Don't get intimidated by the wind (day two)

---

03/04/2013 - Howth

Our roommates at the hostel turned out to be rather noisy and generally unkind (seriously, kids, if you go back to the dorms at 1 a.m., you're quiet as mice and definitely don't spend another hour discussing this nice guy at the bar, what a cliché!), we got out of the room as soon as we could (as we couldn't sleep anyway), feeling a bit tired. I guess that's why it took us ages to find the entrance to the Connolly Station. Well, we didn't in fact find it - we got there through the car park from the back. Serves us right for not taking the tram.

Our goal for today was Howth - the suburb of Dublin. The DART train goes there twice per hour, the journey takes about 25 minutes (€5.25 for the return ticket). DART station in Howth is located close to the sea. There are also buses connecting Dublin and the Summit - for those who don't like going up the hills.

My, what a windy day it was! It was sunny and quite warm - when you found a shelter from the wind. When we were exposed .. well, I must admit I had a moment of doubt how exactly are we going to survive the walk. Fortunately, everything was better than I expected. The wind was a bother only near the pier, when we went to get the map of the area. It's not necessarily needed, there are signs pointing towards different parts of the village, but I just collect those little memorabilia from the places we go to (so for people like me - the Tourist Office is located at the far end of the West Pier).

The main attraction in Howth are the cliffs. There are a few designed routes that start at the DART station and lead, over the cliffs, to the Summit and to the other side of the peninsula. As I said, although the harbor area was rather windy, we had no problems at the cliffs and the walk was extremely pleasant. I really suggest you to do the Bog of Frogs Loop (purple one, the longest).

There are also a few interesting things to see in the village itself - for me, obviously, the most interesting was the ruined abbey and the cemetery, there's also a castle where, supposedly, the cookery lessons take place.

I really enjoyed our short trip there and I'm glad that we got there rather early in the spring - this place must be overrun with locals during the season, it's so pretty. (Oh, and the shark...!)

---

Photos

Snow White
Just next to the station, street art is everywhere.

Sun
It was so sunny, it's unbelievable.

Abbey
One of the graves in the cemetery next to the ruined abbey.

Window
Someone's yard.

Cliffs
Nature.

Shark
Well, it's a shark.