Our first official scenic drive and we decided that since it was a stunning day we would go hard (and then go home). We headed to the jewel in Wicklow's crown, the Wicklow Mountains National Park and Glendalough (work with me and start pronouncing it as Glendalock now). The drive was outstanding - amazing day for photography with a grand mix of blue sky, stormy clouds and sunshine. Glendalough means 'the valley of the two lakes' and we enjoyed a bracing walk from the lower lake to the upper and then looped around the lower lake and back via the boardwalk. Many folks were dressed just like us in regular, albeit warm, clothes. This is also a jumping off point for some massive walks (slogs, hikes, tramps?) involving folks with special walking sticks and heavy duty hiking clothes - phew! They looked a bit too serious. The highlight of Glendalough for us was the Monastic City and its iconic Round Tower. It is one of the most important monastic sites in Ireland and was actually founded by St Kevin in the 6th century (funny - we'd never heard of St Kevin before and now he's everywhere). St Kevin's Way is an official walking route and there are nifty little St Kev signposts around and about that point you in the correct direction. In olden times this was the main pilgrim route to Glendalough. People would converge at the Saint's holy well in the village of Hollywood before starting their pilgrimage to the saint's resting place in the Monastic City. When St Kev came to the area in the 6th century he was in search of solitude and piety. (Which makes us think Ireland must have been jolly crowded in the 6th century - we have loads of solitude down our little lane way!). Anyway he lived as a hermit for a few years in a small cave in the side of a cliff. He must have had enough solitude at some point as he eventually founded a monastery (imagine the advert.  "Loner seeks similar fellows to be alone together with"). The monastery expanded and pilgrims came from far and wide to worship as the years passed and apparently the Monastic City was one of the most renowned centres of learning in Europe. Today there are the remains of 7 churches, a medieval cathedral and the amazing round tower. By far the most impressive monument in the city, it stands 33 metres high, was built around 1000 years ago and was actually the bell tower to call the monks of St Kevin's monastery to prayer. It originally had 6 floors - wooden and now completely gone. The door is almost 4 metres off the ground - probably accessed via a ladder that could then be pulled up for security purposes if the monks were under attack - and obviously a great look out point to determine friend or foe. It's in incredible condition all things considered and only the roof has been replaced - due to an unfortunate lightning strike in 1876. The whole site is fascinating and looking at the photos we took and doing a bit more research... we think we might have to drive there again for another look - fortunately a) it's free and b) it's only a 35 minute scenic drive from home. Brilliant. Finished off our big day out with a stop at the 80 metre cascade waterfall of Glenmacnass ('the glen of the hollow of the waterfall) just outside the town of Laragh before heading to our final stop - the Sally Gap. It's a crossroads between Kippure Mountain and the Djouce Mountain that's high by local standards at 500 metres and these days is usually referenced in snow reports during winter. Historically it's a cross roads of the Old Military Road which was built to allow the British troops to get to the rebels holed up in the mountains. Great day out had by all and we are lucky to be able to do drives like this during the week and in late Autumn - can only imagine how busy the roads and sites would be on a Summer weekend.