Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains

Today I ended up waking up late. Not too late, more like just in time but late enough that I wanted to get up earlier. I decided that instead of going to Enniskerry today I would go to Glendalough. I would take the 1130 bus (St. Kevin's Bus Service) into the town and then hike the mountain park.

So I wanted to wake up at 0700 but ended up waking up at 0900. I hurried up and got to some breakfast before making my way out at 1000. I wanted to make sure I got to the bus stop in time. I wanted to walk the way and it would take a 15-20 walk depending on how many pictures I stopped to take on the way.

I made it early so I decided to get some coffee. Finally the bus and I got on. The sights getting there were beautiful. I went through Bray, Roundwood and finally Glendalough. Let me tell you. Glendalough is beautiful. If you go to Ireland and you have a chance to visit the place you must do so. Hiking through the mountains was like walking through a scene from Lord of the Rings. It was absolutely beautiful. There were different paths so even if you aren't up for a heavy hike, you can just walk around like you are walking through a garden.

The first thing I did was visit St. Kevin's Monastery. It is the ruins of the 600 century monastery built by St. Kevin. It also had a cemetery in the back that had old and new gravestones. It was really neat to see a gravestone marked 1998 next to one that was marked 1888. It was just neat. Also, Robert, I saw your sheep...up close and personal. As I went up to the gate because they were right by the cemetery, two little lambs jumped up and ran away. They were so tiny and cute. They ran to one of the mom's on the field and also played with the other lambs.

After touring the monastery sites I went for a hike along the two lakes. Glendalough has two lakes. I saw one of the two. I also saw a waterfall. Like I said, this place looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. It was amazing.

I have to tell this one funny story though. As I was walking back to where the bus would pick us up, there were two boys about 7 and 10 maybe and they were climbing up the side of the terrain while their moms were walking on the path.

"Mom! MOM! There is a dead deer up here!" They shouted as the stopped dead in their tracks.
"What? What are you talking about? A dead deer?"
"Yeah, mom! A dead deer!" 1o year old boy
"AND IT'S MISSING IT'S EYE!!!!" 7 year old boy
"What are you talking about...?" the mom started to climb the side of the hill in flare jeans and heels.
"Mom? Are you in heels?"
"Yes, don't worry about it. I have to see what you are talking about."
Sure enough it was something dead. It was a dead goat. After they left I decided to check it out. Sure enough it was a dead goat. Fur all intact but it was missing an eye.

The ride back was fine. I fell asleep for most of it. Before you all think I sleep a lot, just know that while it is late here...it is early there. And I walk pretty much everywhere I go. So I really don't do a lot of sitting around.

When I got back, I downloaded the massive amounts of photos I had and went out for some dinner, drinks and music. I was going to go to The Porterhouse because I heard that it was good. However, when I got in there it was really crowded. So I went to Oliver St. John Gogarty Bar. The first floor was crowded so I went to the second floor where there was only a small group of people. I ate some food while listening to the music. The people left and I was the only one sitting there while the second band set up. Then they started to play. Again, I was the only one in there. I was kinda happy because it was cool. Then people started pouring in. By the time I left the second floor was crowded. I had Traditional Irish Coddle, a pint of Guinness (of course) and a pint of cider.

Now I am going to do my 8 minute abs and head off to bead. Good night all!
Sláinte
Meg