The last couple of days have brought better weather.
We went to the beautiful historic site of Glendalough (Gleann Dá Loch) yesterday, which was basking in glorious sunshine. Glendalough is the site of a glacial valley, but there are also monastic ruins, lakes and other interesting features.
Parking took a while, as the site is incredibly popular with locals and tourists alike. Eventually, though, we did manage to park and then went to visit the ruins. Afterwards, we walked to the upper lake, which was flanked by beautiful, tree-studded hills.
Today was overcast, but very warm. We went to the village of Avoca (Abhóca), which rose to fame as the setting for the old BBC drama series, Ballykissangel.
The village itself isn’t terribly interesting, but it’s also the site of the oldest working woollen mill in Ireland, owned and run by the Avoca company, a.k.a. Avoca Handweavers. We had a good lunch at the mill’s café and bought a couple of lamb’s wool throws at the shop.
After the scenic drive back, we took Eloïse to Greystones beach, which she had been patiently asking for all day. A quick trip to the playground finished off the day and we returned home to a lovely dinner, prepared by Oma Bernie.
Our trips out and about have only spanned a few hours each day, leaving the larger part of the day for chatting and getting to know my half-brothers. Eloïse, too, has revelled in getting to know her uncles. She has warmed to them very quickly and loves to kick a football around the lawn with them.
Tomorrow will be our last day here for the foreseeable future. On Wednesday, we’ll make a short hop northwards to the Irish capital, Dublin, and continue our journey there.