I have never seen this movie, but that did not stop me from exploring the beautiful land where it was filmed! Also Brave Heart and Excalibur, which I have also not seen. Xi almost missed the bus, but we were dandy after that. The first stop on our day trip around Ireland’s countryside was Kilkenny, a small medieval town with a round tower built in the NINTH CENTURY (1200 years ago), which we climbed of course!

 

Xi was getting dizzy from the height and the crazy climbing. It was essentially a series of ladders stacked on top of each other, and every time someone was coming down while someone else was going up, a lot of squeezing and cuddling with strangers occurred.

 

Mr. Robot Man was unphased by both the height and the scenery. He is always in the same state of bliss and general happiness. It’s what I love about the guy (besides his awesome dance moves).

 

We had two hours to explore, and explore we did! There was beer everywhere, but as our tour guide Anthony explained, it’s never too early to drink in Ireland. Even 10am is acceptable. (Xi and I stuck to water and cookies.)

 

A pretty unnamed castle

 

Canals galore

 

This house is centuries old and was burned down some time ago because of some crazy feud or violation that occurred on the part of the owner. I can’t remember the story, but the guy was very powerful and rich while he lived, so they have left his land and the remains of his estate untouched ever since!

 

This is the Wicklow Gap, where all of those movies were filmed. I think they were probably filmed in better weather, because it was cloudy and none of the flowers were in bloom, but it was nice nonetheless!

 

Obligatory action shot

 

Next stop was Glendalough, or Land of Two Lakes in Gaelic. I totally forgot the Irish and Scottish had their own languages! I think Gaelic is more commonly used in Ireland than Scot is used in Scotland though, probably because the Scottish are partnered with England. All the street signs were in both Gaelic and English. It was pretty cool!

Anyway. Glendalough is an ooooold monastic village from the sixth century, I believe. A bunch of Christian monks lived here and tried to convert the Pagans (multiple gods) of Ireland into Christians. I guess it worked! The beautiful buildings probably had something to do with it:

 

I am 98% sure this is Rapunzel’s actual tower. The only door was several meters up (either because the ground has settled that much or because the monks used a ladder to enter and pull the ladder in afterwards to keep out unwanted guests). Perfect need for some long hair to climb to the tallest windows way up at the top!

 

This cool window used to be filled with stained glass. Now it looks very post-apocalyptic and dramatic.

 

The main chapel

 

After exploring the village and cemetery, we went on a hike to see the two lakes. It was gorgeous, and my sneakers got soaked in mud and muck.

 

Xi was trying to be cool by walking on this log, but she slipped and fell right at the end! I even got it on video.

 

This place was seriously out of a fairytale.

 

Mr. Robot Man quite enjoyed the shamrocks and clovers, if I do say so myself.

 

Sheeeeeeep.

 

We kind of had to run back, because the tour bus was leaving at 5:00, and we were on the other side of the valley with twenty minutes left. We were told the walk took fifteen minutes, so we should plan out fifteen minutes to walk back to the bus. Easy right? What we didn’t realize was that he meant fifteen minutes to the first lake, and we had walked all the way to the second! I had just purchased a burger when we realized this, and since no hot food was allowed on the bus, we had to fast walk/ sprint all the way back while I simultaneously stuffed my face. I had ketchup everywhere, and we were soooo sweaty once we got back on the bus. Frank, our adorable Irish grandpa of a driver, started driving away when he saw us sprinting to the bus just to mess with us. We sat down at exactly five o’clock. Phew!

 

We slept most of the way back, but the countryside was beautiful every time I managed to open my eyes. Most places have flat, boring expanses of farmland, but in Ireland, the plots are all on top of rolling hills, and each plot is surrounded by little bushes. Adorable.

 

We got back to the city and explored even more. I think this is Trinity College?

 

A church/ cathedral whose name I cannot remember

 

Since everything was closed by this time, we ended up sitting in a park in the rain and watching a bunch of puppies play together. Gah. I miss Xi. She forced me to relax every once in a while.

We were supposed to meet up with Davide and go drinking (actual Irish whiskey!), but when I put my stuff away in the hostel, I came back downstairs and Xi was practically asleep in my hostel lounge. The three of us ended up just hanging out and chatting about life until 11:30 or so. It was great. I really miss them! I wish I had more time to spend with all the people I meet, but that one of the pains of travel!

Once they left, I did my laundry, went to bed, woke up, ate early breakfast, almost missed my bus and had to chase it down, and forgot my rain jacket in my room after all of that. *sigh.

Until next time,

Venlig hilsen/ Best regards,

Lizzy-wa

P.S.: I love you. Whoever you are. (;