Around 8am Melinda and Amanda woke up and we all got ready to head out at 9am. We walked down the street to the train station and bought our tickets (2.30 Euro) to head up to Howth for the day. It was a nice half hour ride or so, but we got to see more of the countryside, more of what I think of when I think Ireland. It was nice to be out of the city for a bit and to see what other parts were like.
We soon arrived at Howth. It's a quaint little fishing town right on the ocean, with plenty of old style houses and fish businesses and eateries. We chose to go on Sunday especially because of the market they have in town, similar to a farmers market with lots of freshly baked goods and homemade handicrafts. People crowded the pier and moved from tent to tent, sampling homemade breads and soups or purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables. We ended up purchasing some delicious cheesy pull apart bread and an apple log bread, baked with fresh apples in the middle and topped with white icing. It was delicious! We even got some awesome cupcakes that one lady made. We browsed the homemade jewelry and scarfs, got cups of cappuccino//hot chocolate//chai lattes, and then walked further down the pier to get a better view of the city. After browsing the market, we walked further into town to take "the hike". There are many cliffs that overlook the ocean and the town that you can hike on, so we climbed up the hills and got a great view of the town and the ocean. And, there are many old houses and cottages with cute exteriors and fences dotted along the path. I've decided that when I'm an old, old lady I want to retire to Ireland and live in an old cottage in the countryside, preferably near the ocean. It was so peaceful and serene there, that I couldn't imagine spending the rest of my days any place else.
During our hike we spent a great deal of time laughing and talking and taking pictures, even stopping for a bit to just sit down and look at the ocean and enjoy some of the bread we had just purchased. It was a fun afternoon of just enjoying what the country had to offer.
When we got back down into the city we followed a long path that goes out into the ocean to visit a lighthouse. It was a cute little lighthouse and fun to visit, even if we couldn't go inside. You could look out to the ocean a long ways and even get a nice panoramic view of Howth. At that point, our legs were very tired and sick of the wind (it had been blowing all day long) so we decided to visit one of the many pubs that lined the streets to sit down for a bit. After walking up and down a few of the city streets we found an awesome cemetary tucked up in the middle of the city, right near what looked like an abandoned and broken down stone church. We wandered through it for a few minutes, looking at the various graves and all the things people put on them. It was different from many American cemeteries that I've seen, as many of them had the headstone but also had the area in front of them sectioned off with a little tiny stone barrier. Many were filled with stones and had small monumental statues placed in them or some were turned into little flower beds.
There was one especially that amazed me. It was filled with stones but then on top of the stones were hundreds of little pieces of colored glass. Right at the that time the sun had peeked out from behind the clouds and shone down onto the grave, and it illuminated each piece of glass. I loved it. When we finished walking through the cemetary, we found a pub called the Cock Tavern. Being the immature people that we are, we giggled and decided to go in and sit down for a few. It was just what I had pretty much imagined an Irish pub to be. The interior was old wood, with a large bar and many wooden benches and tables lining the wall. There was a soccer/football match on the TVs and it was filled with old Irish men sitting around drinking pints of beer and laughing and talking. We filed into the back and found an empty booth area to sit in and then went and ordered a pint. Melinda recommended a local beer called Carlsberg. It was a lighter beer, similar to Bud lite or Heineken, but had a bit more flavor and bite. The first few sips were okay, but I didn't really enjoy the after taste of it. I only drank about half before I passed it on to Melinda to finish. It could have also been that we had just gotten in from walking all over the place, we hadn't really eaten that much all day and I was really, REALLY tired. But, I just wasn't feeling the beer right then.
At that point the lack of sleep had really caught up with me. I had been fine before because we had been outside and moving, but once we sat down in the warm pub, exhaustion swept over me and I found myself almost nodding off while sitting there. I knew we had to keep moving so I told the girls we really needed to go haha. They were almost finished anyways, so we left the pub and headed back down to the main street to find some food.
As we walked along the street, we looked at the many restaurants, cafes and other eateries to find a place to sit down and just have some appetizers. Many had the menus posted in the window, so we browsed over the menus and checked out the food and the prices. They were all pretty expensive, so as we got down closer to the train station we debated about just heading back. But, everyone was pretty hungry so we turned around and try a place Beshoff Brothers. It was basically a "fish n chips" take out joint. It reminded me of of beach boardwalk type style restaurants where there is no seating and the front part of the restaurant is open. You stepped in off the street and got in line, then stepped up to the counter and ordered your meal. Since I'm not a big fish fan, I opted for the chicken Goujons and chips, or rather chicken fingers and french fries. Once you ordered you slid down the line with your slip where your order was assembled and put into a take out box, at which point you could get salt and vinegar on your meal and order/pay for any other condiments you wanted like ketchup. Then, you stepped back outside.
The meal was actually really good. The chicken fingers were a little different from many I've tried in America. I don't even know how to describe them. They were just, different. haha. Also, the "chips" were different too, more towards the style of steak fries, but very yummy. We picked at our meal on the way back to the train station and then finished it while we were waiting for the train to arrive.
While we were waiting for the train, it had started to rain slightly, and a rainbow appeared right in front of us...both ends! It was pretty, and a great way to end the day. :)
Even though the train back to Dublin was crowded, we were all very tired. Melinda and I ended up falling asleep multiple times, both on each other's shoulders and other times just head bobbing in our seats. I was surprised I had made it even that far. We arrived back at the apartment exhausted beyond belief and decided to just call it an early night as we were all clearly too tired to even get cleaned up to go out. I ended up falling asleep on the floor for an hour right when we got back, and then after a quick snack and a little bit of Facebooking, we were all ready to call it a night. We were all in bed and asleep by 9pm. (4pm EST! lol). And now here I am, well rested after sleeping until 8:30am this morning, 11.5 hours later. It felt amazing, and it was much needed. I think I'm finally adjusted to the time change and we're ready to actually go out a few nights this week before we have to head back on Friday.
Since this isn't a vacation for Melinda, she still has to go to class. Luckily she only has classes M-W, with Thursday and Fridays off. So, this morning she had class at 9-10:30am (she just got back) and then again at 2pm. So, Amanda and I have just been relaxing, eating breakfast, and catching up on stuff until she got back, and now we're going to get dressed and head out to do a little souvenir shopping. Then, tonight when she gets out of class we're going to possibly head to the movie theaters, as we've heard that is an experience in itself!
Well, I should go get dressed and get ready to head out. Will post more later! Here are a couple photos from yesterday's adventures.
A view of Howth.
The light house.
Some of the hills/cliffs along the walk of Howth.
I'd post more pictures but the internet has decided it doesn't want to work any more. Maybe some more pictures later!
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