Blogs from Newgrange, County Meath, Ireland, Europe

Before you go on, Dear Reader, just be warned...this was one of the funnest days ever, so if you are feeling overly cynical, get yourself a nice cuppa or a perfect Guinness and relax. Our last full day in Ireland dawned with, what else, more clouds and intermittent sprinkles, but a nice warm temperature and lots of what we call in Oregon "sucker holes." Niamh had decided that we really needed to experience the full Irish breakfast before we left, so we sat down to eggs, rashers, sausage, black pudding, roasted tomatoes, toast, marmalade, butter, coffee, and Fea's JOOSH (translation: juice). We were almost done with this amazing meal when Niamh realized she had gotten beans and mushrooms as well but forgot to cook them...I think we did JUST FINE without. Shawn, as an employee of ... read more

Great Breakfast at the College, light and airy. Picked up the car from the carpark. I will never complain about Adelaide carparks again. The carpark had 7 inches either side of the car, and shorter than the Ford Focus's length. Took a number of back and fro's to extract it (almost needed a can opener). Left the park and drove in circles until the gps could find a satellite (close buildings, very high, satellites low on the horizon). Drove to Newgrange which was particularly hard to find. Another national treasure 60km from Dublin you have to know all about before you can find it. The signposts for this place only started 1km before the turn off to the site, and in typical European style, have no distances on them, so you just drive into the ever ... read more

We arrived in Newgrange yesterday evening around 7pm at the Newgrange Lodge where we would stay for one night so we could visit…. You guessed it….Newgrange!! The lodge is a budget accommodation hostel and is only 1 minute walk from the Newgrange visitor centre. Our room was small but perfect for anyone checking in at 7pm and checking out the next morning at 9am. Breakfast was continental and we made sure we had enough to set us up for our long day. The previous day had been nice and sunny and we passed through towns such as Longford, Mullingar, and Navan on route from Ballina. I had never really been through Co. Meath and was surprised at how scenic it was. The roads were small and windy and lined with big trees or 7ft walls from ... read more

So last night Laurene and I got done up and headed down town to an area called Temple Bar. We went into a few pubs and took in a traditional 4 piece band and the traditional pub decor... and as well the traditional drunks. By the time we were ready to go we had a little irish glow on our cheeks as we made our way through the crowd on the streets. It's amazinf how many people are not only living in such a small city but how many of them go out, even on a wednesday night it was packed in the pubs. After a little stoll we stumbled, I literally ( I got a picture of the damn cobblestone that nearly killed me, will be uploaded later) upon a little busking celtic band. There ... read more