Today was a history tour, very old history. Sister Kate is doing very well but they didn't want her to fly before Thursday. I'm staying because I'm going to see her all the way home, and besides, I'm not coming all the way to Ireland to see nothing other than the inside of a two star hospital.
I had heard about Newgrange for years but had no idea it was in Ireland and so close to Dublin. It's a Neolithic site built 1500 years prior to the pyramids. It's basically a portal or passageway tomb built of stone and covered with earth that is oriented such that its interior is directly illuminated only at dawn on the day of the winter solstice. It's one of those places, like Stonehenge, that really fascinates me.
We were so very lucky to be here today. First, because Kate was well so we could be there. Second, because it was a sunny day, which is rare this time of year. And finally, because it is so near Winter Solstice, we were able to see at least indirect light illuminating the passageway. They have a lottery for tickets to get in on the day of the Solstice itself. About 30,000 people enter that drawing. We were there just a few days early and we had a private tour, thanks to missing the first group of the day. I was very glad because its a very tight space inside and I wouldn't have been comfortable in a group of 24 crammed into a hole in the ground.
After Newgrange we visited the Hill of Slane, the site of an old monastery and cemetery. Then we went to Monasterboice, another cemetery with some of the finest high crosses in Ireland dating back to the 10th century.
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