Today, I woke up early, a little before 7:00, had breakfast and left the guesthouse at 8:00 to get to the pick up location, a few blocks down, for the tour of Newgrange and Hill of Tara. I was at the last location for pick up. There was me and a couple of guys waiting. The tour had over 20 people on it at least.
This tour us a historical tour and the guide gave us a warning before hand.
We first made our way to Bru name Boinne (Boyne). We were going to visit Newgrange, a 5000 year old passage tomb. On the way, the guide gave us a full history on the Boyne area. It was a lot to take in. We arrived at the visitor Centre (since tour buses are not allowed in Newgrange). The Centre controls the number of people visiting the site. They have shuttle buses transporting people to and from the site 5 minutes away. We arrived early because the guide wanted us to be the first people so we waited. The admission to Newgrange is €6 for adults, which was included in the tour. Once we paid for our ticket and got a sticker stating what time your tour is, we went looking around the exhibit before heading to the shuttle leaving at the time of the sticker. But before we headed out, we got bad news in that the electricity is out at the site. It's kind of ironic that we actually need lights to see a 5000 year old tomb.
So our guide told us to wait and see if the power can turned back on before going up there. There's no point in seeing the site If you can't get in the tomb. So, we waited about half an hour before hearing the good news. Before we left for the shuttle, we went to see a short film to tell us about the tomb and why it was built the way it was built. Then we headed up to Newgrange. At the site, we were met by a guide. She told us the story again like the film and the structure of the tomb. She also told us about the window above the door and the decorative rock in front of the entrance. She then split us into two groups. One group will go inside while the other would look around and then vice versa. I was in the first group. The passage ways was short, even for me, and very narrow. We're not allowed to take pictures. Once in the centre, it opens up into a dome shape. 5000 years old, all made of rocks and is sealed watertight, good construction. Once we were all inside, the guide talked about the chambers and the roof. Then she shut off all the lights and wanted us to see what happened inside during the equinox when the sun rise due east. The sun would past through the window above the entrance and reflect into the passage way illuminating the rocks like gold. On the floor is just a long triangular slit. Then 15 minutes later as the sun move across the sky, the light slowly disappears and the passageway is dark again. It was pretty interesting. After we looked around the small chambers and made our way out to let the other group in.
Around the area, there are about 40 of these tombs but much smaller. They haven't started excavating yet but you can see the gentle slopes of them in the hills.
After we are finished, we took the shuttle bus back to the visitor Centre and then made our way to the tour bus. We were heading to Hill of Tara next. On the way to Tara, ewe pass by Slane. Our guide told us about Slane. The castle is still occupied and the owner gets his income by having rock concerts, like Rolling Stones and U2, there. Then the guide told us the history of Tara. Tara is a large hill and on top you can see miles around, 360· view. It was a clear enough day that we got to see far enough away. By that was all. The hill has a lot of ridges and bump. All the buildings are done except for some stone graves and a small mount that is not structurally sound. We had an hour at this site. So most of us ended up in the cafe and gift shop.
After, we headed back to Dublin. On the way, we watch this video recapping again about Newgrange.
Once I got dropped off it was about 15:15, so I headed over to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. Since it was crowded, I waited around the gift shop till the crowd died down a little. It was interesting learning about the Book of Kells. Two of the books were on display and you could see the fine work of it. Then, my favorite part, I went up to the Long Hall, inspiration for the films Star Wars and Harry Potter for their libraries. The hall was magnificent with all the old books and two levels. There is even a old spiral staircase going up to the second floor. No photographs allowed. We were kept in the middle of the hall that was lined with busts of famous authors.
Then, I went walking around the other street along O'Connell Street. Since it was sunny and Saturday, the streets were packed with people shopping. There were some street artists out and about. After walking around for a bit, I headed back to the hotel for a power nap since I woke up early this morning. Then, at about 19:00, I headed out to look for dinner. I had the two course special. I ordered roast beef with mash potatoes and puree sweet potatoes and for dessert I have apple pie. There was something off about the apple pie. I can't put my finger on what. Then I just headed back to the guesthouse and email chat with my friend before heading to bed.
Tomorrow's agenda: Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough tour
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