Ireland

Thursday, June 11th

Howth, Ireland

Today I decided to leave the busy city of Dublin and take a short ride to the costal town of Howth. Kacy and Tara told me about a hiking trail along the cliffs there so I decided to check it out.

After about a 25 minute ride, I stepped off the train into a cute little seaside town. There were a few shops and restaurants lining the main street and two piers that created a U shaped bay of water. I decided to walk out to the end of the first pier towards a sign that said "Howth Tourist Office". I was interested in what sort of tourism things they had and was hoping to get some information of somewhere to eat and maybe even a map showing where the path to the cliffs were. I walked into the "tourist office" to find that it was actually a "tourist hallway" with one sad rack of "tourist information" which was really just a postcard with a painted map on it...a map with no streets, or any information really. It was more a general picture of what Howth was shaped like and where things are generally located (of course with no directions or streets to help you find them). I took the postcard and figured it was better then nothing and decided to just wander. I went out to the edge of the pier and climbed a big wall so I could better sea the water and enjoy the breeze. It was beautiful! Off in the distance there was a small island, the water was very blue, the sky had only a few clouds in it. The air was filled with sounds of waves crashing on the rocks below and seagulls calling, you could smell the sea water and fish...I couldn't stop smiling. :) I stayed on the wall for a bit and then headed out to explore the rest of Howth. As I walked back along the pier I noticed some people looking into the water below and curious, I joined them. Below there were some sea lions peacefully swimming. They would occasionally surface and just stare up at all the people looking at them. It was quite funny. Some of the people bought some fish from the market across the street and started feeding them. It was fun to watch them dive and fight the seagulls for the food. After each fish they would pop back to the surface and just stare at us...they even followed me as I walked back along towards the main road.


I decided to skip the ferry ride out to the island they had and head towards the cliffs instead. Kacy drew me a rough map of where they were and told me that if I passed Tara Hall I was on the right road. So, armed with my postcard map and my picture from Kacy I set off up a steep hill hoping I was headed the right way. (I figured it wasn't that big so how could I really get lost?) About a mile up the road I finally came across Tara Hall (thanks Kacy!) and shortly after that I was at the beginning of the cliff trail.





The walk along the cliffs was amazing! Being the safe person I am, I of course, ignored the danger signs and strayed from the path to get closer to the edge. At one point I sat on a rock that was less then 3 feet from the edge. It was totally amazing! I took pictures over the edge and just sat there for a long time enjoying the sights, smells and sounds. I cannot describe how much I loved today. It has been probably one of the best days of the whole trip! I have wanted to go to Ireland my whole life and the realization that I am finally here and able to do it alone has be so great! I spent about 3 hours walking along the cliffs and sitting and watching the water below. It couldn't have been a better day-it was sunny and there was a cool breeze the whole time. (I even got a sunburn...didn't expect that in Ireland!)

When I started to feel hungry I figured it was time to head back to the town for lunch. The walk back down was just as beautiful as the walk along the cliffs. There are some gorgeous homes up there! At the bottom of the hill I consulted my "map" and saw that the village and shops were somewhere in the middle of green...helpful. I roamed the streets and did happen upon some small shops and restaurants, but nothing too special. One thing I did notice is an insane number of barbers/beauty shops. I counted at least 5, and that's a lot considering there were probably only 20 stores/restaurants! I'm still not sure if I found the "village" the map told me of, but if I did I would definitely say that Howth is not really a place to go if you want to eat cheap or shop. There really wasn't anything to do or see in the village itself. The cliffs are definitely the main attraction (for me anyways).

Since I didn't find anything real exciting I decided to just take the train back to Dublin and eat there. I spent the rest of the day roaming O'Connell and surrounding streets in Dublin. I ended the night with a Bulmers and a burger in a pub near my hostel and then headed back to pack and get ready to leave the next morning. I will really miss Ireland, but know I will be back in the near future to explore the rest of the country!



Yes, Toot came with me to the cliffs too. :) This is a shot from the rock right on the edge of the cliff. It's hard to tell, but he is straight out over the cliff and that is a HUGE drop below him to the water. Pictures can't really capture how impressive it was.