Riding High in County Wicklow

July 20, 2023

Compared to the rest of the trip so far, this morning was laid back. We had a leisurely breakfast around 8:15 and then headed off toward the Molly Malone statue to hop on a tour bus for the day and explore County Wicklow.

When we reached the statue, we met Johnny who was one of the tour guides. He had a lot of personality and immediately separated the four of us in two different vans because Kati and I were going horseback riding and the Justices were going for a walk. Our first stop was purportedly at the Powerscourt Estate, but we all got a little hoodwinked. Kati and I thought we would be riding around the estate, but ended up going on a forest ride somewhere nearby and never actually saw the estate. The Justices thought they were going to be walking in the garden but ended up going for a hike down from the estate to the town of Enniskerry. Regardless, we all had a great time.

Heading up to the stable was a trip! It was well up a mountain along a one-lane road. We got part of the way up when we ran into an old man driving down. He pointed at us, telling our driver to back up. Our driver, Martin, pointed at him to go back. Then, the old man threw on his parking break, crossed his arms, and Martin jumped out of the van to go talk to him. By all appearances, Martin was handling the situation very well, but the old man just continued to yell at him. By the time Martin huffed back into the van, there was a line of cars behind the old man. Martin informed us that the guy was crazy, did not understand the rules, and refused to give way to a bus full of people (as is the law). He had also taken the old man's registration and intended to call the authorities on him. Still, Martin relented and backed up to let the old man pass before we got back on our way. As the other cars passed us, Martin insisted on telling all of them that he was very sorry and that the old man doesn't understand the law.

The horseback riding was very cool and it was extra-special because it was Kati's first time riding a horse! The stable was this quaint little place up the side of a hill and there were tons of little kids in riding camp when we arrived. There were seven of us riding that morning, and the guide had us stand up against the wall of the barn. Then he pointed at one of the obnoxious college kids on our tour and loudly said, "Cracker!" It took all of us by surprise and nobody knew what to say until we finally realized that Cracker was the name of the horse he had been assigned. Kati was assigned to Ned and I was assigned to Cruise. From the barn, we set off on a 90-minute trail ride. The trail was unbelievably muddy and none of the horses particularly liked walking through the mud so they routinely decided not to listen to instruction and try to deviate from the rocky, muddy path. About a third of the way through, the girl leading the ride fell of her horse when he missed a step and went down on his front knees! Luckily, neither she nor the horse were hurt. Ned and Cruise also both missed steps at different points but were thankfully able to correct it and avoid tossing us. The ride was a lot of fun and we even got to do a bit of trotting.

After the ride, we hopped back into the van to go down into Enniskerry for lunch. Though we thought we'd be able to meet up with the Justices for lunch, we weren't that lucky. We spent some time talking to some of the other folks on our tour, but none of them had much merit. There was a couple from Texas who were spending five days in Dublin because they couldn't bear the thought of losing half a day traveling to see something else, and an older foursome focused primarily on golf and money. We did, however, run into a few interesting locals, including a guy who was biking with his brother and bickering about what clothes they should account for the constantly changing weather. The whole town also seemed perplexed as to why we were there, which made no sense considering the tour we were on stopped there every day.

From Enniskerry, we headed up into the Wicklow Mountains. The one-lane road up was treacherous, but the views were phenomenal. Our first stop was at what they've come to call the P.S. I Love You Bridge, which was just a random bridge in the national park until became the site of Gerard Butler's and Hillary Swank's meet-cute in P.S. I Love You. It was a picturesque location, if not a somewhat silly and kitschy stop, but the most interesting part was the water. The stream running under the bridge was eerily red and almost black because of the extremely high iron content in the rocks it was coming out of.

Next, we stopped off at a cliff overlooking Lough Tay, which is fed by the same iron-rich water that runs under the P.S. I Love You Bridge and into the Cloghoge River, giving it a deep black color like strong tea. These days, however, it's better known as Guinness Lake because it was formerly owned by the Guinness family and some claim they imported white sand to put on the north beach so the entire lake looks like a giant pint of Guinness. it is also famous for being the setting for parts of Braveheart, Excalibur, and Vikings. For me, there was on added reason to visit the lake - one of my favorite philosophers, Bertrand Russell, was profoundly impacted by visiting the lake as a child. And it's easy to see why. It is yet another landscape unlike any other.

The main attraction of our trip was Glendalough (Gleann Dá Loch) - the 'valley of two lakes.' It is home to one of the most important monastic sites in Ireland, founded by St. Kevin in the sixth century. Kevin was a descendent of one of the ruling families in Leinster, but he eschewed all worldly comforts and moved to Glendalough in order to avoid the company of his followers. There, he lived as a hermit in a very small, partially man-made cave now known as St. Kevin's Bed. For seven years, he lived as a hermit, wearing only animal skins and sleeping on stones. Yet Kevin started attracting disciples that moved to Glendalough. By 540, St. Kevin's fame as a teacher and a holy man had spread far and wide, with many people seeking his help and guidance. As a result, Glendalough grew into a renowned seminary for saints and scholars, and an entire monastic city sprung up in the area.

First, we stopped in at the lower lake. On the way there, Martin had another run-in with two cars on a one-lane road. This time, it was a German couple in a rented RV that didn't want to back up or move because there were five cars lined up behind them. Martin, however, persevered and was successful in persuading them to give way. During the exchange, one of the less-than-enjoyable people in the van loudly commented about how sad it was that the German man was "making" his wife drive the RV. I just don't understand people sometimes. While the lower lake was pretty, it didn't hold a candle to the monastic city. The most impressive building in the monastic city is the Round Tower, which stands 100 feet high. The door is almost 12 feet off the ground, requiring a ladder to get in, but it can't be climbed today because the six original floors with wooden landings are no longer there. Other key sites in the city include St. Mary's Church, the 12th century Romanesque Priest's House, St. Kevin's Church, also known as St. Kevin's Kitchen, St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral. The cathedral was by far the most imposing, despite being the most ruined. I could have stayed at Glendalough for hours and regret that we weren't able to see everything, so we may just have to go back for a longer stay.

The hour(ish) drive back to Dublin was a much needed respite from a day of tours and gave us an opportunity to nap before an evening out. We had dinner at The Winding Stair, which sits right beside the Ha' Penny Bridge. It was a quaint little bookshop and restaurant that became a Dublin institution in the 1970s and was a popular meeting place for writers, musicians, and artists. It closed in 2005, but in 2006 was saved and brought back to life, with a restaurant on the second floor, up the winding staircase that gave the shop its name. The food was very good. Kati and Tyler got some smoked ox tongue that I tried, but didn't care for, and we shared some tasty potted Dingle Bay crab t and a piggy scotch egg with bacon dust may to start.  For mains, Tyler and I both got the Pigs on the green pork cutlet, which may have been one of the best pieces of pork I've ever eaten.  Kati got some Irish cod, and Morgan ordered an incredible looking Irish striploin.

After dinner, we made the obligatory stop in at The Temple Bar (est. 1840), which is the most photographed pub façade in Dublin and gave its name to the entire area of bars in which it sits.  It was packed to the gills, but for good reason.  It knows exactly what it is and plays its part perfectly, with excellent live music, a buzzy atmosphere, and everything you think of when you imagine an Irish pub.  On the way back to one of the bars, an English guy stopped me because of the Charlotte FC jacket I was wearing and asked if I was from Charlotte.  As it turns out, he's going to UNC in Raleigh, so we had a nice chat for a few minutes.  After a quick drink though, we had to leave because we had a reservation at a vastly different type of establishment - The Blind Pig.

The Blind Pig was a late add to our itinerary based on a recent trip that one of Kati's friends made, but I'm glad we heard about it.  It's an underground speakeasy hidden in the middle of Dublin.  It is so well tucked away, in fact, that we walked past it more than once.  The bar is named after the police who turned a blind eye to the liquor rooms of 1920s prohibition, and was initially established as a pop up in 2011, but has now become a permanent institution.  The drinks were outstanding and the live jazz music provided a great accompaniment.