On Saturday, the morning started out cloudy and rainy, and all the kids slept in. By mid-afternoon the sun had started to some out, so we headed out for our first walk around the neighborhood. The lovely hill in this picture is just around the bend from the house.
We turned right out of the driveway (in the opposite direction of town), and the ocean was on our right.
If anyone knows what these yellow flowering bushes are called, please enlighten us! They are everywhere and seem to smell very similar to coconut.
After walking about a half mile we arrived at a beach. It’s the same beach as the one we can walk down the hill in our yard to get to, just a little further away and divided by rocks too large to climb. Our next-door neighbor told us that this is where the locals go in the summer. Just past that house on the left was a cow pasture, so the smell of the salt air was overpowered by the scent of cows, since we were downwind!
Sadly, the road we walked on turns out to not be the safest for pedestrians. It is a much busier road than the others we have experienced so far. It’s called the Coast Road and it is closer to a highway than a residential road as it is the road the locals take to get from Arklow to Brittas Bay, the next town. The drivers here in Wicklow are not as easy-going and patient as the drivers in Dingle and County Clare, and they don’t slow down as they pass you. All that to say that I don’t think we’ll be having any more walking adventures on this road.
We have also been experiencing very slow internet here, and we are having great trouble loading pictures on the blog. That’s why the few I have done here have been so short. I’m going to try going to the library soon and using the internet there to see if it’s better, but for now we are sticking to short and sweet blog posts 🙂
Brogans Across the Pond 
More population in Wicklow, nearer to bigger cities? Harder to enjoy a walk when you have to dodge cars! I’ve always wondered if the Irish make everything funny because the weather is so dreary!! I thought a lottery win would bring us a house there, but a cousin suggested that would be a bad idea as the weather can be depressing. Hmmm I guess its a good thing we never won the lottery then!
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Yes, you are probably right about the humor to counteract the dreary weather. Sadly, I have noticed ads in many places (grocery stores, church entryways) for people who are contemplating suicide to call for help. It has made me wonder how widespread of a problem it is. I do have to say though that they make the most of the weather, no matter what it is! Most houses have sky lights and many have sun rooms. People walk everywhere despite the rain, usually with a hood up but no umbrella.
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