it makes me feel guilty about my love of lamburgers.

The hike was a lot more strenuous than I thought it would be and I got on the bus to go home with a sense of accomplishment and tired legs. We hiked up into the mountains, which were hideouts for Irish rebels throughout Ireland's rebellious history. It was quite the trek to get up the mountain, but the view made it worth it. The best views were by the Upper Lake (Glendalough translates to "Valley of the Two Lakes" in English).

Uphill

Picture perfect day!