Day 10 - Fire, Glendalough

Left Berkeley guest house

Fire! (photos of the fire)
While driving through Wicklow Gap, some emergency workers were turning people around or on detours. They explained there was a fire in the gap and that we could not drive through.
Overall, the detours delayed us slightly over 90 minutes.

The worker who spoke with us gave directions, which we had to write down - being unfamiliar with the area. We programmed each city he listed for us one-by-one in to the GPS.

At one point, about 60 minutes later, our detour led us immediately through the fire - flames rose up on the left and right side of the road, both visible at the same time. Smoke billowed up from the fire on the right in dense sheets that blocked the sunlight like occluding flowing orange curtains. Kristin snapped many photos (see the link above).
Workers by the emergency vehicles stopped us and gave directions as to which paths were safe to take. They instructed us to turn on our "flashers" (hazard lights or "blinkers" in American parlance) and roll up the windows as we drove through the thick smoke.

Visit Glendalough (photos of Glendalough)
Glendalough (wikipedia) has a graveyard (photos of Glendalough graves), ancient church, a nice waterfall, and a pilgrim rest-stop.

While hiking up a trail at Glendalough, a girl asked me to stop and take a picture of her and her friends. I asked if they meant with my camera, and they said yes. I asked how I was to get the picture to them, and she said she would give me her address. I simply asked for her e-mail address, which she gave me after I took their picture, and have since e-mailed the picture to her.

Lunch
We ate lunch at the the bar/lounge at the hotel at Glendalough. I had the roast beef, and asked for the horseradish mustard on the side. Good thing, too! It was spicy! (Ask Kristin...)

Dinner
Dinner was at the lounge at the Clarion hotel at the Dublin Airport, where we stayed on our last night.

Free Internet in the lounge
We'd gone without Internet access for almost three days (shudder) and I spent some time hooked up in the lounge (where the Internet is free) updating the Blog, uploading photos, and e-mailing family that we would be leaving Ireland in the morning.

Although I did not go to the bar itself, the ambiance spilled over into the lobby and lounge area. For starters, they serve the full bar menu (including pub style food) anywhere in the lobby and lounge. Add to that the fact that the bar lights up different (alternating) colors with bright lighting under the bar and around the walls, and you could really get the feel for the place. First they are bright green, then they are purple, then they are red, now yellow, now blue...

[Pictures of the Fire] [Pictures of Glendalough] [Pictures of Glendalough Graves] [All Ireland photos]