Brú na Bóinne and Temair

I finally went to two places near Dublin that were of interest to me. I rented a car and went on a little trip with some of my lovely classmates. I drove us up to Brú na Bóinne (aka Newgrange) to see the Neolithic burial mound. It was beautiful, though a little odd to contemplate the reconstruction of the outside that was done in the 1960s when it was really examined for the first time by an archaeological team. (And they rebuilt the facade that had been obscured by the overgrown hill. We didn't go to Knowth or to Dowth, but I think I will go back to visit all three at another time. (Knowth and Dowth are other burial mounds very nearby and overseen by the same visitor's centre. It contains 1/3 of all known European Neolithic art.)

We then went to lunch in Navan before heading south to Temair (aka The Hill of Tara, and in the midst of an intense debate regarding a proposed motorway that would come very close to it). We saw the Mound of the Hostages and the famous standing stones. I am amazed that the undulations in the earth have remained so defined over the years. I had heard you don't really get the impact unless you see it from the sky, but it was really neat to be in the midst of these huge patterns in the earth that have been there for more than a thousand years.

We ended the day by driving down to Dun Laoghaire and walking near the shore. It was a nice way to end the day. We all had lots of great chats about life, history, art... and we laughed a lot. I forgot my camera, but Chad and Zoi both had theirs so there are at least a couple pictures to mark the day. We all agreed we'll have to do more trips like this in the coming months.