Lough delights

Wow, what a gorgeous weekend. Yesterday, I met up with my galpal Saoirse and a couple of her friends, and we went for a hike in the Wicklow mountains. It's ironic, because I actually love Dublin, but one of the things I really appreciate about it is the fact that you can leave it so quickly. Well, at least you can outside of the commuting rush. And the mountains are, like, right there. You can see 'em from the city, but at a distance they don't look so special and there's no way to know just how beautiful and wild and extraordinary they really are.

We hiked around a lake -- two lakes, actually -- Lough Dan and Lough Bray. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and from the top of the mountain we could see all the way to the sea and the girls told me that on a *really* clear day, you can see to Wales. I couldn't believe just how gorgeous it all was -- and it was also hard to understand how come the place wasn't just full of people (tho' it's definitely best like that -- you can pretend you're totally in the middle of nowhere). While it wasn't exactly rock climbin (I actually saw a little boy doing the walk) we felt very exercised afterwards, and all the way back into town I kept thinking: "This is it! I'm going to move to the countryside and raise chickens and cows!"

Then we got back and reality sank in. But still, to know that when I need a fix of the wilderness, it's just half an hour away is good. Honestly, I think a lot of Dubliners just don't appreciate what they've got right there, on their doorstep.

There's a neat place out there, too, called the Glencree Reconciliation Centre. All I can see is, if anything's gonna put your mind on reconciliation, it's being in such a beautiful spot.