Registered User
Posts: 3
(5/4/03 11:15 pm)

Debbies trip - Chapter 2: April 4 - 6, 2003 (Glendalough)

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Picking up , the next morning.....

Day 4 – on to Glendalough ( glenda-loch). Mairead from Dualla House suggested we head down around Waterford then up towards Enniscorthy and up. It worked out great. Right up until we hit the R755 which is a path masquerading as a road. We stopped in Enniscorthy for lunch. Not a town I would want to drive around much in. Very congested , and busy. We found a car park and gratefully left the car and walked around. It looks like a nice walking around town, but the castle won’t be open until 2pm, and it was only noon. We stopped in at one of the many “Lounge Bars” , which was actually a hole in the wall, but had fantastic soup & sandwiches for lunch. We ran into a charming local man who started up a conversation with my Dad. ( Coincidentally they both are named Bill ) Our new friend Bill, heard us talking on the street and asked if we were from the States , and if we were enjoying Ireland, and thanked us for coming. Quite a people person this Bill was.
Pinewood Lodge is a nice enough. Both of our rooms are on the first floor – which was a nice thing , seeing as we are staying here for 3 days, which means that we are taking all of the luggage in. Only complaint – no TV’s in the rooms, only 1 in the lounge area. This kind of annoyed Dad, as there was another family staying there, who monopolized the TV every night. (The War in Iraq was going on, and Dad can be a news junkie)
The oldest daughter of the owner was VERY helpful in giving us directions to everywhere we wanted to go, from dinner that night, to Powerscourt the next day, and even our route out to Kilkenny on our last day there.
Dinner at the Wicklow Heather restaurant, and then back to the B&B for a few games of cards and an early night after a long day of driving.
Total drive time today: 138 miles ( seemed longer! )

Day 5 – drive to Powerscourt – We totally lucked out, it was a Glorious, Sunny Day. The best one yet. We took the R755 up to the N11, to Enniskerry. It only took about 35 minutes to get there, much quicker than I expected. We wandered around town for a few minutes, because the sign for Powerscourt was turned around pointing back towards town. Once we got directions from the ever-present gas station, we headed right into the Powerscourt grounds. We were all thoroughly impressed by PC. The house part was very opulent, and you could just imagine what it was like in its heyday. But the real jewel of PC is the walk around the fountains and the gardens. Really, really beautiful. A lot of the formal garden was not in bloom yet, but you could see how pretty it would be in a month or so.
Lunch was in the café there. Again – fabulous soup, with a big dessert for Dad.
The drive back was a bit more difficult than the drive there. First we got turned around getting out of Enniskerry , and when we finally got onto the N11, we ended up going towards Dublin instead of away from it. Thank god for Round-abouts. We just waited till we got to one , so we could turn back around. Drive time back was around an hour.
We went to St Kevins Catholic church for 7pm service. It was a unique mass. They made me look like I speak slowly. It was like a race to see who could finish each of the prayers, and chants first.
Dinner tonight is going to be Pub food , we thought, but when we got to Lynhams Hotel Pub, it is packed to the gills. We decide to head down the road , into Glendalough, to the hotel there. Very good food, and fabulous service. We went back to Lynhams to catch some music, but it wasn’t going to start until after 10:30, and after listening to the sound check, (“Proud Mary”) we decided to head back to the B&B.
Total Drive time today: 57 miles

Day 6 This was our “bonus” day. We woke up to find a very “soft” morning ( translate : damp and foggy). No hard plans, so we decide to start the day out with a walk through Glendalough, and then head into the surrounding area. Glendalough was a bit spooky at first with the gray skies and fog , but it was still a very interesting place. Mom & Dad were enthralled by the cemetery - I think they managed to read at least 75% of them.
Next on to the Woolen Mills outlet just outside of Laragh – We promised Mom that she could do some extra shopping and go figure – Dad is the one scoping out a coat!
Now - just by going by the map, we figure that we will head to Rathdrum – there must be something to see there right? Well, by the time we got from one end to the other ( not much more than a blink) we decide to keep on going. After a quick lunch at “The Meeting of the Waters” we head on into Avoca. Cute little town – very quiet on this Sunday afternoon. Seeing as the streets are pretty narrow, We find a parking place and decide to explore on foot. We start walking towards the Avoca Handweavers Outlet. Both and uphill and downhill route – who knew? Seeing the weaving in person was a very cool demo. And the shopping there - really nice stuff. And as a bonus - Dad found the coat he had been looking at earlier in the day, in his size and for about 10 Euros less. What a deal.
We went back to the B&B and played Euchre ( card game , kind of like Sheepshead) for a while before dinner. Phillip the 9 year old son of the owners came down from the residence. After poking his head around the corner a few times , he came into the lounge , under the pretense of watching the soccer match. Not 5 minutes later he was sitting next to me , asking how to play the game. He was so sweet – reminded me of my 11 yr old nephew.
Total driving today: 40 miles


Stay tuned for Week two...

DebbieK


garyvol
Unregistered User
(5/5/03 6:32 am)

avoca

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Hi Princess Debbie,
Great review of your trip so far. You seem to be the navigator of the group. Keep everyone on coarse.
I'm curious when you visited Avoca, (my wife and I are serious Ballykissangel Fans) did you have the time to visit Fitzgealds pub, St Joe's Church and Hendley's too.
We never got to see the Handweaver's outlet, Sound neat.
When we looked in the Glendalough Hotel, it looked expensive. So we went on our way.
-keep it coming.
-gary

DebbieK
Registered User
Posts: 4
(5/5/03 9:12 am)

Re: avoca

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Hi Gary
We are not Ballykissangel viewers - I just knew that it was set there.
We walked by the church, but didn't go in, and we didn't really go into anyplace but the Outlet.
Cute little town - was a nice afternoon diversion.

Actually, dinner at the Glendalough hotel was no more than dinner at Wicklow Heather ( Restaurant next to Lynhams.) Actually the prices in the Lynham Hotel Restaurant were much higher than those at the Glendalough Hotel Restaurant.

Debbie K

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 1463
(5/16/03 11:42 am)

More Food

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Hi Debbie,

Thanks for the continuing saga. I stopped by Pinewood Lodge for a look while I was in Ireland and it seemed very nice. Many of the B&Bs in the area do not have TVs in the rooms. Another excellent option for food is the Woodenbridge Hotel (near Avoca). I think it was one of the best meals we had on our trip this time. And it is the oldest hotel in Ireland!

Michele