This past Thursday, the day after my "down day", the only thing of note that happened was that I tried driving a different car. David suggested I try an Auris, which is the European version of a Corolla. I enjoyed driving it, Richard was still nervous but David, who was sitting beside me in the front, reassured him that I was doing just fine. But the car is a 2004 and rather tired looking. So it is was a no go. We asked David if he could find us a Fiat 500 which, as Jerry knows, is our favorite small car. He said he will probably have one in three weeks.
The rest of the day we spent at home, watching The Sandbaggers, an old TV series about British Secret Service, and as we were both feeling rather tired, napping. Thus ended Thursday.
Friday morning we were getting ready to go out for awhile so our landlady could take photos for daft.ie (the rental website.) I bent over to pick up something and--OUCH! My lower back felt like an elastic that had been pulled just too far. I managed to straighten up but the elastic didn't really retract and settle down; it pinged and pinged. The rest of the day was a blur of Paracetamol (Irish version of Tylenol) and trying to find a comfortable way to sit down and get up. So we didn't do very much yesterday either.
This morning I felt better and as the day was forecast to be partly sunny, I suggested we go over to Powerscourt. The seats in the Mercedes are more comfortable than anything in the house. We consulted the three possible routes and decided to take the most "scenic" route. R roads--one step below N roads. The scenery was indeed beautiful--we were driving the roads that are part of the famous Wicklow Way--but the roads were hairy. Think of everything you have ever heard about Ireland's narrow, windy roads, and that is about right. But oh the scenery! I don't know who had it worse though--Richard who was driving or me who had to ease myself out of the car to take the photos (danged back!!) Mitzi was in the back and every time we stopped she got excited, thinking we she was going to go bounding out over the fields. Sorry, Mitz, not this time.
Finally, about an hour and a quarter after we set off, we arrived at Powerscourt House and Gardens. Powerscourt has been voted the "Third Most Beautiful Garden in the World" by National Geographic in 2014. Before we left this morning, Richard had wondered if we should wait until March to see it in bloom. I read, however, that Powerscourt is beautiful at any time and felt there were a few reasons we should see it now: (1) when we move to Dunmore East, we will be farther away, (2) there will be more people in March, and (3) today was going to be partly sunny and we had nowhere else to go.
Powerscourt IS beautiful! Even with no flowers blooming, the landscaping, statuary, water features are soul satisfying. And there were quite a few people there today anyway. The main building, Powerscourt House was originally a medieval castle that the 1st Viscount Powerscourt had redesigned and added to between 1730-1741. But, as happens so many with these old castles and buildings, a fire destroyed the interior in 1974. Today the interior contains some interesting gift and design shops and, of course, a cafe and restaurant. We had lunch in the cafe and visited the design shops after we had seen the gardens. Ah the gardens--I can't possibly describe them properly so here are the photos:
The rest of the day we spent at home, watching The Sandbaggers, an old TV series about British Secret Service, and as we were both feeling rather tired, napping. Thus ended Thursday.
Friday morning we were getting ready to go out for awhile so our landlady could take photos for daft.ie (the rental website.) I bent over to pick up something and--OUCH! My lower back felt like an elastic that had been pulled just too far. I managed to straighten up but the elastic didn't really retract and settle down; it pinged and pinged. The rest of the day was a blur of Paracetamol (Irish version of Tylenol) and trying to find a comfortable way to sit down and get up. So we didn't do very much yesterday either.
This morning I felt better and as the day was forecast to be partly sunny, I suggested we go over to Powerscourt. The seats in the Mercedes are more comfortable than anything in the house. We consulted the three possible routes and decided to take the most "scenic" route. R roads--one step below N roads. The scenery was indeed beautiful--we were driving the roads that are part of the famous Wicklow Way--but the roads were hairy. Think of everything you have ever heard about Ireland's narrow, windy roads, and that is about right. But oh the scenery! I don't know who had it worse though--Richard who was driving or me who had to ease myself out of the car to take the photos (danged back!!) Mitzi was in the back and every time we stopped she got excited, thinking we she was going to go bounding out over the fields. Sorry, Mitz, not this time.
Finally, about an hour and a quarter after we set off, we arrived at Powerscourt House and Gardens. Powerscourt has been voted the "Third Most Beautiful Garden in the World" by National Geographic in 2014. Before we left this morning, Richard had wondered if we should wait until March to see it in bloom. I read, however, that Powerscourt is beautiful at any time and felt there were a few reasons we should see it now: (1) when we move to Dunmore East, we will be farther away, (2) there will be more people in March, and (3) today was going to be partly sunny and we had nowhere else to go.
Powerscourt IS beautiful! Even with no flowers blooming, the landscaping, statuary, water features are soul satisfying. And there were quite a few people there today anyway. The main building, Powerscourt House was originally a medieval castle that the 1st Viscount Powerscourt had redesigned and added to between 1730-1741. But, as happens so many with these old castles and buildings, a fire destroyed the interior in 1974. Today the interior contains some interesting gift and design shops and, of course, a cafe and restaurant. We had lunch in the cafe and visited the design shops after we had seen the gardens. Ah the gardens--I can't possibly describe them properly so here are the photos:
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| Pet's Cemetery--much-loved dogs, ponies, horses and cows |
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