Howth
August 6 - Day trip to Howth, on the peninsula north of Dublin. 
We woke to constant drizzle and, after failing to get a Wicklow tour that would take us from Dublin down to Glendalough and back, decided instead to go to Howth, a little fishing village only twenty minutes away by train. I, in my infinite wisdom, was convinced that the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) rail and the Irish national rail couldn't possibly leave from the same station, and we spent a soggy half hour wandering around in a large circle trying to find an invisible second train station.
By the time we got to Howth, the rain had tapered off. We found some real coffee at a very cute cafe above a gourmet grocery store. The Irish seem quite fond of the instant stuff, which tastes vaguely like dishwater and has about as much caffeine as chamomile tea. Lunch was grilled bread with goat cheese, roasted peppers, and a variety of side salads.
The walk along the Howth peninsula is supposed to be gorgeous,
but the weather kept switching schizophrenically from black clouds to blue sky and getting caught in a rainstorm didn't seem particularly appealing. We went to the old Martello tower (old British defense against Napoleon, as well as marauding pirates) that now houses Ye Olde Hurdy Gurdy Musuem of Vintage Radio. From the hill we could see the rock walls of Howth Abbey and its associated graveyard, so we headed over for a look.
After our fill of dead people we walked down to the harbor to ogle the boats and check out the lighthouse.
A small island, Ireland's Eye, sits less than a mile away from Howth and has a Martello tower of its own. 
Shockingly, the weather began to clear up at this point and we had a brief spate of sunshine before heading back to pub crawl our way through Dublin. 
This is the River Liffey at night (back in Dublin), looking toward the Ha'penny Bridge.
We woke to constant drizzle and, after failing to get a Wicklow tour that would take us from Dublin down to Glendalough and back, decided instead to go to Howth, a little fishing village only twenty minutes away by train. I, in my infinite wisdom, was convinced that the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) rail and the Irish national rail couldn't possibly leave from the same station, and we spent a soggy half hour wandering around in a large circle trying to find an invisible second train station.By the time we got to Howth, the rain had tapered off. We found some real coffee at a very cute cafe above a gourmet grocery store. The Irish seem quite fond of the instant stuff, which tastes vaguely like dishwater and has about as much caffeine as chamomile tea. Lunch was grilled bread with goat cheese, roasted peppers, and a variety of side salads.
The walk along the Howth peninsula is supposed to be gorgeous,
but the weather kept switching schizophrenically from black clouds to blue sky and getting caught in a rainstorm didn't seem particularly appealing. We went to the old Martello tower (old British defense against Napoleon, as well as marauding pirates) that now houses Ye Olde Hurdy Gurdy Musuem of Vintage Radio. From the hill we could see the rock walls of Howth Abbey and its associated graveyard, so we headed over for a look.
After our fill of dead people we walked down to the harbor to ogle the boats and check out the lighthouse.
A small island, Ireland's Eye, sits less than a mile away from Howth and has a Martello tower of its own. 
Shockingly, the weather began to clear up at this point and we had a brief spate of sunshine before heading back to pub crawl our way through Dublin. 
This is the River Liffey at night (back in Dublin), looking toward the Ha'penny Bridge.
posted by Amy at
11:38 AM
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