Ireland Day 1 Glendalough

On our trip to London we had a 6 hour layover in NYC and then arrived in DUBLIN 7am Thursday morning, with a connecting flight to London at 8pm, so a full 13 hours to spend in Dublin on a purposeful extended layover.  Our international flights were from Phoenix to NYC to Dublin and then I booked a seperate flight round trip to London and back to Dublin at $100 saving me HUNDREDS if not a thousand dollars had I booked Phoenix to London.  And while I love raving about a good deal and ranting about debt, the moral of the story is that with creativity and flexibility traveling can be done cheap, but you gotta like give a shit. you know?

Once we got to Dublin we picked up our rental car - I use expedia to book in advance, just make sure the drivers name is accurate they won't make changes to the driver on the reservation once you arrive. The Husband googled some nearby places and we found Glendalough, about 2 hours from Dublin and it was like a literal fairytale.  So majestic and enchanting.  We stopped by the upper lake for a quick photo and then drove down to the lower lake, old church and cemetary. We didn't pay to go to the visitor center and there's no rules saying you can't walk around without going in, so unless you need to check out the printed materials on this sacred space, save your money and explore for frizzle.

It was raining but more like a misting, so we were fine wandering.

from a bridge on the path.

and I mean, yeah it was cold, but we were prepared,

// horses!

We went up the steps only to realize you have to walk around to get into the fenced cemetery but as the rebel I am I just climbed and jumped over the wall.  All the plants were calling to me, so luscious and green, we just don't have these same foliage in the desert so I was trying to capture every variety. I love hunting for details while traveling.  The ribbon tied to the tree, the moss on the headstones and trees, the droplets of water waiting to be released it feel so new and inviting.

Once we got to the cemetery we looked for names maybe that of my husband's ancestors - but turns out they were from Northern Ireland. There was the ruins of an old church and missionary's home, just stones now but someone's whole live revolved around those walls.  I try to be respectful of a space when we're traveling, I document what I see but I'm not taking instagram selfies with tombstones.  I honestly can't describe what beauty this place held, when it was finally time to leave we went to town and warmed up with a toasty, soup and stout. After I napped in the car of course.