Today, I was going to sleep in till 8:00 but my neighbours decided to be noisy and woke up before 7:00. There was no way I can get back to sleep so I caught up with my blog and journaling. At 8:00, I got ready and headed down for breakfast. At 9:00, I left for the Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough tour. I waited in front of the Gresham Hotel. Apparently, a lot tours depart from there and good thing I know what the tour bus look like. The bus is actually a 14 passenger van because they can get into places where the big coach buses can't. So, once the van arrived, I went to tell them my name. Apparently, my name isn't on the roster or on the next van's roster. The person I signed up through email forgot me! This is the only one out of a lot of tours that I've booked that actually forgot me. I booked this tour back in February and was the last tour I booked too. I didn't print out any confirmation because it was just back and forth email communication. And the person kept saying 'see you on the 29th' as they signed off. Well, that left everyone in a pickle. The two vans that showed up were full on the roster. They had four vans going out today for this tour. After a lot texting and phoning, the person checking if I actually signed up confirmed that I did and then found room for me on the other van waiting at the TI. So, one of the driver drove me to TI so I can get in the other van.
Eventually, everything worked out but I was pretty mad. I had no alternative plans for today since everything I planned for my vacation has gone in so well, and I'm leaving in a few days. At least that's the negative part of my day. The tour was excellent. Our driver/tour guide was named Tommy and is a fountain of knowledge. There was a big group of Dutch students, two from Argentina, and me the lonely Canadian.
So, first we headed south of Dublin to go to the Wicklow Mountains. We stopped, as we headed up towards the top, to get a photo of Dublin below. It was unbelievably windy and cold. After, we climb back in the van and our next stop was Glencree, an old military barrack and known for a place of peacetalks. The mountains are unlike the West where it is just limestone everywhere. Well, one side is all stones but the other side is all peat. We then went through Sally's Gap, where the roads head on four different directions, to the bridge where 'P.S. I Love You' filmed a scene and there the two streams meet and that's where they get the water to make Guinness Beer. After the stop, we turned around to go to the other side. We first stopped at where they filmed the battle scene in 'Braveheart', and then we stopped above a Valley where a family member of the Guinness family owns its house in the Valley. It's so secluded and nice with its own beach and dark water. The water is dark due to the peat. The current owner is just a regular guy that may have posh friends do to his work.
After we headed to a little town, Laragh, for lunch. I had half a potion of beef and Guinness stew and it was a fairly bid portion. I don't want to know what the regular size look like. It was a nice thick stew with a scoop of mash potatoes in it. It was good during this cold rainy day. After lunch, we headed to Glendalough for 1.5 hours of free time to roam this place. Glendalough, 'Valley of two lakes', has Irelands most impressive monastic settlement founded by St. Kevin the sixth century. So, I walked around the Monastic Village with its famous 110 foot tall tower and ruined churches and then took a 3km journey around Lower Glendalough Lake. It was raining lightly when I first started and then coming down a little harder. Once we got back into the van, it was raining and hasn't stopped since.
Then Tommy drove north and east to get to the coast so we could see it as we drove back to Dublin. We got out for a little bit at Killiney to see if we could see any dolphins but that water was very choppy. We drove past Bono's (from U2) house and other famous people. We then continued our journey to Dun Laoghaire. The water was very choppy and big waves were coming in. Dun Laoghaire is a ferry terminal for Wales and England. I didn't see any ferries, and I wouldn't want to cross with this type of water.
After we made our way back to Dublin passing through Dublin's Embassy Row and then up to north side of Dublin where Tommy was nice enough to drop us off near our respective hotels/hostels, etc.
After I came back to the guesthouse, I dried off and got warm. I left to find dinner after 18:00. I always past this Malaysian Chinese restaurant really close to the guesthouse. They had a good looking early bird special (their early bird is from 4 to 8 pm) so I went in. I order honey spare ribs, where you get two big pork ribs, and beef chow mein. I have to get a vegetables some how and the chow mein comes with lots of veggies. After dinner, I went back to the guesthouse since I was drench again. No, I didn't bring an umbrella in this trip and I didn't buy one either. I was tempted many times because they have some pretty Ireland ones but I have survived this long without one. Since my room was on the top floor, it's not very warm. So, I just hanged down in the TV room since the furnace was blasting in there. So, know as I type this, I just finished a whole package of Kit Kat for dessert. *sigh*
I'm going to worry about packing tomorrow since I'm planning to leave the guesthouse at 11:00 for the airport.
Tomorrow's agenda: Getting to London
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