Powerscourt: Travel Tuesday

Last week, I shared the little town of Enniskerry, Ireland with you guys and I mentioned Powerscourt Estate. 

Today I want to share a few pictures from Powerscourt Estate. During Thanksgiving break of 2009, my friend and I headed over to Dublin for the holiday weekend. During our trip, we decided to visit Powerscourt Estate. Powerscourt was where the 2002 version of The Count of Monte Cristo, one of my favorite books and movie, was filmed, so of course we needed to go. 

Powerscourt is only about 30 minutes outside of Dublin, and it's really easy to get to. We took a city bus to Enniskerry and then walked the rest of the way. 

{via}

Powerscourt is filled with about 800 years of history, going back all the way to the 13th century. The land that Powerscourt stands on today was once the place of medieval castle owned by the Le Power Family, which is where the name 'Powerscourt' comes from. In 1603, Richard Wingfield was granted the castle by Queen Elizabeth as a reward for his military achievements. The Wingfield family remained at the estate for 350 years. 

In 1730, the 1st Viscount Powerscourt commissioned Richard Castle to build Powerscourt House- a 68 room mansion. This was completed in 1741. In 1974, a fire destroyed the roof and all of the principal rooms. The estate was restored and reopened in 1996. (Source)

There is tons to do at Powerscourt. There are the gardens, ballroom & garden rooms, Powerscourt Waterfall, Garden Pavilion, and more. We took a tour through the gardens and that alone took a couple of hours. 

Here are some pictures from the day. 

 {If you've seen The Count of Monte Cristo, this should look familiar to you.} 

{One of my favorite parts of the tour was the Pet Cemetery. Some of the grave markers were pretty intense.} 

Although the estate isn't open on the inside, it's still worth a trip. We went in the Fall and it was beautiful, so I can't imagine how wonderful it will be in the spring. 

Information: 

Hours- 9:30am- 5:30pm 

Gardens Entrance Fee*: Adults 6.50, Students: 6.00, Children 3.50, Children under 5 Free! 

Family Tickets (2 adults and up to 3 children) 18.00 Euro 

Waterfall Entrance Fees: Adults 5.50, Student: 5.00, Children 3.50, Children under 5 Free! 

*Reflective of the Winter Rates 

(For more info go to the website!) 

{Linking up with Bonnie} 

Enniskerry, Ireland: Travel Tuesday

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today, I'm going to share a little town in Ireland with you. 

I visited Enniskerry back in 2009 when I was on my way to Powerscourt Estate (which I'll share with you next week). Enniskerry is a small little village about 15 miles outside of Dublin. Before coming to Ireland, I had no idea that Enniskerry existed. My friend and I just happened upon it because we were going to the big estate in the area. 

Like many places in the United Kingdom, this village or town center was absolutely perfect. 

If you are planning on traveling to Powerscourt, which I think you should, you will most likely pass through Enniskerry. The Dublin city buses drop you off in the town center, and then you walk up to the estate. On our walk, we were greeted with these beautiful views. 

While I love living in Korea, there is nothing as beautiful to me than a small little village and some green UK countryside. Nothing really compares for me. 

{Linking up with Bonnie} 

Blenheim Palace: Travel Tuesday

I haven't linked up for Travel Tuesday in the last few weeks, so I thought I would go back to my England days and share a pretty cool place with y'all. 

Blenheim Palace 

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When I was on my study abroad, our group had the opportunity to take a tour through Blenheim Palace, and I am so glad we did! This was such a wonderfully beautiful place, and I can't wait to go back and share this place with Matt. 

Blenheim was awarded as a World Heritage Site in 1987. The palace was built in the early 18th century and was built as a gift to the First Duke of Marlborough. Blenheim was also the birthplace of Winston Churchill. The palace is filled with history and is absolutely amazing! The grounds are beautiful and I think it's definitely worth a trip to Oxfordshire to see this place. There are tours that start every 20 or so minutes and they are very informative. {Like so informative, Matt and I were watching a documentary on Churchill, and I knew most of the facts from his early life. All thanks to the tour.}  Pictures are not allowed inside, so that's kinda a bummer since it's so beautiful, but the grounds kinda make up for that.

 {The whole courtyard is filled with gravel that you have to keep off of- which I found to be a bit strange.} 

{I love how large the gates are to palaces like this} 

We didn't get to walk around the gardens all that much, but from what I could see they are just as beautiful and should be checked out. 

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If you have the chance, I would take a day trip and visit this World Heritage Site- you won't regret it. The palace is beautiful inside and out. My favorite part was the 'Long Library', so if you take a tour, be on the look out. 

{Like I said, pictures aren't allowed on the inside, so this picture was found on the Blenheim website.} 

Info: 

Ticket Prices for Palace, Park & Gardens: Adults 21.50 and Children 11.80 

{Source}  

{Linking up with Bonnie} 

A Country Hike {Travel Tuesday}

Since you guys enjoyed last week's Travel Tuesday where I share my hike in Herefordshire, I thought I would share another hike with you this week. 

When I was in England, I had the opportunity to take a nice 9 mile hike through the Lullingstone Country Park, specially on the Darent Valley Foot Path. My group was lucky enough to be guided by these three brothers that were evacuated to this part of the country during World War II. During the 9 mile hike, we walked through hop fields, through towns, through castles, through pretty much anything, and we did it in the nice English countryside rain. It really made the 9 miles go by fast... haha. Actually, it was pretty nice to see such a beautiful part of England. The only thing that was depressing was how the three old men were in much better shape than I was. 

Here are some pictures of the hike: 

 {Lullingstone Castle} 

 {The Hall- This building was constructed in the late 11th to early 12th century. In the 18th century it was converted into stables.} 

 {Yummy.... mushrooms} 

Would you take a 9 mile hike in the rain to see this? 

{Linking up with Bonnie}