This is a little late in coming but the photos by themselves should be worth the wait. It’s hard to describe in words just how amazing our winter hike along the Wicklow Way really was.

One of the absolute highlights was reaching Lough Tay as the sun was setting on New Year’s Eve. It’s such a special place on any day of the year but its beauty really took my breath away in the snow. We camped in a forest a stone’s throw from the lake and came back first thing on New Year’s morning to see the sun rise again over Lough Tay.

Some of the hiking was pretty hard going. We were up to our waists in snow at some points and I felt like I was a little figurine trudging through icing on a massive Christmas cake a lot of the time. This was our second winter hiking trip together. The first was in Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. A lot of people think we’re crazy for going out camping in the cold but once you have the right equipment (and someone to snuggle up with at night), it’s such an incredible way to see nature. It’s easier to spot animal tracks, there aren’t any mosquitoes and there’s hardly anybody else around.

So we had a very special and peaceful start to 2010. Things have become a bit more hectic since then but it helps to think back to Wicklow in the magic of winter to get us through.

Well really Aoife’s.  Just took a quick walk over to the village hall so that Aoife could cast her ballot for the 2010 UK general election.

I’m still a bit fuzzy on how voting works over here.  It took long enough to understand fully how our much more elaborate Broadway supersized version in the states functions, it’s hard to see the intricacies in another country.  There couldn’t be two more different ways though and it is obvious that there are pros and cons to both.

Who did she vote for?  You’ll have to ask her.  That is if she checked the right box.