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The coins are weather-distressed offerings at a ruined abbey on Inishmor. Then there's more fauna. The pokey rocks are the naturally-occurring limestone of the island, arranged in such a way as to make the ancient fortress Dun Aengus nearly impenetrable. Crunchy Nut cereal is ludicrously tasty, according to the box. | |
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Denny and the cat both liked leaning over the wall. There were nice seashells. The tourist season hadn't really picked up, so we had a lot of chances to wander the beaches in peace. |
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Newgrange is one of Europe's most important archeological sites. It's thousands of years old, and the motorcycle parking sign is almost as dated. The cool thing about Newgrange is that there's a small opening that is exactly aligned with the sun. On the winter solstice, the whole chamber fills with sunlight for a few minutes. We didn't go on the winter solstice, naturally. |
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Our final destination was Carlinford, which is a beautiful little medieval city in the very northeast of the Republic. We could look across the bay and see Northern Ireland. We also happened upon some kind of festival where people put on Viking clothes and wrestle. |
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Modern dichotomy: a recycling center with castle ruins in the background. Denny looks cute in his jaunty hat. The churchyard looks moody.The schnauzer looks so horrified at what he's done. |
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Natural wonders of Carlingford | |||