Newgrange and Hill of Tara (12.11.2016)

Today it started really early. I had to get up at half past 5 :( those are times!!! But public transportation in Ireland, if any, does not run very often.

Today we took a tourist bus tour to Newgrange, a neolithic tomb, and to the Hill of Tara, which is a small mound where the regional Irish kings had their seat.

The tour was great, we had a great tour guide who gave us a very good historical overview and explained a lot to us. That's what I always missed with SK Dublin Tours, you got a sheet with a few things written on it and that was it. You never knew exactly where you were and what you were seeing...

Newgrange is a huge tomb, with a diameter of 90 meters. Only a very narrow little passage leads inside, where even I had to bend down a lot and that says something. At some points, you have to go through slightly sideways, otherwise you won't be able to get through. There are two entrances, a lower one and an upper one. People go in through the lower one, the sun goes in through the upper one. As a person, you then go up easily, which you hardly notice, inside the floor is at the same level as the entrance for the sun. The burial chamber in the middle is tiny compared to the 90-meter outer diameter, the sun shines into the chamber for a few minutes at the winter solstice and then illuminates the whole space. At the moment, the sun is not shining in, but the whole thing has been recreated electronically with lights and looks very cool, Unfortunately, you were not allowed to take photos inside.

Afterwards, we went to the Hill of Tara, where the tour guide organized an extra tour about the area for us. The tour was very cool, somehow cute. An older gentleman who is passionately involved with the area sang us a song about Tara, then told us a few things and showed us a slideshow.

This tour was worth getting up early for. We were back in Dublin in the late afternoon and then walked along the river for a bit.

Afterwards, I went home to watch the second half of the football game. But that was unfortunately not as cool ;((((

At home, Millie told me that a package from Germany had arrived for me and she put it in front of my room. They should remember that I am not from goddamn Germany!!!! After all, I also don't think all the time that I am in England !!!