Thursday, September 12, 2019

Ireland - Day 4

Today for Thinking Out Loud Thursday I'm reflecting on our Day 4 in Ireland.  It's hard to believe that the trip was a month ago and putting this post together was a wonderful way to reflect back on our adventures in Ireland.  If you missed the beginning of the trip, you can catch up here ~

Day 1  &  2     |     Day 3

After a busy Day 3, we slept in a bit on Day 4.  Our tour didn't leave out of Dublin until 9:00 am, so we didn't have to be up quite at the crack of dawn.  On tap for the day was a trip to Glencree, Guinness Lake, Wicklow Mountain National Park, and Glenalough.  The description of these areas in the Rick Steves Ireland 2019 book had me pretty jazzed about these locations because I'm a such a sucker for waterfalls and there were going to be a couple hidden in the mountains.

Our first stop was the quaint little area of Glencree.  Waterfall number one - check!


We visited the German cemetery then popped in the  Glencree Centre for a bite to eat.  



This area was so lush and green.  And truly beautiful!  I could have found a place to sit and just soaked it in for hours.


We loaded the bus and began our journey through the Wicklow Mountain area.  Thank goodness the clouds from the morning parted and we had a clear, sunny sky which allowed the view to be spectacular.

Did you watch the 2007 movie P. S. I Love You?  Well, on the drive we crossed the actual bridge Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler stood on!  Our cool tour guide stopped the bus so we could appreciate the spot.


I was pretty excited to stand in the exact spot where they filmed the movie, but the view from below was the real treat.


The whole Wicklow Mountain countryside is covered in purple heather.  Not a single one of my pictures did it justice.


Little did Eric know one of his favorite spots from the trip was coming up next - Guinness Lake.  It was beautiful!


From there, we parked the bus and had a couple hours to roam around Glenalough.  We immediately started hiking to see the big waterfall I had spotted in our tour book.  Along the way, there was more than one place we just had to stop to snap a few pictures.



We heard the waterfall long before we saw it, and the sound kept us climbing.  We just might have gotten Christmas card picture for this year.


Doing all that hiking left us pretty famished so we decided this would be the perfect night to splurge on a meal at a great restaurant.  Our tour guide recommended The Pig's Ear and we called for reservations.  The meal was devine!  Eric had the beef cheek and I decided on the Sheppard's pie.



What an overall great day!  We returned to the hotel with full bellies and happy hearts.  The next day was going to be an early one because we would be headed to Galway and the Moher Cliffs.  Keep checking back to hear about Day 5.

That's what I'm thinking out loud about today.  What's on your mind?  Feel free to link up and share!

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5 comments:

  1. Oh wow; some of those forest pictures look like something out of a fairy tale. I just love hiking near the water and especially seeing waterfalls.

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  2. So very beautiful. Thanks for sharing them with us. Have a wonderful Thursday.

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  3. I totally enjoyed reading about your trip to Ireland! You took such nice photos and visited so many awesome places.

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  4. Gorgeous photos....looks like a lovely trip!

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  5. Want to get back to joining you for Thinking Out Loud posts. I have several ideas I want to share.

    I cannot imagine how beautiful Ireland was if your stunning photos didn't do it justice. Absolutely lovely, magical. All the green, the water falls, streams, the lush velvety moss and soft grass. That wall outside the cemetery is so quaint. Ireland has just moved up on my bucket list of places to visit.

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