^UP^

Glendalough and Wicklow, July 2016

A brief Summer break in Ireland has been our custom for the past few years. This time, we picked Wicklow. There's a fantastic luxury hotel at Powerscourt, but we opted for the more modest option, the Glendalough.

But first, a look at Wicklow town itself. We took a walk around the harbour and up to Black Castle. A class of Italian teenagers were all over it. Posing, mostly.

Walking along the riverside, we heard a splash and saw a large seal in the water, but neither of us was fast enough to get his photograph. A few steps further on we saw the signs and realised we'd glimpsed a celebrity. He jumps out of the water and visits the local chip shop.

We drove the short distance to Glendalough and checked in at the hotel. It's old and perhaps you'd call it shabby, but I prefer "authentic". Our room looked as though it had been decorated last in the nineteen-eighties, but the large bathroom was new.

At check in, we booked dinner. As it happened, the head waiter was passing through reception at the time and asked if we minded eating at an "early" seven o'clock. "I 'ave zees large group latter." he explained. Fine by us.

What I hadn't actually realised at the time of booking is how close the hotel is to the ancient monastic site. About twenty metres, in fact! We had a quick reconnoitre, intending to "do" the site the next day.

At the appointed hour, we went to the restaurant. It was almost empty, and we never did see any evidence of the "large group". We were attended by the waiter, a very friendly young Indian, who first asked us "Are you on the special deal?"

"Well," I replied, "No, but perhaps we'd like to be..."

"I'll check with reception," said our waiter, and disappeared. We heard no more about it. The hotel's restaurant is actually a bridge across the river, giving fantastic views. The food is good too.

After our meal, it was still daylight, and we went back to the monastic site for another brief tour, Grace inappropriately in heels. (We'd dressed for dinner, of course.) Then it was back to the hotel's friendly pub for a nightcap.

Next morning, not hung over at all, oh no, we checked out, and found that our friendly waiter had indeed got us the "special deal" and our four-course dinners had cost us a ridiculous €15 each!

We visited the monastic ruins again, and then took a long walk around the lakes. (Glendalough means "valley of two lakes".) The weather was good and the scenery beautiful.

When we completed the circuit and came back in sight of the hotel, we saw a deer in the river, directly underneath the restaurant, the second wildlife-related feature of our trip.

We decided to head for the coast, and get lunch in Bray. It's a seaside resort and is well-equipped with bars and cafes. It was pretty busy with traffic, but I saw a supermarket car park that would be just a short walk to the prom. I drove in and found a space.

We had lunch outdoors, overlooking the sea, and then took a stroll. But the weather was changing, and instead of the warm sunshine, we now had gusty squalls of rain. We went back to the car, and discovered that it had been clamped by parking ticket enforcement!

The devious bastards of NCPS had clearly informed users of the requirement to buy a parking ticket by pasting A4-sized notices to the lamp posts... well above eye level. Well, I hadn't seen them. There was a number to call to get your car released, but it wouldn't work with either of our mobiles, since they were from an other country. Fortunately, the girl on the Customer Services desk at SuperValu was a complete star and made the call for us, taking my credit card to make the release payment on the robotic system. The robot, having taken the payment, said that a worker would come "within three hours" to unlock the clamp, but he appeared in under ten minutes. I was not rude. He was only doing his job.

Free at last, we drove home.