Monday, Aug. 27 at Powerscourt Garden

Today was the second road trip, this one off to the south and Powerscourt Garden.  It was also my day to drive!  Driver on the right, 5-speed stick shift on your left hand, and driving on the left! Not something I was looking forward to. Our favorite saying during every turn is to "stay left!".  Traffic lights are a bit odd and road signs have so much on them that you barely have time to read them before you have to make a decision. Many intersections have round-a-bouts which is pretty neat for saving fuel and time. The most you have to do is yield to someone already in the loop. But then you have to be looking for signs to know which exit in the loop you need! Luckily, I had Kasey as my navigator and, having been here before, he had a good idea of where we needed to go.

Ireland isn't all that large and even though the distances on maps looks large, you can get to places pretty quickly.  Our first stop was Powerscourt Gardens, site of the taping of the Celtic Woman DVD "Songs from the Heart".  I was also encouraged by Lisa Kelly to visit the Avoca shop located there. Cindy was only too happy to oblige!  We had a misty day to begin, with the sun making an appearance later on. Typical Irish day!  Below are several pictures to give you some idea of what is there. Even with the rain, many of the flowers were in bloom. Really quite nice.

Then, off to Powerscourt Waterfall. This is often not seen by visiters. It's the highest waterfall in Ireland, 398 feet.  Pretty impressive.



Finally, an Irish "road" and off to Johnnie Fox's, the highest (altitude-wise!), pub in Ireland.

Many of the roads look just like this, especially if it's off the beaten path. The "M" and "N" roads are highways, with "M" being divided highways like an interstate, and "N" roads being like state highways.

"R" roads are somewhere between "N" roads and the road shown here. On roads like the one below, if you meet another car, you slow down, move over as far as you can, and pass. No room to pass? Look for a place where the road widens just enough - you might have to back up!!



After dinner here, we headed back to Dublin arriving just before dark.  And yes, I did drive all day!