Waking up in the morning, with a bit of a hangover, we said our goodbyes to Chase, and jumped in the car to make our way back to Dublin. On the way to Dublin we made a stop at Newgrange, considered one of the most important sights in all of Ireland. Newgrange is a monument that was built over 5,000 years ago, older even than the pyramids. To this day nobody is really sure who built it, or what its true purpose was. It is known that it was used as a tomb, but who or how many were laid to rest here is not known for sure. The one thing that is especially amazing about this site is that on the winter solstice, for about seventeen minutes as the sun rises, the light passes perfectly through a passageway above the entryway and illuminates the entire tomb.
The entrance to the tomb is marked by a giant stone that has some carvings on it, but once again no one is sure what it stands for. Every other people that came to this site since the ancients disappeared, however did recognize its importance and continued to make it a very sacred and religious place for them as well. The view from in front of the temple is just as spectacular, making it clear why this spot was chosen. Rolling hills of green with a mountainous backdrop, that is just stunning. After making the walk into the tomb and having a light show to recreate the rising sun on the solstice we wandered the tomb for a bit before heading back outside to take in the scenery surrounding us.
After leaving Newgrange we dropped of the rental car and headed back to the hostel. Pretty tired from all that we had seen and done in the last ten days in Ireland, we headed off to sleep fairly early and prepared to head to Belfast in the morning. Belfast was very uneventful, so much so that Kristin renamed it Dullfast. Kristin’s plane for London left at 6:30am and my flight to Scotland was at 12:30 so we had a dinner of KFC, a bottle of wine, and some great conversation before saying goodnight and thanking each other for the wonderful time and great fun of driving around this beautiful place before heading off to our rooms and onto our next destinations.
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