Ireland: Powerscourt, a garden finer than Versaille

Day 12: Allison and I made a lovely breakfast of eggs, toast, and porridge. We bumped in Brenden on the way out and told him our plan for the day, tour the gardens of Powerscourt, followed by Russborough a pallidium style manor house by Richard Castle, and then perhaps dinner at the touristy but highly recommended Johnnie Fox's.

Off to Powerscourt we went. And it was even more magical and spectacular than imagined. There were acres of beautifully landscaped grasses, walled gardens, forests, Japanese garden, towers, lakes, horses, and a unique pet cemetery. Recently Powerscourt was rated the #3 garden in the world by National Geographic. We took a leisurely hour long walk around the gardens, toured the inside of the home regularly used for weddings, shopped in the luxury Avoca marketplace. It was nearing lunch but the tea house and lunchroom were packed so we continued on our journey to Russborough.

We pulled into Russborough and immediately headed towards the cafe. It was nearing 3 pm and we were quite hungry. After a sandwich, scone, and tea we purchased tickets.for the house tour and the 3D gallery exhibit. The house was created for the Miltown family. Construction began in 1741 and ended in 1755. Richard Castle was the original architect and the Lafrancini BROTHERS did most of the ornate plasterwork in the house. In 1952 Sir Alfred Beit and his wife Lady Clementine Be it purchased the property as their main residence and personal art gallery. In the last 50 years there have been 5 robberies; 3 while the Beit's were home and 2 once house tours began. The house it's self was quite stunning and many of the people on the tour were there for art.

For dinner we dined at the eccentric and eclectic Johnnie Fox's a massive pub with nightly Irish music and dancing. We opted.for the dinner only option. The portion s were large, and the rooms were covered with things to look at, but we were underwhelmed with the quality of the food after eating so well.