Wicklow Mountains glendalough tour Alli Reid

Wicklow Mountain Adventure Tour! If you have seen Braveheart (which I haven't) or PS I Love You (which I have and cried) the mountains we visited were the filming sites of many scenes in these movies and are the home of a national park--absolutely gorgeous. Martin, our bus driver, was hilarious. Unfortunately no one on our bus except for the three of us had a sense of humor. On the way to the mountains we stopped at the harbor and along the countryside. There was a lake, they call it the Guinness Lake, that looks black because of the peat that grows in the mountain ranges. Everything was unreal--rolling green valley after valley, lined with sheep and stone walls. I had an urge to find the ancestors, but realistically that's another trip. We got out in Glendalough (don't quote me on that spelling) and could go into an Irish pub for lunch. This was the only Irish food we ate but it was delicious. Aubrey and I had the hamburger steak on top of mashed potatoes with carrots, peas, french fries and gravy and Karen had the Guinness stew. Everything was fantastic and it was such a cold, windy and a little bit rainy day that it was the perfect meal. After lunch we walked into the old ruins and saw Celtic crosses in the graveyards. They were beautiful although that may be a little morbid. Then, we took a walk through the rain into the national park that brought us to the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. Everything was so serene and I have never breathed such fresh air. On the way home Martin played some Irish music and pointed out the famous colored doors of Dublin. Apparently, back in the day instead of house numbers/addresses people just painted their doors different colors and associated a color of door with a family. Martin said that when men got too drunk and made their wives unhappy, their wives would repaint the doors once they'd gone out for the night and they would be too drunk to find their way home again.