seeing things

We've been seeing more of Ireland since Morgan and Diane moved here. They give us an extra reason to get out of the house, and later i can just point to Morgan's photo album, instead of doing a real blog entry. :) Maybe Xan will post some of her photos as well.

A few weekends ago they accompanied us to Powerscourt Gardens, in Wicklow county (about a 30 minute drive from our place). These gardens were built some 150 years ago on the estate of Lord Powerscourt (who was some sort of high muck-dee-muck with a lot of moola for building big impressive gardens). Not quite as spectacular as the reclaimed quarry of Butchart Gardens in Victoria, but still plenty beautiful. I saw many kinds of trees that i'd never seen before. Love the trees.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/heraldk/sets/72157607038517428/

Afterwards we climbed Dalkey/Killeny hill, for a nice panoramic view of South Dublin. (Morgan doesn't mention it, but the castle at the base of Killeny hill (looking South) is Enya's humble abode).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/heraldk/sets/72157607279465300/

Last weekend we drove to Glendalough, via Sally's Gap through the Wicklow "mountains". Glendalough is a national monument and popular tourist attraction. Its claim to fame is being *twice* as old as just about everything i see on a daily basis (that is, about 1600 years old instead of merely 800 years old). Beyond the hallowed grounds are some nice walking trails with a tremendous variety of fauna. After climbing up to the waterfall, we took the low road back, descending to the lakes and walking along a raised boardwalk through the marshes and bogs. We saw lots of glens and loughs. Hence the name.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/heraldk/sets/72157607283752602/