Ireland - Day Three

Today, I figured for the purposes of change of scenery, I would venture outside the city to check out the 'burbs. I rode the DART first to Howth, which is a sleepy seaside town, and walked around. The ride over was ruined by some stereotypical loud and large Americans, one of whom thought it necessary to read aloud to his entire group, word for word, from the tour book about Howth and continually butchering the pronunciation of Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leary). Annoyed, I ended up changing cars.

The trip to Howth was quite short for such a drastic change to a seaside scenery. The skies were quickly turning dark, and I wondered if I would be stuck in the rain the whole day. I walked the edge of the seashore on a raised stone wall walkway towards the lighthouse. Coming back, I decided to walk up the hill towards Howth Village. Then, the sun came shining through. I stumbled upon St. Mary's Abbey, which are ruins of an old church from the 12th century.

I hopped back on the DART to head towards Dun Laoghaire. I ended up falling asleep on the train, thankfully waking just two stops before I was to get off! If Howth was a sleepy seaside town, Dun Laoghaire was it's aggressive big sister. Also a seaside town, Dun Laoghaire is much more commercial and busy as it serves as an arriving and departing point for the ferry from Wales. An equal mix of retail and residential, it was in this town I spent the bulk of my time, walking around taking everything in, browsing the shops and small mom and pop stores.

A huge plus to the visit was the discovery of a frikkin' huge Tesco! I stocked up on the things I wasn't finding in Dublin. Much more cheaply I might add. I even snagged a couple of containers of Cadbury's Instant Hot Chocolate. This is the one item I can never find in the US.

I had also heard about the town called Killiney (pronounced Kil-Loiny). It's a more affluent town known for being the residence of Bono, Enya, and other Irish celebrities. I wasn't going there looking for them, mind you, but I wanted to see what the town was all about. What I got, however, was a different impression. Killiney turned out to be a bust and I stayed on what seemed to like an endless loop of a bus route trying to get back myself to Dun Laoghaire. My fellow bus patrons seemed to be mostly old people and school kids.

Once back in Dun Laoghaire, I decided to call it a day and hopped the bus back to Dublin. A long trek, it was refreshing knowing I would be back at my destination. This day exhausted me so. I managed to get a seat up top and in front and three raucous young girls sat next to me. They were screeching and swearing up a storm. I was shocked given the fact they were only about the age of ten and so disarming in their pastel and frilly track suits. They saw some mates outside and began banging on the window hoping to catch their attention before running off the bus to catch up. Relieved I was to be rid of the little brats.

In their place sat a trio of older school girls. When we all witnessed some unlucky soul running for the bus, but missing it, one of the girls relayed a story about her mother witnessing her missing the bus and informing her "never run after a bus...or a man".

Back in Dublin and hungry, I headed for the famous Leo Burdock's for fish n' chips. I have to say that for this trip, I lucked out with my restaurant choices, getting to eat at mostly all of the places I hand picked. With Burdock's, I wasn't disappointed. Walking towards Christ Church Cathedral, the bells began ringing to mark the 8 o'clock hour. It was so beautiful and moving, I momentarily forgot my surroundings.

Back to Leo's! After waiting in line outside, I ordered the usual (cod and chips). There are no places to sit so I curbed it, digging in to my delicious meal. I'm not too keen on Irish chips for some reason, but these were good. Halfway through, it began to rain lightly. I didn't care and just sat there finishing up and relishing the moment. Thankfully, I had Wet Wipes on me, or else the situation would've been really dire.

Getting back to my room at the hostel, I soon realized I wasn't alone. A group of women from England (West Midlands) on a girl's weekend had taken up residence, bringing with them alcohol and spreading out their things to the point that it looked like a hardworking beauty salon. They were so friendly and even invited me out. I declined because I would have to get up early the next day for Belfast, but confirmed that I would indeed go out with them the next night.