A Trip Around Town - and Howth!

Hello again, friends! Welcome to this, my second photography blog for the summer session here in Dublin, Ireland. It's a lot smaller than my previous one; now that classes have started, I don't have as much time to run around taking photos of random areas around town. However, I did manage to find a lovely little book store the other day, and I took a trip out to Howth last Wednesday for some wonderful photos. There was a trip to Scotland, too, but I'll save that for a little later when I can elaborate on it more. :)

To start this post out, we're going back to where the last one left off - The Ha'Penny Bridge. Its location - and the wonderful view - have really struck me, and I've made an effort to go by it every now and then if only to watch boats pass underneath it. O'Connell Street is right by it, as well, which means there's plenty to do. It's a lovely area to spend the day.

My purpose in going to O'Connell Street and the bridge, however, were a bit more straightforward than all that. I was on a quest to find one of the oldest independent book sellers in Dublin. It's called "The Winding Stair," and I'd heard about it from a blog post not too different from the ones I've been writing. I'd heard it was charming and cozy, with an interesting selection of literature; whoever that original blogger was, they were right. I came away with two books, but only after a cup of tea and some time curled up in an arm chair in the corner!

My plan, following that, had been to visit a pub that was having a live music performance that night. Unfortunately, I got lost along the way and ended up wandering around the north side of Dublin for around two hours. It was more than a little alarming, although I'm sure the pub I'd been looking for was probably just around the next corner. Still, with the sun getting a little low in the sky, I thought it best to get home and spend some time doing homework for class. I'd adventured enough for a Monday evening.

The next excursion of mine was a trip out to Howth with a group of kids in the IES program. We all hopped onto the DART and rode it to the final northern station, and entered right into the little harbor and town for a few hours of exploration. Rebekah G., Rose, and I all decided to walk along some of the hiking trails, but first we had to traverse through the crowds of visitors sitting near the beach.

We made our way to the coastline, window-shopping and scouting out somewhere we could grab dinner later. The city wasn't crowded, the weather was nice, and we had plenty of time before the last DART would be leaving for home. We were in no hurry, and made our way through the city slowly.

Eventually, though, we decided to start the hike up the trails to the Summit. Along the way were diving boards, houses, and little "Cliff Stops" where you could buy water and ice cream to make the hike a little easier. We walked out onto ledges and waded through prickly plants, tripping every so often and clambering up to places the paths didn't quite reach.

But after we'd reached the top, it was nearing six o'clock and we were all getting pretty hungry. Rose scouted out a trail back down into town, and we started our return journey for some chips and a chance to lie out on the pier in the sunshine.