We came upon this spectacular work by Caravaggio in Dublin. Of course my photo in no way conveys its perfection. I leave this here as a note in the sand. Should you find yourself in Dublin, see it.
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| The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio National Gallery of Ireland |
After five days in Dublin, known in medieval times as The Pale, we rented a car and began this crazy, month long drive beyond The Pale.
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| Tiny Ireland is barely the size of the US state of Indiana photo source: bleemo.com |
I fell immediately under the spell of the emerald isle.
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| One of Ireland's 10 gazillion such enchanted passageways |
Our first base was south, in Kilkenny. It's about an hour and a half from Dublin on the main road but it took us all day . . .
because we drove the single lane back roads . . .
and stopped a lot along the way.
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| Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, Glencree, Co. Wicklow, Ireland |
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| Swami & Juan Carlos loved the dark wood. |
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| Graveyard in Glendalough dating back to the 10th century |
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| Grove in Glendalough |
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| Medieval chapel in Glendalough |
We also listened to a lot of music along the way including "I Dream a Highway" by Gillian Welch which proved to be almost too much.
Later M. Lee mentioned that during the drive he'd never felt so depressed in his entire life.
2 comments:
It seems like a good place to visit. It's such a cultural well. I'm curious if in that regard the overall net effect is that of "returning to the source" or of simply looking back but glad to be moving on.
Hmmmm.... well not exactly "returning to the source" but getting an unvarnished look at life and history in the raw. There are lonely roadside neolithic tombs from 2000 BC and castles built in the 13th and 14th century standing in open fields, remains of Ireland's brutal feudal history. And then there's the Great Famine from 1845 – 1852 which I think was a British genocide. Visiting a famine graveyard was mind-blowing, 3000 to 7000 people buried in mass graves in tiny cemeteries. It gets personal because I'm part Irish. So yes, there is also an element of 'looking back and glad to be moving on'.
On the up side, after driving the twisty back roads for over two and a half weeks now, I must add that the country is incredibly beautiful and wild like no other place I've ever been and some of the people I've met along the way are unforgettable for their humor, depth, and soulful views of life and the world.
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