12 Nov 2015

Ireland - from Dublin on to County Kildare and Galway

3 October 2015

Being on a tour means your time isn't your own. Granted in this way we could see a lot more of a country than we otherwise would. The Globus tour is actually one of the best there is. This particular tour for example would be partially active but not as hectic as many tours are. Today which is our 2nd day we would be visiting an Irish Stud Farm in County Kildare. Ireland is famous for breeding race horses and this farm is also a show house for Irish race horse breeding. We arrived at the farm around 9 am and were greeted by two ladies who would take us around  and answer any questions pertaining to the farm. 
It's a fascinating place- very beautifully landscaped with lots of trees around the paddocks, lakes and gardens. The horses were healthy looking and were kept mainly for breeding purposes. Sometimes horse breeders from as far as Australia, Japan and even Bahrain would send their mares here for breeding. Most of the horses were famous racers. 
  






After the horse farm we next stopped at Glendalough , an old town famous for its centuries old church and graveyard . We walked around looking at the stone architecture of this 11th century ruins of what once had been a cathedral. Here too the scenery was stunning and peaceful. A small but deep looking brook wound along beneath the trees and there were lots of other tourists too. I saw groups of excited Japanese ladies chatting, a few headscarfed ladies who I presume to be Muslims too and also some Indian men in turbans. 
After walking around the graves of past Irish poets, lords and ladies etc, Repin and I had had enough of it so we decided to go back to the cafe. There we had a quick lunch of a vegetarian quich and tea. 
By 2 pm we were back on the bus , going towards Connemara to visit an abbey an also the famous Connemara marble factory.