Lots of exploring happening over the weekend! Ireland has still seen no rain since I’ve been here and the heat wave is in full swing. My friend Kaylee and I took a day trip to Portmarnock beach on Saturday to take advantage of the beautiful weather. We swam in the Irish Sea which was SO warm. We kept an eye out for jelly fish since this beach is known for it but unfortunately weren’t able to see any. While we were swimming the tide moved in and when we went back to shore we found all of our items soaked – including my phone! I hope it does not break or else I’ll need to invest in some paper maps to navigate around.
On Sunday we decided to take bus tour of county Wicklow, Glendalough, and Kilkenny. Wicklow is called the garden of Ireland because of all the greenery, trees, and plants. The bus took us through the county where the natural beauty was so breathtaking! Glendalough means valley of two lakes and has a medieval monastic settlement on its grounds that was founded in the 6th century. We took a short hike through this to see the upper lake which was so pretty it could have been a painting!
Kilkenny was the last stop on the tour and we spent a few hours exploring. Kilkenny castle is right in the middle of the city and so we wandered the grounds outside taking pictures then bought icecream and sat on the lawn listening to a live brass band. Kilkenny has a very medieval feel to it so it felt a little like you were back in time. I could have spent much longer roaming the streets; the next time I’m in Ireland I’d like to visit longer. When we arrived back in Dublin we popped into a nearby pub in Temple Bar district and I ordered Shepard’s Pie. This is really popular in Ireland and so so good! This weekend has been the best.
