We had an all-day bus tour of the Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough scheduled for today (the 19th).
When we got to the hotel lobby at 7:30, it was still dark and it was raining cats and dogs or whatever animals it rains in Ireland. A driver there to pick up some other people said “It’s like Armageddon out there!”. It was only a typical Irish exaggeration, but it was stormy. We had planned to wal the mile to our pickup point, but gave that up quickly and ordered an Uber. It turns out that Ubers in Dublin are just taxis with an additional Uber sticker.
When we arrived at St. Stephen’s Green, we still had about 30 minutes before the bus was to pick us up. To get out of the rain, we decided to huddle under the canopy of a nearby fancy hotel, The Shelbourne. [Fancy and famous]. We had been there for about 30 seconds when 3 doormen in long coats and top hats appeared. I thought they were going to tell us to stop cluttering up their door, but I was surprised when they asked if we were alright and told us to get further under to stay dry. Far from being stuffy and officious, they were as friendly and considerate as could be. When they learned we going on the Wicklow tour, they pointed out the bus stop and even gave Patricia a big Shelbourne umbrella because they said hers would not stand up to the Wicklow wind and rain. We talked to them for some time about travel to Ireland and the States.
When we did get picked up, we met our driver / guide, John. Well, actually his name was James, called Seamus, but he got baptized with the wrong name (John) because his aunts forgot what he was supposed to be called. That was just the beginning of his stories.
The drive to the Wicklow Mountains took us out of the city and the roads got smaller and more winding. We skipped the first stop because it was raining so hard. When we stopped for a coffee break, it was still raining. As we got into the mountains, heavy mist was added to the rain. I say when we got to the mountains, but we could only guess there were mountains because the mist generally limited visibility to about a hundred yards. We did stop at an overlook and the mist lifted enough that we could look down into a wide valley with a couple of fast flowing rivers with a lake in the distance. Of course, the rain did not let up.
As we continued through the Sally Gap in the Wicklow Mountains, the roads got a little bit curvier and a little more narrow. After a few miles of this, I noticed a sign which said something along the lines of “now the road is going to become a little dangerous”. The sign was accurate. When we met oncoming traffic, either the bus or the car would have to find a place to pull over to the side of the road to let the other pass.
We did stop for a while to take pictures of a river tumbling down a hillside. “Tumbling” is no good, we need something more like “crashing” or “bashing” to even come close. A river in full spate would be close. The water was the color of Guinness beer because it had passed through to bog area. I got good pictures, but the videos I took also captured the motion and the sound. I will try to post one of them on the pictures page.
Then we stopped at an overlook to see a place John called “Guinness Lake”. I doubt that is its actual name, but John seems to have mixed feelings about really rich families like Guinness and Jameson. When we walked to the precipice from which we should have been able to see the lake, all we could see was the barest outline of part of the shore, and that came and went. I took a few pictures of the wall of mist, but they may not convince you we actually saw the lake.
Now our progress was generally downhill. We stopped for lunch in a small place named Laragh and ate at a place called Lynhams where we had a good lunch. When we came outside after our [late] lunch, the skies had miraculously cleared. I suppose that is only fitting, because we were close to Glendalough, which is an ancient monastic settlement founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century. It thrived for centuries, despite being attacked by Vikings, the British (did I mention that Kevin has no mixed feelings about the British—forgive but don’t forget), and local Irish tribes.
The site is now almost all ruins with some small resorts in the area. The crowds were small today and we could move around freely. John gave us background on the site and its history and I took lots of pictures.
We were given the choice of waling up to the upper lake (Glendalough means “two lakes”) or going in the bus. Even though the weather was still nice, we chose to ride the bus. When we parked, Patricia and I walked down to the lake where there were many people walking along the shore. The upper lake is one of the most photographed sites in Ireland and I can see why. I took many pictures, but the colors, scale, and beauty of the location are difficult to capture.
Our drive back to Dublin only took an hour because we skipped the “scenic” route and got on the highway quickly.
Despite the day starting out rainy, and mist and rain hiding some of the Wicklow Mountains scenery from us, it was a unique and interesting trip.
I will post pictures to the pictures page, probably tomorrow (the 20th).
