England and Ireland---Day 19

Left Belfast this morning in horrible traffic.  Finally out of town heading south toward the Republic.  Again the easy border crossing, back to Irish on the signs.  We are heading to passage tombs in the Boyne Valley.  Newgrange was constructed over 5000 years ago (about 3200 B.C.), making it older than Stonehenge in England and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Newgrange was built during the Neolithic or New Stone Age by a farming community that prospered on the rich lands of the Boyne Valley. Knowth and Dowth are similar mounds that together with Newgrange have been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.  We actually went to Knowth which has the best passages and also seventeen satellite cairns.  The carving on the rocks that make up the curb stones that hold the mound together are decorated with Megalithic Art such as spirals, concentric circles, triangles, zigzags and images which have been interpreted as the sun, moon and the human face. We had a lot of time to wander around the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre, then when up at the site we could wander around and examine the whole site after a short presentation by a guide.

We then drove the rest of the way to Dublin.  Marian explained the method of retrieving our VAT at the airport, and since Nila and I have only 1hr 2 min between planes, we were happy to learn that US customs and immigration are both done here in Ireland.  This is the only place in Europe that this is done, so we don't have to stress about long lines in Newark.

After a short break at the hotel, we reboarded the bus for a tour of South Dublin and a meal at a wonderful restaurant, La Petit Cochon.  Wow, we thought we'd had good food before, and we have had some wonderful food, but this was a whole new level.

Mound mowing--courtesy of Jac