Day Four- Wicklow

Today was a lovely day- with no rain!

We got up early and headed towards downtown to catch a bus to Wicklow. While we were waiting for the bus, my dad realized he didn’t have his wallet… that also had his passport. Naturally, we all started to freak out a bit.

My dad went to retrace his steps and ended up going to a hotel close by to call our hotel to call the cab we were in. The bus was leaving in a few minutes. I went to the hotel and took my dad’s coat and frantically searhed it- he is not the type of guy to lose *anything* let alone something that important. And bam! It was in the very, very lower inner pocket of the coat- a pocket that would have been below his knees. Disaster averted. And the freak out concluded.

After that little fright, we got on the bus and took a lovely tour of Wicklow, a gorgeous area about an hour outside of Dublin with rolling hills, breathtaking views of the moutains and quaint villages. A lot of my pictures were taken through the window of the bus, so they aren’t that great.

We got a tour of Avoca, a lovely little village, and I finally got to take some photos of my family. Afterall, I bought the tickets to Ireland for my family to celebrate my parents’ 25 year wedding anniversary. We didn’t have a whole lot of time, but I did get to snap a few off. I even trusted my dad with my 5D (this is a guy who calls the internet the “dot com” and asked me if I had enough film for Ireland) to take a few photos. I’m happy to say my camera is still in one piece.

We got back to Dublin around 4:30 and did some shopping (uhm, finally!) then headed to Arlington Bar to do the oh-so-touristy (but oh-so-cool!) traditional Irish dinner with music and dancing.

Some of you may know that I did Irish dancing competitively for 10 years, so I couldn’t wait to see some dancing in Dublin! The band was fantastic and the dancers were, as they say here in Ireland, brilliant. Most impressive.

I can’t believe we leave tomorrow! This was such a short trip, but I know I’ll be back. Next time we’ll head to County Monoghan to see the McKenna family.

Anyway, it’s late here and I should be packing. I’ll be back in DC and ready for business on January 3rd.

A great view of Wicklow coming over the bridge

Wicklow Gap

Celtic Cross

St. Kevin’s

My mom and dad- 25 years!

My brother and I- do you think we look alike?

Irish dancing