We went on a tour sponsored by the cruise line to Powerscourt Gardens and House. This was a ride that took about an hour but it was well worth it. We got to see some nice looking houses en route and we went by Sanycove Martello Tower, locus of the events in the beginning of James Joyce's Ulysses.

As we approached the site we passed by some neat inns and we stopped for a photo op on the road leading to Powerscourt, a rather panoramic view of the area with a mountain in the background that our tour guide, Margaret

 called Sugarloaf Mountain.  

The entry to the house and garden was inviting and we were greeted by a figure in armor.  

The gardens stretch behind the house and are vast. There are many sculptures and big planters about.  

The array of bushes, flowering bushes, trees and other growing things is breathtaking. We came upon a row of unusual looking trees/bushes

 and one of them particularly got our attention. When I edited the photo of it, I saw that it was donated to the estate by Jackie Kennedy in 1967.  

The trees are overwhelming.  

We came to a tower, that was created at the command of one of the early Viscounts Powerscourt modeled after his favorite pepperpot. Melissa climbed the tower. I did not because I was getting tired--the walk was up and down hill and quite long. In fact when we came to the Japanese Garden, a major attraction sunken way down, I sat above it and watched as Melissa scurried down the steep drop and explored. 

 
 
  She took the camera and shot some great photos. She returned getting a picture of me from behind and we set off to the centerpiece, the fountain in Triton Lake.  

I was too tired to walk on to the Pet Cemetery, but Melissa did, capturing many photos of the interesting grave markers, including dogs, horses, and cows. Melissa returned to Triton Lake to meet me and we walked back to the starting point up a very steep stairway. Once again, the views from the top of the stairs was terrific.  

Whilst Melissa shopped, I had the best scone of our trip in the Garden's cafe, 

after which we headed back to the pier on the bus. There was not much time left, but we decided to go into the city of Dublin. So we took the ship's provided shuttle bus. Coming from the pier into Dublin we got a great view of the newish Samuel Beckett bridge, which opened in 2009. The bridge was built in Holland and was transported whole and installed off a ship. It spans the River Liffey in the center of Dublin. It is shaped like a harp on its side. The harp is and has been the national symbol of Ireland since the 1200s.  

 The shuttle bus driver said we only had 15 minutes before he returned to the ship--the last shuttle before departure, but he insisted we see some sights in those 15 minutes. So we ran down a main street and saw the national memorial to the Defese Forces, an interesting pyramid in a park  
   

Inside the pyramid are statues of three members of the Defense Forces.  

The bus driver pointed out that we were standing in front of the American College Dublin, which was the home of Oscar Wilde's father, who was a renowned scientist, scholar, and teacher. Across the street from the American College Dublin is a park with a large boulder and upon it is a statue of Oscar Wilde himself.

 My last act before we left the city was to photograph a very interesting litter can.  
I was taken with the fact that the word for litter in Irish is very similar to the Spanish word for it. 


 The Dublin city traffic was horrendous. As bad or worse than in London. It took us over 30 minutes to return to the pier, probably only a mile or so away. And, we encountered a shipmate on the bus who was almost in tears, she was so frustrated about her experience in Dublin. She had gotten on a Hop on Hop off Tour Bus that was stuck in traffic for three hours! The driver of that bus finally let the ship's passengers off at an unscheduled stop so they could get to the last shuttle back to the bus. If we had spent more time in Dublin we would have taken such a tour bus ourselves. We considered ourselves lucky not to have done so.