Thursday, September 10, 2009

Wicklow National Park



Yesterday we went up to Wicklow National Park to a monastery that had some very old buildings and an old graveyard. Along the way we stopped to look at the countryside and see some of the scenery. The hillsides are covered with heather and it looked very pretty so the closeup of the flowers is Heather.


The roads up in the hills are really narrow and since you are driving on the opposite side of the road as we do in the states, it was freaking me out every time we met another car.


The area we drove through has been harvested for peat and you can see the furrows from a distance. Paddy stopped and broke me off some peat to show us what it was like. A very interesting fuel source but not used as much as it used to be since there are air pollution issues in Dublin, but it is still burned for fuel in the country. You can see the effects of peat harvesting in the lower photo.

I started this post yesterday morning but didn't get it published and then we went into Dublin for a day of shopping and sightseeing. I took some pictures but I don't have time right now to post any. Maybe tonight...

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Ireland


We got to Ireland yesterday after a long plane ride and managed to stay awake until 8:00pm or so. That was quite a feat since both Karen and I were dog tired most of the day. We did get to make it to an ATM and withdraw some euro's which, with the exchange rate, costs a lot. 150 in Euro's costs $215 and change, in dollars. From what we saw in the store, costs are pretty comparable for staples and we saw some pretty good deals on clothes.

Today we are treated to a nice sunny day even though Paddy says that can change very quickly around here. Since it rained most of the day yesterday, that was a nice change to wake up to, and after a good night's sleep I am feeling pretty good this morning. Yeah... Ireland!