Wicklow and Glendalough Monastery

r and I decided to take the "Wild Wicklow Tour", the only thing wild about it was the wild ride I took when I slid on some wet turf and fell flat on my bottom. I'm still feeling the effects of the fall and I couldn't get the grass stains out of my pants, let's just pretend they're grass stains. Ha!
As we traveled to Wicklow we stopped at a fishing village just out of Dublin named "Dulkey".

r overlooking the Lach Tay (Lake Tay) and the Guinness heir's estate. This is where I took a spill, just about over the hill.

Glendalough Round Tower and Monastery
Over 900 years of learning took place at this monastery. St. Kevin founded a monastery here to help convert all the pagans that lived in Ireland. It was destroyed by Anglo-Norman invaders in the 14th century, but there are a lot of remains still here. The grave yard is very picturesque and the round tower of 130ft. still stands. It's a must see in this area!

The round tower is in the distance. There is a nice walk to the lower and upper lakes of Glendalough. It was a nice break from riding on the bus for an hour.


The oldest Celtic cross in Europe stands in this cemetery, 600 years old. A bit o'history on the Celtic Cross. It's not recognized by the Catholic church. It is a cross with a circle behind it. The circle is the sun, that was created by the converted pagan worshippers.


This is the entrance to the Monastery. If you touched the stone and made a wish it would come true...r's already came true he said. I think it had something to do with lots of candy.


We ate lunch at an Irish Pub. r discovered how yummy Irish mashed potatoes are! They call them "mash". r was the mash king. He loved the bread and steamed veggies too. r mostly ate at Burger King and McDonalds while there.

The Next Step....Dublin

R had to work on Tuesday when we arrived in Ireland, so he went to work and r and I went on the Hop-On-Hop Off Bus. It takes you all over Dublin to the noteable sights and you hop off and hop on when you want. Of course they stop the bus before you hop.




We hopped off at the Dublin Castle. It's the "White House" of Ireland. It was very intersting to learn about the history of the Dublin Castle and the changes in the government from British to Irish rule.

This is on the grounds behind the Dublin Castle. r followed the snake right to the end, only finding that there were three snakes in the grass.


Irish Trivia learned on our castle tour... The color green is not the color of Ireland, it's St. Patrick Blue and the clover is not the country symbol, it's the harp.

R and I visited all the sights of Dublin that day except the Trinity College and the Book of Kells. It was difficult to take photos in the museums...

We met up with R and had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe...r wanted to see the music memorabilia...big mistake, terrible "american food".

Our hotel was on Grafton street which is the 5th Avenue of Dublin so it was nice to walked up and down the shopping street and listen to the Irish performers.

A Single Journey Begins With The First Step

Well, our journey began with a almost 12 hour lay over in Boston, MA. We were excited to be able to see Boston again and walk the "Freedom Trail". What were we thinking, Boston in February! We arrived at 5:30 am into Boston Logan airport and started on our journey into Boston. We took the bus and walked over to South Station to check our luggage in so we didn't have to look like hobos walking around the city of Boston.

It was a clear, sunny day, but we soon found out that it would not be realistic to walk the frozen tundra of the "Freedom Trail". We started off at an old cemetery to show r the old, rustic tombstones from the days of Benjamin Franklin, off to the Boston Commons and the first public school and then our energy started to wain, but we had to see Faneiul Hall. We ended our journey there after we defrosted ourselves and asked the park ranger every question we could render trying to warm every ounce of our being inside the Hall. We were feeling the effects of not getting a good night's rest and occasionally would nod off as the ranger shared his answer. What a pitiful bunch we were!

So we decided we should go to the aquarium. It would be indoors and we would be warm. Well, it was President's day and everyone and their dog was in line for the aquarium. Second choice, go into the IMAX theatre and see the new 3-D movie. We didn't have to wait in line and we were in the warmth of the theater. The movie began, we were sporting our yellow 3-D glasses and suddenly I found myself waking up to a puffer fish approaching me and I couldn't remember where I was. We had all fallen asleep! Oh well, it was back to the airport for our journey to Ireland. The only memories of Boston r will have is freezing his bottom off! And the photos on this blog!

He'llo from Ireland!

Hello....we've been in Ireland since February 16th. We had our last full day of touring southern Ireland today and will fly home tomorrow.

When I return, I'll download my photos from my trip to Ireland and share the fun memories.

Today in a gift shop I saw this old Irish saying....

Don't Worry

You only have two things to worry about

1. If you're well, you have nothing to worry about

2. If you're sick you have two things to worry about

1. If you'll get better, no worries

2. If you die, you'll have two things to worry about

Whether you go to Heaven or Hell

If you go to Heaven you have nothing in worry about

If you go to Hell you will see so many old friends that you'll be too busy shaking hands that you won't have time to worry, so don't worry.

You see that in the country Irish, no worries, just good food, friends and family! and a little Irish whiskey or Guinness, but I wouldn't know about that....

Tune in later..........