This week Jonathan, my boyfriend, came to visit me! He came for his Spring break and his 21st birthday on March 11th! It was fantastic to say the least. We went to Howth, a coastal town in County Dublin, about a 30 minute train ride from Dublin. It cost 8 Euro for a train ticket for a day. We got this ticket because you can hop on and off the train at different points the entire day. So we figured we would go to a couple locations. We wanted to go to Portmarnock, which is a strand (beach) area on the Dublin coast, and also Malahide, where a castle is supposed to be. We went to Howth (pronounced Hoth - long "O" sound) and walked around a bit. We saw live, wild seals! The humans would feed them fish bought at a store/market nearby and the seals would pop up by the edge. You couldn't see them until they got a couple feet from the surface, so it looked like they were coming out of nowhere. They were also huge! We saw a cliff in the distance and Jonathan decided he would get to the top of the cliff. So, we set out in search of a way to get up the cliff in the distance. We found a couple trails on the way that led down to some cliff faces a couple hundred feet above the water and Jonathan beckoned me to come. The trails were narrow and steep and made me extremely uneasy. However, I went. We crossed one point where the trail was so narrow that the next moment you realized you just step on the side of an open edge that completely fell off into the depths below. It was intense for me, because I think one of my biggest fears is being unstable in height situations. We found a fresh stream that ran into the ocean and stepped across slabs of rock. Jonathan decided to go out on a ledge for a photograph, but I refused to go and get my picture taken.
So we went back up to the main road and walking up steeply is easier than going down steeply.
So, we eventually found the main trail that went around the mountain/cliff and there was only one warning sign relatively medium in size and it just told us to stick to the main trails. That's it. I love Ireland for this fact. No railings in nature just a warning. In America, every precaution would be taken not for your safety but just not to get sued for the littlest things!
So, we walked the trails and it was magnificent! Gorgeous scenery, real cliffs, thorny brush, flowers, etc. Families even took their children up there. You were literally walking a couple feet from the edge of cliffs. It was beautiful and definitely worth the trip. So, to say the least, we didn't make it to the other places, but that's okay Howth was an amazing adventure. Jonathan definitely pushed me to my height limit, but it was amazing!
Check out the slideshow to get a taste of what it was like.
Also there are great seafood places and also markets there.
A fantastic find!
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