kimberly.: Wicklow Mountains

October 3rd, 2008….

We went on a small van tour through the Wicklow Mountains. It was absolutely gorgeous! The van tour was great. We had this cute old man as a tour guide and we got to ride up front, with the best view. It was lots of fun. Our first stop was to stop and view the valley. While we were their our driver made us coffee, tea, and biscuits; it was a nice little treat, especially cause it was so freezing cold outside! Then we made a few more stops to walk around at a few lakes and historical sites. The next big stop we made was at Guinness Lake. It’s called this because one of the heir’s lives next to it and also the Guinness factory uses the water from this lake to make their beer. It’s kind of funny though because the lake is very dark and looks just like a pint of Guinness. Then we drove through the bog lands. In the bog lands farmers will cut out chunks of the bog or peat and then let them dry and they sell it as fuel to burn to warm your house. It isn’t used much anymore though because it leaves such a big scar on the land. Then we stopped in a little village and had lunch and hit the road again. We stopped to see some sheep (which I was excited about), a waterfall, and a few other sites. Our next big stop was at Glendalough. It is one of the most important monastic sites in Ireland. It was established by Saint Kevin in the 6th Century. At Glendalough we visited the old church and tower, as well as a pretty little waterfall and the beautiful Valley of Two Lakes. It’s now the prettiest thing I’ve seen in Ireland for the time being. But it was definitely one of our better trips. We went all through the little windy roads and had a great time, or as they would say here, we had a great bit of craic (we had loads of fun).