Glendalough

We recently went to Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains.  Glendalough, or Gleann Da Loch in Irish, translates to "Glen of two lakes".  We saw the monastic settlement founded in the 6th century and walked through some of the old stone structures, some which date to the 8th-12th centuries.  Afterwards we did a hike to the two lakes, with a lakeside picnic in between.

Martijn, Jorien and Joakim Visit

At the end of January friends Martijn, Jorien and Joakim took the ferry from Bangor, Wales to stay with us for the night.  We had a great time seeing them and packed in a lot of fun and catching up in a short amount of time. (We borrowed a few pictures from Martijn and Jorien's blog-- hope you don't mind!)

Mourne Mountains

The other weekend, we drove up to the Mourne Mountains in County Down. We had planned on doing that for a while, because one can see the MM from Dublin Bay, most notably from the Howth peninsula, and they always look like a lot of fun. We stayed in Newcastle, and hiked up Slieve Donard, the highest peak, about 4000m. Or was is 850, I don't remember. From the very top, one can see Belfast, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales, and even the Wicklow Mountains. If there is no fog.

In the evening we visited the Quinn pub, which was great fun, a bit like the 'Time' in Bangor, for the benefit of those who used to frequent that. No pictures I am afraid. The next day, Kelsey drove us, the little Alfa and myself, down the coast, then over a mountain pass right through the Mournes, which is a marvelous place to drive, and then we headed back home. A great trip that we'll recommend to visitors in the future.

And here are some visuals:

On the way up Slieve Donard, looking at Dundrum Bay, of 'Coast' fame.

The views are still very good.

The Mourne Wall.

Almost there.

The peak in the clouds. We had to imagine Scotland, Wales, and all the rest.

It got sort of dark on the way down.

And that's what SD looks like without the fog, i.e. if we are not on it.

At the mountain pass.

Lake in the central Mournes.