An Old Grave and a New Beer

We boarded our coach early this morning and headed north to the Boyne Valley to visit Newgrange.  While it is not certain what functions this building served, it is believed to have been a passage grave.  It was built around 3200 BC, which makes it older than Stonehenge (3100 BC) and the Pyramids of Giza (2500 BC).

Newgrange

The site was discovered at the end of the 17th century, but was not excavated until the 20th century, and access to it was unimpeded for most of that time.  Only recently was a visitor center added and access to the site was restricted in order to preserve it.

We saw a short film about the site, then we took a short walk across the Boyne river to the shuttle buses, which we took to the site.

View from Newgrange

We squeezed through the narrow passage and crowded into the main chamber, where the guard turned off all the lights and demonstrated how, on the winter solstice, the sun lights the chamber, making it the world's largest solar observatory.  Tickets to be inside the chamber each year on the winter solstice are distributed by a lottery, which a few of us entered for 2013.

Marge and Brian at Newgrange

Entrance to the chamber

Marty at Newgrange

Pat at Newgrange

 After lunch at the visitor center, we headed back to Dublin for a free afternoon.  For many of us, this sign we passed on the way back was true.

We made some new best friends at the Galaxy Bar, the room at the top of the Guinness Experience with a 360 degree view of Dublin.  Several of us didn't want our pints, so we gave a friendly group of young men from the Netherlands our extras.

The Dutch Boys at the Galaxy Bar