We took a tour of Trinity College and saw the Book of Kellsd to this morning. Very interesting. Sadly, the talk about Trinity College highlighted centuries of bias and bigotry. In a tit for tat, when Trinity finally decided to admit Catholics in1873 (the college was in need of funds after the famine) the Irish Catholic Church banned Catholics from attending - that ban wasn't lifted until 1970. Women weren't admitted until 1904. On the plus side, it only costs €3000 in tuition, to attend college in Ireland, the government subsidizes the rest.
The Book is Kells and the Old Library were fascinating. We also wandered around the Museum of Ireland - Anthropology before heading back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and catch a taxi to Bunk Campers where we would be picking up the camper. The taxi driver was wonderful. We gave us a run down on how to get on the motorway, and gave us some driving tips, and was so friendly we went off to pick up the camper van with a positive vibe. We then proceeded to take the old military road to Wicklow Mountains National Park and Glendalough Monastery.
The old military road is a curvey, two way one lane road! Learning to drive a right hand drive manual transmission in the mountains on that road, 'tore off the bandaid' to jumpstart the learning curve for sure!
The mountains were bigger than we imagined, think Appalachian not Rockies, but covering a smaller area than the Appalachians. The rolling hills are covered with scrub and dotted with rocks and an occasional sheep. Because they were not tree covered, we could see a long way. Very beautiful!! We stopped by one cascade for a little break and walk.
Glendalough Monastery was our next stop. Built between 900 and 1200 AD it is a perfect example of the monasteries that were prevalent in medieval Ireland.
We continue on to Kilkenny and stayed at a hotel in the cute, busy downtown. There small parking lot had an arch way that was too small for the camper van. After numerous calls to Carrie, the hotel receptionist, we were able to find the back parking area. And Carrie quickly became our newest best Irish friend. She also gave us an excellent tip for dinner. We ate at the Butcher Steakhouse and it was one, if not the best, steak Andy has ever had, Cathy had the 1/2 chicken and we both had excellentl roasted veggies. Oh and Carrie upgraded our room so we have a view of Kilkenny Castle.
Only are second full day here and we are discovering that the people in Ireland are friendly and welcoming 😊🍀
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