Today was a bit of a travel day but with Dublin’s exquisite public transit the travel was really nothing to worry about. It was a nice sunny day and as a group we headed to Howth, a coastal town about a 30 minute train ride outside of Dublin. After a brisk walk to the train station we boarded and luckily found seats, I was sat near strangers but when half of Dublin boarded at the next stop I was pretty happy with my seat.
As the train made it to the end of the line we arrived in Howth. We came to Howth with an academic purpose of seeing the radio museum there aka Ye Olde Hurdy Gurdy Museum Of Vintage Radio but the breathtaking views and beaches really added to the fun. We quickly headed up a horrifically steep set of hills that made me think fondly of Pittsburgh’s Southside slopes. At the tippy top was the Old Hurdy Museum, situated so high due to the buildings previous role as a Martello tower for the British army. The museum’s interior was quite small so we took turns going in and checking everything out. I was in the second group so for half an hour I was able to sit and take in the views from the peak of Howth. This rest and relaxation was quite nice after the mountain climbing I felt I had just experienced.
After the first group came out, my group headed in and met a lovely man who seemed to know everything there was to know about radio. There was vast array of different radios including one hidden in a picture frame to be hidden during Nazi Germany and one characterized with Wallace and Gromit. There was also a vast collection of radios adjacent trinkets like a record player that played via a wind up car that drove around the 45s laid flat. There was even a mix of old rotary phones made up to look like pop culture characters. In the lower section of the museum there was a variety of truly vintage posters including one advertising tickets for the Titanic’s maiden voyage. There was also a giant foghorn which was random but probably something I’ll ever hear again…so, I found it pretty cool!
After leaving the radio museum we enjoyed some free time before heading back to Dublin. Ryan, Ayden and I all got fish and chips from Beschoff Brothers and enjoyed in on the green space. The birds were a little scary to be eating with but they left us alone despite the dirty looks. After a quick bite we explored a market and then headed up to a cliff walk. On the cliff walk we saw grandiose views, plenty of beautiful nature and a lot of fun people watching. We hiked on the cliffs for quite some time then headed back down the hill to enjoy some time at the beach. There we met a rambunctious dog, Obi, that had escaped from his owner and was running freely up and down the beach as the owner chased and yelled. We were quite happy with his new found freedom as it allowed us a chance to say hi. After we sat for quite some time, we reluctantly headed back to the train station to return home to Dublin.