Sunday 13 June 2010

A day in County Wexford






Fotos Margit Anna Binder

As is the case, most weekends, Denis and I spend our spare time outside to explore Nature. We had a temperature of 17 degrees in the South East of Ireland, which was ok for us, the right temperature for a good walk. We set off for County Wexford and arrived at Kennedy Park, built to commemorate the former American President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, whose great grandparents came from that area. At first we had a walk through the forest, which looked spooky at times, when the sun shone through the tree tops.
We headed towards the “lake”, which is actually a pond, as it is not very big. We sat on the grassy area bordering the lake, watching the ducks catching pieces of sandwiches instead of fish though they nearly jumped into their mouths. The ducks obviously preferred the sandwiches to the fish that day, which I found a bit strange, but maybe they are fed up of having fish on the daily menu and yearned for something different for a change. I suppose the fish were happy as well, when someone kept the ducks’ attention away from them and to escape of ending up in a duck’s stomach.
After the short rest we walked on and passed lots of different trees, bushes and wild flowers in full bloom. To see all these various plants was very pleasant for the eye and I thought how happy I am to be able to see the beauty of Nature. How sad it must be for blind people never to see! We stopped at a flowering bush and inhaled the sweet scent. The whole bush was humming. I know that bushes can’t hum, but there were a number of bees in it, who were busy collecting the sweet nectar.
I found the entrance fee of 3 Euros per person to be very reasonable for admission, as the park is big, with lots to enjoy and is well maintained. Definitely worth a visit!

Departing from Kennedy Park we continued on our way to Hook Head Peninsula, and on this occasion, we did not take photos, as we took enough pictures from the lighthouse and surroundings on our previous visits. I looked for any sign of whales, because we heard that there was some seen in the area a short time ago. Unfortunately for us we were denied the pleasure of viewing those impressive mammals on this occasion, they did not wait for me, though I really would love to see one and I know I will soon.

Turning our back to Hook Head, we travelled a few Kilometres to a small fishing village named Slade. There is an old castle in the harbour but unfortunately as it is not considered safe to enter, it is closed to the public. A boat named “Uisce Beatha” ( pronounced Ischke Baha), which means Water of Life and is what is the Irish call Whiskey, was anchored in the harbour. An old man sat on a chair outside of his villa, which was an old trailer and a dog stood on a roof and enjoyed the sunshine. If you ever go to Slade you should never miss the lovely Hotel Restaurant, which is shown on one of my pictures.

It was in hindsight a clever decision to toured this area of Wexford, yesterday, as it is raining cats and dogs today, but in Ireland,I suppose it has to rain also from time to time.