Spent a lovely relaxing morning in the cafe/pub at the Truman located in our hotel, Buswells. What a charming lovely old place. Dates from late 1800’s, and is quite lovely.

We sat in the drawing room and ordered up a couple of scones, hit chocolate, and an herbal tea. The scones were fresh and served with this divinely delicious cream and raspberry jam and the most tasty butter. Tea was served with lumps of white and brown sugar. All on China. We read our newspapers and enjoyed our English breakfast and enjoyed the atmosphere.

We joined up with some like minded adventurers and went out for the evening on a musical pub crawl. Usually pub crawls are to hit as many pubs in the Temple Barbdistrict of Dublin and see how many pints you can down while listening to Irish music.

We elected to go with a musical group which consisted of one fiddle player, Andy, who plays tunes and a guitar player, Paul, who plays songs. We followed them to three different pubs while they taught us about Irish music, Irish instruments, and Irish songs and tunes.

We had a great evening.

Do you know what the three main Irish instruments are?

The fiddle, the bodhrán, and Irish pipes (sort of similar to Scottish bag pipes but way harder to play!) called Uilleann pipes (pronounced sort of like Aaleen) A bodhrán is a sort of drum like instrument.

We learned a valuable lesson in crossing busy streets. Do as the Dubliners do. Ignore the crossing signs when they are red. Cross when you feel like it. Whatever you do don’t push the button to let the signal know you are waiting. The go walking light has a little green man and the stop walk sign has a little red man. And that’s what they call them. So look left and look right before crossing, ignore the little red man, cross with everyone else and hope you don’t get run over.

One of the charming things about Dublin are the various colorfully painted doors of the residential row homes.

This morning we boarded a small van along with eight other people and our tour guide, Hugh, for a tour of some of the ancient sites north of Dublin. Newgrange, Monasterboice, castle Trim, and the Hill of Tara.

Newgrange’s centerpiece is a huge cairn type tomb, older than the pyramids of Giza. We were fortunate to get tickets to go inside. It is not allowed to take photos inside the structure. If you want to know more Wikipedia has a descriptive article. Click Here.

There are many other similar structures scattered around the area. Only this one has been restored and excavated. This one is one of the largest. You could see other cairns in farmers fields with sheep roaming around it or fields of forage planted around.

We saw many sheep, not too many cows. The land is so lush and green.

Our next stop was Monasterboice. Originally the site of a monastery dating back to 512 AD. The site has an old conical tower and three High Crosses dating back to the 10th century. This site has the tallest and most well known High Crosses in Ireland. The crosses depict various scenes of bible stories. When they were erected they were painted in bright dramatic colors.

There is the ruins of an old church and a cemetery. The cemetery has old burials as well as ones recently placed.

The tower is of interest because it is one of the many dotted around the Irish country side. Their use is debatable but all have an entrance door that was placed high above the ground level that at one twine was only accessible with a ladder.

Heading out for our next site we stopped in the little village of Slane for lunch. We had delicious sandwiches homemade with local grain rustic bread. Delicious. A musician entertained us with some Irish music on his guitar and harmonica.

Next stop Trim Castle, the largest Norman castle in Ireland from the 12th century. It is in remarkable condition all though mostly ruins. The keep and guard gates and curtain walls are in remarkable condition. The place is quite large.

Some of the movie, Braveheart, with Mel Gibson, was filmed here.

The town of trim is quite charming.

We only had 50 minutes to explore. Wish we had more time so we could have taken a tour of the keep.

The castle sits aside the river Boyne which used to be accessible from the sea.

On our travel up to Trim we crossed the area of the Battle of the Boyne. A very important battle that left a lasting mark on Irish history. Click Here for more info.

Onto one of the most revered sites in Ireland, the Hill of Tara. It’s an ancient landscape with passage tombs from 4th century BC, myth, magic, and history both modern and ancient.

Tomb of the Hostages.

The Lia Fàil standing stone. Associated with the inauguration of the ancient kings of Ireland. It is said the next king of Ireland will be manifest when he touches the stone. We touched the stone. Nothing remarkable happened.

Cute little ice cream truck in parking lot. They do not play the American ice cream truck music. Heehee. Couldn’t resist. Cones all around.

Oh, guess who we found? St. Patrick, himself. Well, a statue of him. If you look really close you’ll see a shamrock in his outstretched right hand.

Flying on European trip with only a carryon and a satchel. First attempt packing carryon was a total fail. Sides were bulging. Had to remove many items. Difficult to pack for two climate zones and four countries. But got ‘er done.

Oh, had to bring along my sponsors, Cindy and John.

Settled in on plane. First up a glass of water. Sooo thirsty!

American Airlines to connecting flight in Chicago.

Ventriloquist extraordinaire and we are going to the show tonight!!

After an Italian meal at the Osteria Costa.

Starting point, Las Vegas. Destination? Many amazing places across the pond.

Hi, I’m Bonnie McFee. I’ll be the narrator for this trip.

Here is a view from my hotel in Vegas.

Kenko is a one of the largest wa’kas (holy sites) in the Sacred Valley where sacrifice and mummification may have taken place. 

A classic Inka wall layed out in a semi circular pattern faces an unfinished stone puma carving located above ground. 

Behind this area are huge grey rocks that conceal a cave with a large ‘sacrificial’ altar. 

We had a wonderful adventure in Machu Picchu. The hike down from the Sun Gate was spectacular with views of the valley, mountains, jungle, and Machu Picchu. Can you find the citadel in this pic?

The huge carved granite rock and small wall with niches is about 2/3 of the way down the trail from the Sun Gate. Not sure of the Inka significance. But, hikers will pick up a small rock from the start of their hike and once they have completed their quest will place their Little Rock upon the ancient stone and offer up a prayer or meditation of gratitude. 

Walking on the rocky steps and stones of the original Inka trail – amazing. 

We made it back to the site after a 2 hour hike. Worth every careful, slow paced, thigh busting step. 

Huyana Picchu (Young Mountain), looms over the citadel of Machu Picchu (Old Mountain)

One last moment shared together before we head down to the village. 

Listen to the early evening sounds of the close of the day on Machu Picchu. Enjoy the amazing ingenuity and craft of the rock terraces, steps, water channeling and walls of the Inka. Oh, and a little clippity clop of a hiker. Guess who?

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After taking the bus into the village we stopped for a bite to eat at a funky little place, the Indio Feliz. The Franco-Peruvian food was delicious and the atmosphere chaotically delightful. 

In the official language of the native Quechua people and language of the Inka… rikunakusun (goodbye) to Machu Picchu and the trip of a lifetime. 

Off to catch the train….

The Sun Gate or Inti Punku, was once the original entrance to Machu Picchu.

 If you do the three or four day hike on the Inca trail up to Machu Picchu it is the first view you will see of the citadel. 

On the other hand if you are already on site of Machu Picchu you can take the Inka trail up to the Sun Gate. The hike up takes about an hour or so. The climb is moderately steep so take it slow. The vistas are beautiful with short spots in the shade of jungle. 

From the top of the mountain the site of Machu Picchu is very far away. Binoculars are useful here. 

Look. A Llama hood print. Could there be a llama ahead?

Look! A llama!

We made it!! The famous Sun Gate through which many an adventurer have glimpsed their first glorious view of Machu Picchu. 

There is a marvelous piece of Inka ingenuity called the Inka Bridge. Maybe it was a secret intrance to Machu Picchu? Several wooden beams could be placed, or removed, across a 90 foot gap along a trail with a 1,900 foot cliff drop. 

It’s a lovely short hike through cooling jungle foliage with magnificent vistas. 

The return hike, mostly uphill. A beautiful walk with few hikers.