Breaking and Entering Ancient Burial Grounds?

Newgrange

The view looking away from the tomb

After the fifth Harry Potter movie on Thursday, Dale and I woke in the morning with plans to go to Newgrange with my relative who we shall call Gwen. She drove us out, which was a nice change from bussing everywhere. The day was looking gorgeous as we hopped on a shuttle from the Visitor’s Centre to the ancient burial grounds. I had wanted to see Newgrange since learning about it in Ancient Civilizations class back in high school, plus we had to keep postponing between the three of our schedules, so I was pretty excited. The tomb is older than the pyramids of Giza at over 5000 years old. It is water-proof and covered over with grass like some kind of hobbit-hole. Our guide kept suggesting all the purposes the tomb might have had, but reminded us that no answers are known.

Looking into the passageway

We entered to tomb through a passageway that had us ducking and turning to fit between the stones. Then the guide turned out the lights as we all stood in the middle of three tiny chambers where ashes had been found 200 years before. In the pitch black she slowly simulated how a beam of light would light the chamber on the summer and winter solstices and encouraged us to enter a draw to be one of the few people who get to experience the actual solstice from inside Newgrange. She drew our attention to a fern or wheat-like carving on the wall, and even pointed out some graffiti from the 1700s, including the name “Disney,” though there was no proof that it was Walt Disney's.

Dale and I in the hail

The house-like structure nearby

When I stepped back outside expecting the bright sunlight, I was shocked to find hail pelting down. We walked around the outside of the tomb and got soaked, noting a little house-like structure off to the side. Then we hurried back to the bus and spent some time looking through the exhibit at the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre after a warm lunch of hot chocolate, soup, and a chocolate rice-krispie square.

What the Irish may have once worn

What the Irish may have lived in

Walking along the collapsed Dowth

Then, unplanned, we drove around looking for Knowth, one of about 40 burial mounds in the same area. Knowth and Dowth are the largest after Newgrange. We stopped to ask directions from a friendly Irishman in a truck, who cheerfully had us follow him on the way to drop off his kids somewhere. He absolutely flew down the narrow back country roads, but stopped to point out Knowth from a distance, then later pointed us in the direction of Dowth. Dowth was interesting because there was no Visitor’s Centre or fee, and therefore nothing to stop us from climbing all over it. Unfortunately, due to poor archaeological explorations, the entire top of the hill has caved in to form a large crater. We still were able to peer inside the entrances.

A locked entrance into Dowth

Knowth at night, surrounded by barbed-wire fences

Now I shall tell you a fictional story. By the time we arrived at Knowth it was getting dark. Dale, who had gotten soaked at Newgrange because he left the tomb before Gwen and I, decided to stay in the warm car and continue his nap. Knowth is not open to the public until April, so the two of us walked through a farmer’s field along the barbed-wire fence until we found a spot that looked like it had been tampered with. Gwen unwound the fence like a pro until there was a gap just big enough to squeeze through. Armed with a “torch,” we climbed the wooden steps that allow us to stand on top of the tomb. Then we headed back down and proceeded to explore all the smaller mounds that encircle the larger one. Most of the tomb entrances were blocked off with barred gates, but one was not. I took the torch and crawled along the tunnel at a very low crouch. When I reached a turn, I realized it went on quite a long way, so I called back for Gwen to explore it too. I had to hold the torch pointed at the corner because it was too creepy to light her crawl and not know what was down the passage on the right! However, we soon ended up back outside!

A creepy tomb passage? Or a set?

There was one point in the night where both Gwen and I were separately scared by a standing rock wrapped in a tarp that we thought for a second was a person. There was also the creepy addition that a spider's web in one tomb's entrance was magnetically attracted to the torch, which several tests proved. On the way back through the fence my glove was ripped right off by a link, and then Gwen's pants got caught. We had a great time shivering and laughing at it all, and even had an amazing view of the stars away from the city. It was hilarious to us that our big breaking and entering day was so nerdy as to involve an ancient tomb. I'll admit I thought of Indiana Jones a few times. All the while there were intermittent gunshots as hunters gamed for what we suspect must have been quail.

But back to the truth: we stopped at KFC on the way home, then had to drop Dale off before I went to Heather’s house party since he wasn’t feeling up to it. The house party was quite fun, despite the fact that most of us had to work the next day. Edvard, Dylan, Katie, Alison, and the two new interns, Camille and Alina came out to join some of the usual Fitz-ers. Dylan was eager to play drinking games, and he and Katie taught us all how to play Skadoosh, which turned out to be hilarious. I didn’t drink much, however, which meant I survived the next day at work.

I was more than a little surprised at work to receive a compliment from my most troublesome supervisor, who said she was impressed with how I had handled lunch the day before by staying very calm and dropping bills efficiently and quickly. She said she knew I had been nervous at the start but was clearly doing well. I was astounded. I knew I had been doing better, but to hear it from her was unheard of. To be honest, work has been a lot better ever since the one manager was fired for slapping a chef. I even had a good laugh the other day because someone put a creepy dummy in the corner of a ballroom so that when Edvard opened the door in the morning with no light on, it looked like someone was staring across at him from the other side of the room. I also had a short “job chat” with my favourite supervisor later, and he told me that I get good reviews from the customers, which I didn’t know, as well as planned to help me learn some of the jobs I haven’t been trained for, such as hosting and increasing my wine knowledge. I’m a little afraid for an ax to fall at the moment, because all I can really complain about is my lack of sleep!

Yesterday felt like a spring day as I walked my bike home beside Heather, although today poured so badly the roof leaked quite a bit at the back of the restaurant. But after all, we do still have several more weeks of winter according to the groundhog, who earned Heather and I a mocking from Dylan! I also chatted a bit on Skype with Dominique in India today, which is weird to think about. Apparently Danielle will be visiting her soon, while Mum will be off to Israel!