County Wicklow Ireland - Picture Perfect

From my Ireland Vacation in May 2010

Selfie in County Wicklow

After taking an "easy" day yesterday and only walking 7 miles, I was quite relieved to be transported by bus for a tour of the famed Wicklow Mountains.  I had signed up to do a tour of the largest castle in Ireland, Trim Castle, but that tour was canceled since I was the only one booked on the tour.  I'll take just about whatever comes at me while on vacation though because I figure its all bonus anyway, so I didn't let the change in plans phase me.  Besides, no matter what tour I was on, I would have a tour guide talking all day long with that great Irish accent and I still couldn't get enough of it! Our guide, Martin, did indeed have a lovely accent and was packed full of information, from what various names meant in Irish (for example: Wicklow in Irish literally means toothless church) to different movie locations that we passed on our journey. 

Guinness Lake

The Wicklow Mountains are 420 million years old, therefore, they are rounded and look more like big hills (at least, to someone who lives with the mighty Rocky Mountains as a daily backdrop).  They are covered with heather which is a grey brown when not in bloom so they are not nearly as green as I had expected. Apparently when the heather is in full bloom, it is purple which I imagine would be beautiful. We stopped to look at Guinness Lake which looked just like a glass of Guinness with its dark water and tan sand at the top.  The Irish do indeed love their Guinness and even nature cooperates!

After a lunch stop at a pub featured in the movie Leap Year, we came upon the main event, Glendalough, which is an early medieval monastery founded in the 7th century by hermit priest St Kevin. Situated in a magical location between Upper Lake and Lower Lake, the Irish name Gleann Dá Loch appropriately means Glen of Two Lakes. Glendalough lived up to the hype in my mind because it was absolutely beautiful with countless shades of green shimmering in the sunlight and a peaceful feel like few others.   

Trail between the lakes

We had an hour and a half to walk around to hike the many trails around the two lakes.  A beautifully green and lush trail led me from the Lower Lake to the Upper Lake.  The trees created a lovely canopy above me and my views were breathtaking with the sunshine creeping in where it could.

Once to the Upper Lake, I chose to take another trail, again with completely beautiful scenes to overwhelm my senses, to the Poulanass Waterfall.  I am always a sucker for a good waterfall. 

Stairs to Poulanass waterfall

Unfortunately, the rain totals were down for the year so it was much smaller than usual.  It was still nice and the hike beyond the waterfall was wonderful.  There were two different streams that fed into the waterfall and I was able to get close to them, throw in sticks and watch the sticks pick a path and flow away.  It was very therapeutic, and for me a nature bonding experience with the wonderful country of Ireland.  The trails, the lakes, and all of those shades of green captivated me so much that I never made it to the monastery itself!

The Upper Lake

View of Monastery

Upon return to Dublin, my husband and I went in search of more good live Irish music.  After a delicious dinner of Fish & Chips and some souvenir shopping, we found our music at Gogartys.  It was cleverly hidden upstairs so we never would have known about it had I not asked.  We went upstairs to a small quaint, well lit bar with seats available (which rarely happens when a good band is playing).  There were two men, one playing guitar and one playing the flute.  With the flute in the mix, the music was softer than what we'd heard during our past evenings.  We still enjoyed the traditional Irish music so we sat down and ordered dessert, an Irish coffee.  Half way through our Irish coffee, the fiddle player showed up and the band got really good.  As soon as the fiddle started, people started clapping and the music became the lively toe stomping music we had become accustomed to.  When it was time for a break, one member would get up and leave while the other two played on, thus never leaving us without live music.  The beers were flowing, both in the crowd and the band, and everyone had more and more fun as the night went on.  Our newly met friend from Toronto was clapping enthusiastically to the beat of the music, our waiter from Brazil was smiling at every turn, and the band kept downing the beers and playing great music.  No one in that pub had a care in the world including me and I knew this was a night I would hold in my heart forever.  I love these travel moments that I know I will always look back on with a smile!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels!  I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people travel! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities like wine or shipboard credit. If you would like to receive travel offers from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for our Exclusive Travel Specials.

And please add comments from your own travels in this big beautiful world!