Today we decided to take a short trip out of town, so we booked a trip to Powerscourt, south of Dublin. This was a great way to see some of the Irish countryside and seaside.
Can you believe that they call this a beach! It is full of bloody pebbles and stones
Powerscourt is situated in the mountains of Wicklow (important point about Wicklow is that this is where Guinness source the water for the Guinness), it was originally an important strategic site for the Anglo-Normans who came to Ireland in the 12th century. By about 1300 a castle had been built and was in the possession of the le Poer (Power) family. The succeeding centuries saw the castle held by different families. In 1603 Powerscourt Castle and lands were granted to a new English arrival in the area: Richard Wingfield. Following a successful military career in Ireland, Flanders, France and Portugal, Wingfield was knighted and in 1600 was appointed as Marshal of Ireland. This was passed onto his descendants for the next 350 years.
The gardens at Powerscourt wer built in basically two periods, 1730's and in the late 1840's. We had a beautiful sunny day in which to stroll around the gardens. The bus driver was full of information and chatted pretty much non stop there and back, in a nice easy manner. A top way to end our few days in Dublin.
Looking back at the main house
Back in Dublin we head to a place called Toddy's for dinner this was more for our friends the Tod's, just so that we can say that we have eaten at Toddys
Sunday
Up, breakfast, pack and head to the airport was the order of the day to head to Edinburgh. Terminal 2 at Dublin International is new, so has all mod cons and facilities, so we had a relaxing wait, even though I couldn't get us into the Aer Lingus lounge. Flight left on time and arrived on time in Edinburgh. Once again a nice chatty Taxi Driver, and he is a local and proceeds to tell us about some of the sites, a nice easy trip into our hotel.
Tomorrow - what we get up to in Scotland
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