On a brisk January day my roommates and I set out from our flat to Pearse Station, the DART station next to Trinity in the city center. The DART, is a train that runs outside the city to several seaside towns, including our destination for the day, Howth. The Howth trip was one of the IES sponsored excursions outside Dublin. After the usual confusion of assembling a group of young adults, we all boarded the DART bound for the seaside village of Howth. The trainride was short and passed quickly, and soon we were off from the train station walking toward the Howth harbor. We paused to take photos in front of an inlet with houses situated up on the cliffs, and then took off for our hike up to the Howth Cliffs.
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We walked up the steep streets to the path which wound its way around the cliffs.
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Above, Maggie walks the path around Howth Cliffs.
The views from the path were absolutely stunning, and the hustle and bustle of Dublin, only a short journey away, was soon forgotten.
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Eventually we rounded the path and traversed over a stone staircase, weathered into the path.
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What started as a chilly January day had transformed into a brisk and sunny day on our lengthy hike. The sun was so bright it almost impeded my ability to take photos, as for a majority of the journey we were walking directly into the sun, with nothing but blue sky and blue ocean ahead. Once we rounded a few more turns, we ended up at an overlook above a pennisula stretching out past the cliffs, with a lighthouse poised at the bottom.
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As we passed the lighthouse we turned to walk back on the path towards town, where we got lunch at O'Connell's. The trip was one of the highlights of my experiences here in Ireland so far, and I look forward to hopefully going back to explore Howth further. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"106581","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"320","width":"480"}}]]
Margaret Anderle
<p>I am a student studying history, political science, and international relations at the University of Rochester, interested in pursuing a career in law and politics. I love to travel, read, and go on new adventures, the next of which is my semester abroad in Dublin, Ireland studying at Trinity College. I like to express my thoughts and opinions through photography and blogging, and have organized my class structure such that I am always learning new things about the world around me. I think its important to look at our past to formulate positive change for the future, and I hope that with experience in politics and history I can hope to contribute in a positive way to the world around me, wherever my adventures may take me. </p>
