Babs at Newgrange

These are pictures of the Megalithic passage tomb at Newgrange in Ireland's Boyne Valley. Archaeologists estimate that the tomb was built circa 3500 B.C., which makes it older than Egypt's pyramids. This was the oldest site the QG family has ever visited and because no one knows anything about the people who built it or why they built it, Newgrange is interesting but not informative.

The interior of the tomb captures the light at the winter solstice for 17 minutes. The tour guide said that one theory was that the people believed that the light of the winter solstice shining on the remains released the souls of the dead buried in the tomb, but they didn't really know if that was correct so you can make up your own story if you like. For me, Newgrange was a reminder of the universal symbolism of light overcoming darkness so powerfully presented in the Gospel of John, and found in the myths of people all over the world.

Babs gave it her Much Ado About Nothing award, so I invited her to complete this post as guest blogger. Here's Babsy's review of Newgrange:

For starters the museum connected to the megalithic structure looked like something that came out of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It involved plastic dolls dressed as Native American princesses -- complete with moccasins and beads -- dragging stones to and from the building site. The exhibit where they theorized what the children did was my favorite part. It had them bringing their parents food and fanning them. You know how the Irish have problems with heat stroke.

When we went inside the tomb El Jefe felt very claustrophobic as the height was about 6'. When we got inside the tomb they turned off the lights and simulated the winter solstice with a 40 watt bulb. I then decided to put Portia and DK 's name in a drawing to win a chance to be inside the tomb at Newgrange when the real winter solstice happens in December. Surprisingly, I had no interest in being there myself.