The end of vacation is alway hard. We're sad our adventures are over but really ready to be home. We miss our own beds, our own shower and home cooked meals. But mostly with miss Owen and Hailey.
We returned the camper today and headed out with a guide for a tour of the Boyne Valley. Unfortunately, it was apparent from the start that our personal guide, Gerry, wasn't feeling well. Then he actually mentioned having a health issue over the weekend. He is a older gentleman and probably should have stayed home. He said he didn't want to leave us stranded, but we wish he would have cancelled, we would have figured something else out. We continue on and Gerry coughed his way through a history of the area. Talking made his cough worse. We gritted our teeth and toured on.
Our first stop was the Hill of Tara. Lots of history here, but not much to see. The views of the surrounding valley were beautiful. Trim Castle was our next stop. It was very impressive. It is the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland. We wandered around the impressive castle grounds, but because of time constraints we didn't get to go inside. We made a quick stop at a dumpy gas station because Gerry wanted ice cream. Andy got ice cream and I got chips. The original tour plans had included a lunch stop. I guess that was it.
Our next stop was Monasterboice monastery and its very old Celtic crosses. The monastery dates back to 1100's. The crosses are fascinating. Gerry provided an interesting history about how Christian monks, living as hermits formed many of the early monasteries.
The final, and most anticipated stop of the day was to the Newgrange and Knowth tombs. These UNESCO World Heritage Sites are 5000 year old burial mounds. At Knowth we toured around the outside of the mounds looking at the giant boulders with intricate carvings on them and wondering how these ancient people created them. At Newgrange we got to go into one of the burial mounds. We entered through a narrow low passage into a small chamber. The guide (a Newgrange guide, thankfully Gerry napped in the car at all the stops, except the ice cream) pointed out the burial fonts in three small chambers and the original stone ceiling that has been keeping the chambers dry for 5000 years. The mound is arranged so that at sunrise on the winter solstice a shaft of sunlight enters the chamber and lights the stones. At one point the guide turned out the lights and an artificial "sun" showed us the mysterious affect. Curiously, bone fragments found in the tomb shared DNA with people of what is now Turkey, not Ireland or the UK!
We fly home tomorrow so this is our last adventure posting. Andy plans on addding a post on the advantages of traveling in a camper van. And we have another adventure planned for mid-August. Something completely different, an Arctic cruise!!
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