My 125 Days in Ireland: Day 48 & 49: An am atá thart, I láthair, Todhchaí

This weekend started off with another visit with my distant cousin, Sister Eileen. She took me to the National Botanical Gardens. Even though it was late February, the weather was quite nice and there were a decent amount of flowers in bloom in the gardens and especially in the greenhouses at the front of the property.

inside one of the greenhouses

Daffodils!! (my favorite flower in bloom)

After having lunch and walking around the grounds of the botanical garden, I went to see my Valentine’s Day present from my parents. I chose to see a theater performance called “Breaking Dad” at the Gaiety Theatre. This play is a comedy takes place in Dublin in about 10 years. The main character finds out that his teenage daughter is dating a boy that could possibly be his son from a previous relationship, and figuring out his relationship with the boy while trying to keep it hidden from the daughter. It was really good and definitely gave me a little bit more of an insight into how Irish families act.

entrance to the Gaiety Theatre

stage all set for the show!

On Sunday, I had my first field trip for the Discovering Ireland: Landscapes archaeology class. We went southwest from Dublin to the Wicklow Mountains. Our first stop was Castledermot to visit a Christian monastery that has since been rebuilt several times. Over the years different generations have added their own additions to the area including 2 intricate Celtic crosses. The next stop was to Brownes Hill. It is a megalithic tomb, dolmen, where generations of family members have been buried over the years. The last stop of the day is to one of the most impressive ruins I've ever seen. We went to a site called Ballymoon Castle. This place was apparently the playboy house of the ruling family. It held a massive great hall with two massive fireplaces and a private room on each end. It also had these beautiful windows across all four walls.