For the first two days, Dermot (also retired from Intel) took me and Jana around South Dublin and quite a bit farther.
On the first day, we went along the coast, up to the top of Bray Head (for Europe's Oldest Geocache), to a hike along Powerscourt Waterfall, the "PS I Love You" Bridge, Glendalough Cathedral and Tower, and Johnnie Fox's (the highest elevation pub in Ireland).
Day two was to Phoenix Park (and within the park, a stroll through the gardens behind the Guiness Residence), and a guided tour through the historic city of Kilkenny.
On the first day, we went along the coast, up to the top of Bray Head (for Europe's Oldest Geocache), to a hike along Powerscourt Waterfall, the "PS I Love You" Bridge, Glendalough Cathedral and Tower, and Johnnie Fox's (the highest elevation pub in Ireland).
Day two was to Phoenix Park (and within the park, a stroll through the gardens behind the Guiness Residence), and a guided tour through the historic city of Kilkenny.
Day three was a self-guided Dublin tour for Jana and me. We walked to Trinity College (and bought tickets for tomorrow for a more complete tour), followed by the Molly Malone statue, Dublin Castle, Christchurch, St Patrick's Cathedral, St Patrick's Park, St Stephan's Green Park, Merrion Square Park, and a lot of other City walking.
I am hoping I can retain a small fraction of what I have seen.
Day 1:
Started along the coast, stopping at the Forty Foot. People swim here every day of the year. The water temp is not significantly different from the Oregon Coast. People come out beet-red.
At this location, spotted a Mediterranean Gull and some Sandwich Terns. Picture of the Gull below:
Next stop was Bray Hill. Europe's oldest Geocache is near the top. Quite a climb. Especially if you do not take the main trail up (we did not). And I learned what gorse is, and that it is an actual plant. So much gorse.
But lots of wildflowers, too. Here, some Winter Heath with a Buff-tailed Bumblebee:
And a drab-looking Speckled Wood Butterfly:
Dermot and Clark at the Summit, and our view. looking a bit different from when we met in 2002:
This is gorse. It will eat your legs. It is everywhere on this mountain (in the right-hand photo, everything past the nearby rocks is gorse). After reaching the peak, we walked through a couple hundred feet of steep, narrow trail to get to the cache.
After a nice lunch in Enniskerry, we took a trail up Powerscourt to see a waterfall. lots of birds and butterflies and wildflowers. Here, a Red Admiral Butterfly, and some Lady's Glove:
The waterfall, with/without Clark/Jana:
A Peacock Butterfly (Aglais Io). Tried to get a better picture, but the flies were driving us away:
At the bridge from the Movie "PS I Love You". Now that I've been to the bridge, I will have to see the movie:
And around the corner, the lake where scenes from The Vikings were filmed:
At Glendalough, walked along the creek, to the old tower and church and graveyard. The tower was build to for a number of purposes, including as a watchtower - and holing up when the Vikings attacked. I guess I failed to mention that this place is very old - started in the 6th century. If I learned one thing on this tour, it is that Monks are really good at finding picturesque places to contemplate their spirituality.
Johnnie Fox's - the highest pub in Ireland (at 283 meters above sea-level). We toured through the classical pub decor, and continued back to the city.
The next day, first stop was Phoenix Park (twice the size of Central Park), with a stop at the Farmleigh Estate Park (the Guiness family renovated the Farmleigh House and has lived in it fro generations). Behind the house is a lovely garden. Lots of flowers and pollinators. And giant thistles of Cardoon (a relative of the artichoke):
Dermot arranged for the three of us to take part in a walking tour with a guide through the town of Kilkenny. The guide told us of the town's history, the history of the castle, and on the town today. He was generally very entertaining. The castle:
Kilkenny is also known as "Marble City" because many of the black-limestone flagstones (many with embedded fossil-shells) looked like marble.
My first pint of Guinness in Ireland:
The Dublin self-guided tour started at the O'Connell Monument. O'Connell played a crucial role in the Catholic Emancipation of Ireland. The birds are less respectful.
We toured around the grounds of Trinity College. Purchased tickets for the Book of Kells and the Library for the next day (sold out for this morning).
It was difficult to get a photo of Molly Mallone without a dozen tourists. Many were quite handsy with her, too.
Christchurch Cathedral, and St. Patrick's Cathedral (St Patrick's Cathedral was entirely renovated through donations from the Guiness family).
A walk through St. Stephen's Green Park. Donated to the city by The Guinness family:
At the pond, a Tufted Duck, with not too much tuft.
And Mute Swans:
At Merrion Park, a tribute statue to Oscar Wilde, carved from different colors/types of rock for each of the features. And across the street, at Kennedy's, where Oscar Wilde began to work at age 14, another statue.
Next stop was Bray Hill. Europe's oldest Geocache is near the top. Quite a climb. Especially if you do not take the main trail up (we did not). And I learned what gorse is, and that it is an actual plant. So much gorse.
But lots of wildflowers, too. Here, some Winter Heath with a Buff-tailed Bumblebee:
And a drab-looking Speckled Wood Butterfly:
Dermot and Clark at the Summit, and our view. looking a bit different from when we met in 2002:
After a nice lunch in Enniskerry, we took a trail up Powerscourt to see a waterfall. lots of birds and butterflies and wildflowers. Here, a Red Admiral Butterfly, and some Lady's Glove:
A Peacock Butterfly (Aglais Io). Tried to get a better picture, but the flies were driving us away:
And around the corner, the lake where scenes from The Vikings were filmed:
At Glendalough, walked along the creek, to the old tower and church and graveyard. The tower was build to for a number of purposes, including as a watchtower - and holing up when the Vikings attacked. I guess I failed to mention that this place is very old - started in the 6th century. If I learned one thing on this tour, it is that Monks are really good at finding picturesque places to contemplate their spirituality.
The next day, first stop was Phoenix Park (twice the size of Central Park), with a stop at the Farmleigh Estate Park (the Guiness family renovated the Farmleigh House and has lived in it fro generations). Behind the house is a lovely garden. Lots of flowers and pollinators. And giant thistles of Cardoon (a relative of the artichoke):
Kilkenny is also known as "Marble City" because many of the black-limestone flagstones (many with embedded fossil-shells) looked like marble.
My first pint of Guinness in Ireland:
The Dublin self-guided tour started at the O'Connell Monument. O'Connell played a crucial role in the Catholic Emancipation of Ireland. The birds are less respectful.
It was difficult to get a photo of Molly Mallone without a dozen tourists. Many were quite handsy with her, too.
A walk through St. Stephen's Green Park. Donated to the city by The Guinness family:
At the pond, a Tufted Duck, with not too much tuft.
And Mute Swans:
At Merrion Park, a tribute statue to Oscar Wilde, carved from different colors/types of rock for each of the features. And across the street, at Kennedy's, where Oscar Wilde began to work at age 14, another statue.
No comments:
Post a Comment