Saturday, May 10th, 2025
Today is our day-trip to Howth (which I learned is not pronounced How-th, but Ho-wth (emphasis is on the long O sound, not the H)). I am particularly excited for this trip because it’s my first experience exploring outside of Dublin’s city centre. I feel like it’ll be a nice change – from being in the heart of Ireland’s biggest city to a quaint, seaside fishing town. I’m especially looking forward to being next to the Irish Sea.
Our day started fairly early. We met in the hotel lobby before walking to the train station as a group. The train ride was very crowded and hot, which put into perspective what most Dubliners did on their Saturdays – go to Howth. Knowing this, it was going to be a crowded day.
The train ride was about 30 minutes long, and when we arrived (at the last stop) we began our ascent up the hill – to the Hurdy Gurdy Museum.
Howth is a beautiful seaside town with a delicate combination of piers and mountainous hills that reminds me a lot of fishing towns like Cape Cod in the States. It was very stunning and the weather was perfect, sun shining and not a cloud in sight.
After a bit of (practically vertical) walking, we made our way to the Ye Olde Hurdy-Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio, which at first sight was very unsuspecting. The outside looked like a watch tower, or a cement cylinder sitting at the top of a hill. It wasn’t until we went inside that we could see anything that resembled a radio.
The inside of the museum was exceptionally small (we had to split the class into two groups to fit) but it was literally filled from top to bottom of radio relics. We saw so many interesting and peculiar artifacts – like some of the oldest (still working) radios and even some novelty items like a Mickey Mouse telephone, or a car-driving record player.
One artifact in particular that stood out to me was a picture frame with a famous actress from the 1940s – Rita Hayworth. This unsuspecting frame was turned around to expose a radio on the back of it – a perfect disguise for radio communications during WWII.
After the museum, we had the rest of the afternoon to explore Howth. We got lunch at a place called Beshoff Bros, where I tried my very first fish and chips – a delicious meal that I unfortunately forgot silverware for (smh). After we ate (and fended off some sneaky seagulls) we walked up and down the wall between the docks and the Irish Sea. It was terribly windy, making it feel quite nippy and cold; I am really glad that I wore a sweatshirt and a windbreaker jacket. We did this for a few hours before trying to figure out what we were going to do before we left. That is when we learned of boat tours that would take us to the Eye of Ireland, an island off the coast of Howth that I’d been eyeing up all day.
On our way over to the boat we saw one of the first excitements that were about to take place – a seal in the water by the dock! This was the closest I have ever been to a seal, and quite possibly the first time I’ve ever actually seen one. It was a surreal experience watching it watch us.
Moving on, we got into the little blue boat that took us to the island. Initially I thought it was just going to take us around the island, but was so enthused to hear that we would be getting 1 hour to explore.
Before we docked, we saw so many birds nested on the side of the island as well as in the water. One of excitement: puffins! I had said before the trip that it was a goal of mine to see puffins while here, and I was thrilled that it actually happened. Puffins are so much smaller than I expected! We also saw more seals just lounging about and sun bathing – unreal!!
The docking experience was quite nerve-wracking – we basically had to rock-climb up and out of the boat on algae covered rocks with little-to-no supports to grab onto. BUT, once up, I was blown away by the sights of a castle-like tower and a large mountain. We had 1 hour, so we took pictures of the castle-tower and began our ascent.
Although my greatest fear is heights, I led the group up the mountain and felt so alive and jubilated when we reached the top! It was probably one of the most stunning views I ever saw in my life, and climbing the mountain was such an accomplishment – I felt so proud!
Words couldn’t even begin to describe the emotions intertwined with that experience, and all of that walking and climbing surely exhausted us. We began our journey back to Dublin City Centre – riding a train back. And although desperately ready for bed, Sav and I had to prepare because first thing tomorrow we are going to GLASGOW!!!