Not a fun day for me. Lots of driving, lots of curves, lots of vomit and one anxiety attack.
On the way to our first stop of the day, without even leaving Dublin, I got sick and was awarded the coveted shotgun seat in the car. After a nauseating drive (nothing to do with the way Katie drives) we finally made it to Newgrange (Sí an Bhrú), a 5,000 year old pagan temple (one of the oldest prehistoric sites on Earth — older than Stonehenge). Aaron had told me about Newgrange before we made our trip to Ireland and mentioned that the entrance is very narrow. Knowing that and hearing the warning from the guide about people who get nervous is small areas not going into the temple first, I made sure I was the very very last person through the entrance. Saying it was narrow is not a very accurate description. It was so tight bags/purses had to be carried in front of a person so as not to scrape against the stacked-stone walls. And I, a shorty of 5’3″, could not stand fully erect in places. Noah was a few paces ahead of me and I kept asking him if the passage got wider or taller up ahead where he was. He said it did, as where he stood at that moment was between rock beams and he was able to stand fully upright. But all I noticed was the tight enclosure of non-reinforced stones and felt myself start to panic. I looked at Noah wide-eyed and managed to tell him I couldn’t do this and had to leave. I turned and left in a hurry, having only made it about 10-feet into the chamber. By the time I got outside I was having an anxiety attack, complete with tears and shortness of breath. It took about 5 minutes to calm myself back down. Ah the joys of being claustrophobic! Noah at least enjoyed the tour and easily made it into the large 15-foot inner room. However, there were about 40 people crammed into that room and at one point the tour guide turned off the lights to show just how dark it got inside the chamber. Noah said it was a good thing I left because I definitely wouldn’t have been able to handle that. And had someone been behind me as I needed to make my hasty exit, they would have been shoved out the door.
After Newgrange we headed to the Hill of Tara (Teamhair na Rí) also in County Meath. Again, on the way to the site I got sick. Being pregnant I am already slow walking around sites, and feeling nauseous, I was even slower. So once again, Noah dragged me along behind him. 🙂 I took pictures of scenery and watched as Katie, Aaron and Noah ran up and down the hills. I also got a nice picture of Aaron “pushing” Noah off one of the hills. After Tara we drove around in search of Bective Abbey, which took a bit to find because apparently in Ireland, Google Maps wants you to drive through people’s yards as shortcuts. I know there’s Irish hospitality and all, but I really don’t think locals would appreciate us tearing through their gardens. We finally did find access to the Abbey via a main road (main roads in Ireland are one lane in each direction). But since I felt like crud I opted to stay in the car and let the other three romp around the ruins. Noah did take lots of pictures, however, so it was almost as if I was there to enjoy it with him.
After the Abbey we headed back to our home away from home. I of course got sick again, multiple times and slept through dinner and half of a rented movie. I did wake up in time to munch on some fake saltine crackers (closest I could get in Ireland were cream crackers), an apple and some fake Gatorade and enjoy watching the telecast of fireworks over Big Ben in London. Happy New Year to all of you back in the states! Here’s hoping for less puking in 2010!