Hollywood, Saints and Stuff

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Hey everyone -- we're in Hollywood!

Well, we WERE in Hollywood. Hollywood, Ireland. But it made us miss home...

We were on the way to Glendalough (glen-da-lock), a beautiful spot in the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin. Glendalough is the home of Saint Kevin. Who knew there was a saint with my name? (Well, Erin, for one, who booked us in a wonderful B&B here.)

The big draw here is the amazing scenery, which was somewhat reminscent of my motherland of the Pacific Northwest. Vaguely like Montana (the nice part) or Wyoming (the non-Dick Cheney part). Lots of fir trees, rolling hills, and wonderful streams where you can see many feet into the crystal-clear water.

We checked out the surrounding area, stopping at St. Kevin's monastery. Kevin was a wealthy guy, who gave up all his possessions and moved out here to the country to meditate on the nature of things. You know -- like me. He loved animals -- okay, THAT'S like me. And from all historical accounts, he was a swell guy. I leave you to decide if we have that in common.

The location is filled with great ruins, a cool cemetery out of "Haunted Mansion" (tombstones tilted to and fro), and epic vistas in the background. Even a tower, which apparently didn't get much use by the monks back then. Lots of good hiking trails, too, which we tried and tired us out after a few minutes.

There's also a touristy, kinda tacky mega-hotel there. We had the misfortune of having dinner at the bar there, where there were a couple of children playing pool with a relative (they let anyone into bars here; they just won't serve them if they're under legal drinking age... unless they have fake IDs). After said relative let them play pool with him, they started screaming at each other every minute or so. Lemme tell ya -- nothing's more relaxing after a long day of driving and sightseeing than having three six-year-olds screaming at the tops of their lungs. Everyone who worked there kept ignoring them... Kevin wanted to go over and start beating on them, but decided not to in the spirit of his sainted namesake. Finally, we had to get the manager to take care of things, which he did.

The next morning we went out to Powerscourt Gardens, a fine arboreal retreat south of Dublin. It rained intermittently throughout the day, which drove us nuts, but the Japanese Garden and lake were highlights nonetheless. The mansion on the grounds would've been more impressive had it not been gutted by a huge fire in 1974... oh well. But the grounds made up for it.

From there, it was on to the jewel of Ireland: Dublin! More on that next...

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Photos

Glendalough
Near our B&B in Glendalough

Comments

[Judy Isaac]

I really enjoy your photographic artistry. I especially like the one "Kevin at the site of St. Kevin's cell". Judy

[the_Georges]

Meow
Hi guys--greetings from Minneapolis (which is a helluva lot less interesting than where you are!) David says the cats miss you guys, but they are doing wonderfully! I think David is actually becoming a cat person, which is a real testament to your little angels! We miss you guys--and can't wait for you to get back! Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[O'Mom]

The Motherland
Me dear Sainted son, I'm so glad you remember your proper Motherland...is the great Pacific Northwest. Living there engendered an enduring appreciation for lakes, mountains, seas, greenery, gardens, hiking trails, and of course.... rain! Ireland should make you feel right at home. ;-) And if the geographical similarities weren't enough to do the trick, surely finding a place called HOLLYWOOD would have done it for you. It's such a pleasure to read your blog, and be able to follow along on your remarkable journey. Erin and you seem to be having the trip of a lifetime. We're looking forward to hearing even more about it when you get home on .... MOTHER'S DAY! (perfect timing, for me at least). :-) Hope you find sunshine to light your way home.