P.S. I Love You Ireland, Day 2

 

Day 2--Wicklow National Park

On our second day in Ireland we decided to take a trip through the countryside. We woke up at 8am and were out the door by 8:30am. We were headed to the Tourist office where our tour was picking us up. When we arrived the bus was there and waiting and we hopped on without a hitch. Our tour guide's name was Martin and the rest of our group was filled with some very loud Americans from California, an elderly French couple, and two younger Asian girls. It was going to be quite the adventure. Our first stop of the day was the port of Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leary). The coast is beautiful. After a quick picture we were back on the bus and headed to the Wicklow mountains. I quickly realized that the country is every bit at beautiful as people describe it to be. It's green and rich and colorful and exciting. We made our first stop at the overlook of a lake and it was pouring outside. And I mean pouring. The picture above was taken there. We were loving every second though. I was pretty soaked in the first ten seconds, but it was completely worth it.

Our next stop was at what may seem like a normal piece of road, but it definitely isn't. We pulled over at the place in P.S. I Love You where Holly and Jerry meet for the first time. We watched the movie the night before so it was fresh in our memories and that much more special. If you haven't seen the movie see it, and then you'll understand exactly why we were so excited. Not only is the area around it beautiful, but it also had a romantic feel to it knowing the story in the movie. All I needed to finish it off was an Irish boy to come sweep me off my feet. Unfortunately I wasn't that lucky. We had a blast taking a bunch of pictures though. I was so happy. My day could have ended there and I would have felt fine about it.

                                                    

After we left the scene behind we kept making our way around the mountains. We stopped at another really beautiful site. It was a huge waterfall that happened due to all the rain they just started receiving. It was seriously breathtaking. You could see where the waterfall started and its ending point in this large, open valley. It was also amazing because the fall colors are just starting to come out over there so they really added a whole new element. At this point Martin decided to give out whiskey shots. Not even kidding. As tempting as it was we politely declined, but our Californians definitely wasted no time in consuming a few...Oh the Irish. At this point it was about time for lunch so we drove into the small town of Laragh (pronounced Laura) and were given a few places to eat. We decided to eat at the most charming Bed and Breakfast ever. It was called The Conservatory and it was amazing. The room we ate in was just windows and skylights and I loved it. We ordered some hot chocolate (that was delicious) and shared a couple scones. I just enjoyed every second. If I ever get back to Ireland I'm determined to stay at this place. It was the most ideal B&B ever.

Our last stop was a beautiful tourist area. It started raining right when we got there of course, but by this point we were way past caring. It had an amazingly old graveyard, and an even more amazing country walk. We had a couple hours so we took our time walking to the ending point--an amazing lake. Everything about the walk was beautiful. It's hard to describe how green and rich all the plants and trees are. I was just in awe. There is something about nature that makes life seem so simple. The three of us had fun chatting about favorite movies, favorite songs, and life in general. When we got to the lake the rain had stopped so it was perfect. The lake was completely still and even had a slight mist coming off of it. We quickly took a bunch of pictures because we knew the weather wouldn't hold out for long. Soon it was time to head back to the bus and then back to Dublin. The ride back was a quick one. We were pretty exhausted by our crazy day, but it was well worth it. I loved experiencing the countryside of Dublin!