Every now and then you just find the perfect piece of road, with the perfect road trip partner, in the perfect car.
Well, I hit two out of three, anyway.
I would have traded out our little VW Polo rental for something a little more sporty, but a least it’s a manual transmission, so still pretty fun to drive. Besides, the drive was a treat. It was the perfect narrow ribbon of asphalt winding through the rolling hills, cliffs, and low mountains of County Wicklow, through meadows of heather, low brush and pine forests.
It was the perfect afternoon adventure for the quintessential Irish road trip.
The perfect stretch of road in the perfect place.
I feel like I have seen this landscape in a dozen Irish movies.
The road runs past Guinness Lake. Strangely, I thought the lake would be a dark brownish-black color with a tan foam on it. Hmmm?
Maybe it was just that I was hoping it would be?
Tam is not very good at following the advice on warning signs. Luckily, she didn’t fall off the cliff.
An Irish deer.
We hiked up a really nice trail through this pine forest, and out over the meadows of heather. The pathways were done in these crazy planks. It must get really muddy here.
Just a super pretty spot in the Wicklow Woods.
Our drive took us to Glendalough, where we took a stroll on some very touristed paths through some more ruins and a graveyard and out along a lake.
This little church was remarkably intact. It is very rare to find these places from the twelfth century that still have roofs in such good shape.
Sometimes these old cemeteries are almost enough for me to rethink the whole cremation thing. It seems like a nice pace to hang out for a few thousand years…
On the path along the lake we found this tree with the perfect branch to sit on. How could you possibly resist?
And then… Ice cream!
The perfect end to a perfect day out exploring great places with my favorite person.
