Not quite the leisurely start I had in mind this morning. Ian mentioned that the 24-hour parking ticket ran out by 9am. Not wanting to suffer the same fate as that clamped car, a hurried breakfast and on the road just after 9.
Today we went inland to a place near to Enniskerry, Powerscourt House and Gardens. Not an NT this time so paid the €17 to get in. The gardens are extremely well maintained and one of the best we have seen so far. But as for the house....a fire destroyed the property in 1974 and instead of trying to renovate the rooms back to the original condition, the rooms have been turned into shops and most successfully by all accounts. Excerpt from Powerscourt history
In 1974 a major refurbishment of the house was completed in preparation for it joining the gardens as a visitor attraction. Tragically, in the early hours of November 4th a fire broke out on the top floor of Powerscourt House and by the morning the main part of the house was a roofless shell. No-one was injured, but all of the principal reception rooms and bedrooms were destroyed. The walls of the main house, revealing stonework dating back to the 13th century, stood as a stark reminder of the fire for over twenty years. In 1996 the house was re-roofed and it was opened to the public by President Mary Robinson in 1997.
Powerscourt House today is home to the best of Irish design in gifts, clothes and furniture. The Avoca Terrace Café offers the finest Irish artisan, freshly prepared food.
If shopping had been our thing we would have loved, as it was we left to visit the waterfall.
6 km, further along, was Powerscourt Waterfall. Pulling into the car park a chap by a kiosk wanted €6 to get in. Hmmm, this was the first time we have ever had to pay to view a waterfall but because this was the highest falls in Ireland we paid the fee and got parked.
If rain had fallen this waterfall would have been amazing. Even so, it was still impressive and clambering over rocks in the river bed (would have been submerged when heavy rain fell so would not have been able) the different views we got made it even more worth the visit.
Leaving after 40 minutes we wanted to see the Monastic site at Glendalough. It was about 23 km away and with the time now well after 2pm didn't anticipate any problems. Well, the place was heaving and to top it all the parking fee for the Beast was €15. No way Jose' were we prepared to pay that! So after struggling to turn the Beast, it was decided to travel up the Wicklow Gap and find somewhere to stop. And didn't we fall on our feet again? This must be third as the best overnight stop we have stayed at.
A Siko deer seen at Glendalough
And these signs on the ladies toilets door.
2 comments:
Those Irish ladies obviously do some crazy things in their toilets!
Ah but I think this is aimed at the Asians. Found the same type of notices in the Airports when we went to Crete. There is an article in the Express https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/588825/Signs-explain-how-to-SIT-on-a-toilet-after-growing-numbers-of-Asian-tourists-STAND-on-loo.
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