A visit to the Neolithic Passage Tombs at Newgrange

We left County Clare and headed back across Ireland to Trim, just north of Dublin. We decided to visit the Neolithic passage tombs at Newgrange and Knowth. We were lucky to arrive in time to visit both sites. Buses take you from the visitors centre to each site as independent tours. We visited the Knowth site first. There is one very large tomb and several smaller ones are Knowth.

This is the large tomb with a smaller one in front.

Here is a different small one.

These structures contain inner passageways that lead to central chambers. There are two passageways in the large tomb leading to different chambers. The amazing thing is that these structures are 5000 years old, pre-dating the pyramids. The Irish guide was proud to note that they also pre-date Stonehenge in England by 1000 years. These sites contain about 3/4 of all the Neolithic art in Europe and most of it is at Knowth. The passageways are closed to the public to protect the art, which is etchings on rock.

The site at Newgrange is the most famous. After its use some 5000 years ago it was sealed until the passages and chamber were rediscovered in 1699. Much of the material inside Newgrange has been lost. In the 1970s, there was an attempt to rebuilt the dry stone rock walls in a way that they might have looked 5000 years ago.

This is the entrance to the passageway. There is only one passageway that has been discovered at Newgrange. The passageway is 60 feet long and leads to a large chamber that has a high vaulted ceiling, The chamber is 20 feet high at its central point. The guide pointed out that we were standing under one of the oldest human-built roofs in the world and after 5000 years, it still does not leak! There are three smaller chambers off the main chamber each with a large flat basin stone where the bones of the dead were laid. Newgrange is referred to as a passage tomb, but perhaps temple is a better description. The passageway is aligned with the rising sun on the winter solstice so that as the sun rises, the light gradually moves down the passageway until it reaches chamber. This must have been a place of spiritual and religious significance.

Note the opening above the door. This 'roof-box' is where the sun shines in illuminating the central chamber during the winter solstice.

Also notice the designs on the rock. These designs were created 5000 years ago. The interconnected spirals are amazingly complex.

This is the view looking in from the door. We were permitted to enter the tomb and go to the central chamber but we were not permitted to take pictures inside. This is a special place and standing in the central chamber I felt the same kind of awe that I felt a few years ago when we visited St Paul's cathedral in London.

We stayed in the village of Ballyvaughn in County Clare for two nights. County Clare is on the west coast of Ireland. Monday was our touring day. We started with a drive through an area called the Burren. This a strange landscape of exposed limestone that covers about 300 sq km.

While there is little but rock on the Burren, there are an amazing array of tiny flowering plants especially in the spring.

Surprisingly, despite the apparent barrenness,  this area supported large numbers of people in ancient times. There are many historic sites. We stopped to explore the Poulnabrone Dolmen on our way. This is an 4500-year old neolithic tomb.

Besides the Burren, the cliffs of Moher were the other site we were particularly interested in seeing. We did a boat ride and then visited the top of the cliffs.These cliffs are among the highest sea cliffs in Europe and reach a height of 710ft.

Notice O'Brien's tower on top of the cliff. We took a picture of it when we did our walk on the trail at the top of the cliffs.

 This sea stack is home to one of the largest sea bird colonies in Ireland.

 Here is O'Brien's column from on top of the cliff

You can O'Brien's in this picture. It gives some prospective to the height of the cliff.

Kilkenny to Clare County

Our car is a little diesel Renault. It is well suited for the narrow twisty roads we have encountered.

We are using a combination of a GPS and road atlas to navigate. Sometimes the GPS decides to take the most direct route which may involve narrow, unnamed roads with ridiculously high posted speed limits. This is an example of a 100 km/hr road. I typically travel at about 65 km, much to the frustration of those behind.

On Saturday we took a walk around Kilkenny before leaving for County Clare. Here is Kilkenny Castle. As you can see, rain is on its way.

Since we had a long drive, we only did one stop along the way. That was at Dunmore cave for a tour.

Enjoying our first few days in Ireland

Today is Monday, July 6. We have been touring Ireland for three days. The cooler temperatures have been a relief from the heat wave that we experienced the last couple of days in Germany.

We picked up our car on Saturday and drove through the Wicklow mountains on our way to Kilkenny. On our way we stopped at Glendalough. A monastery was founded on this site by St Kevin sometime around 550 AD. The site flourished until 1398 when it was plundered by English soldiers.

 The 11th and 12th century round tower is perfectly preserved and stands at 100ft.

 This is a ruin of the cathedral that dates from the 7th century.

This is St Kevin's chapel

The site is located in a valley with two lakes. After walking the trail down to the lakes, we continued our drive to Kilkenny.

Today is Friday. We finished our cycling tour on Wednesday and spent yesterday in Koblenz. Today is a travel day. We will take a train to Frankfurt airport and then a flight to Dublin. We didn't get much posted during our cycling trip. We had issues with WiFi access and when we did have access, we didn't have time.

Before I post some pictures, I have to give you some sense of riding the Moselle cycle path. Most of the people riding the trail are actually older than us. This is a relaxed place. People pedal along at a relaxed pace with a smile on their face stopping frequently at the many trail side cafes and restaurants. There are outdoor patios everywhere decorated with vines and beautiful flowers.The Moselle is all about white wine and enjoying life. There is mile after mile of vineyards and thousands of places to sample and buy wine. I had a preconception that German people would serious and reserved. What we found in the countryside and small villages is that the people were warm and friendly. We stayed at a number of small family-owned inns and were often served by two or three generations of the family. Family members sometimes ate on the outdoor patios and conversations were enthusiastic and punctuated with robust laughter.

Here are some photos from our first day.

The river with the vineyards on the hills. This is typical scenery. It is like this for miles and miles.

A cold drink at our first break.

Vineyards for miles and miles.

 Much of the trail is on paths beside the river and through fields of grape vines. However there are sections where the trail is beside the highway. I'm checking the map.

 Time to stop for a little break.

 Found someone to take our picture

This patio is at a vineyard. A place to stop and sample the local vine, which we did.

At our destination for the first night, our innkeeper suggested we walk up the hill on the opposite side of the river to have dinner at a restaurant perched on top of the hill. This is a view to the river and Trittenheim, where we are staying.

Another view from the hill.

Dinner on the patio at the top of the hill. Not a bad table eh? Worth the walk!

 Another view of the river and Trittenheim. It was a long walk to we took lots of pictures.

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Monday - from Zell

It is now Monday and we have three days of cycling behind us. The Moselle region is beautiful and the cycling path has been excellent.

Tonight we are at a hotel in Zell with WiFi, but is is late. We decided to go to a wine festival down by the river so there is no time to post any pictures. Pretty boring blog huh?...but a great vacation.

Hopefully tomorrow night we will have WiFi and a little time.

Our Trip Begins...

Finally at a hotel with WiFi. We are behind on our posts...

Thursday, June 25, 2015

We start a new European holiday today.

There are two distinct parts to the trip we have planned. We are starting a 5 day self-guided cycling holiday along the Moselle River Cycle path in Germany on Saturday. Then we fly to Ireland for a driving tour.

Today is a transportation day, or more precisely day-night-day. We fly to Frankfurt tonight, then take a train to Koblenz and then on to Trier. We should arrive in Trier on Friday afternoon. Trier is the starting point of our cycling tour. The travel books describe it as an ancient Roman city with some of the most impressive Roman ruins north of the Alps. I hope we will have the energy to have a look around on Friday, but I expect we will be very tired.

I am writing this on the plane en route to Frankfurt. Hopefully there will be an opportunity to post this in Frankfurt while we are waiting for our train.

Friday, June 26, 2015

Our trip to Trier on Friday went mostly OK with a few frustrations. The train ride from the Airport to Trier took almost 4 hours. I think the guy at the train station at the airport sent us on the milk run. Lots of stops and a one 7-minute frantic train change. When we got to Trier, the ‘three’ minute taxi ride to the hotel described in our guide, turned into half an hour due to construction and cost almost as much as our train ride. So by the time we got to the hotel we were very tired and hungry. We pulled ourselves together and found a bus to take us to the city center.

Trier was actually very nice and deserved more time than we had, We only had a few hours to explore before we had to get back to our hotel to sort out some stuff. We found the Porta Nigra which is apparently the best preserved Roman town gate north of the Alps. It was built in 180 AD.

We also saw the beautiful Dom (Cathedral) which, according to the guide books is the oldest Christian church north of the Alps. The original church was built on this site by Constantine in 330 AD. The current building is much new dating from 1035.

We also had time to walk to the ruins of Roman imperial bathes. This site was closed to the public however the ruins were still impressive from the outside.